Almost 80 percent of people questioned in a poll believe Labour Day should not be moved to May.Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Patrice Minors first mooted the idea in January, saying a request had been made by the Bermuda Trade Union Congress [TUC].The TUC wanted the celebration switched to May 1 to coincide with International Workers’ Day.Ms Minors stated in April that the move would not go ahead, as stakeholders including the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce wanted the status quo to remain.Concerned that Premier Paula Cox still favours moving the date, the Chamber and Bermuda Employers Council [BEC] released the results of a recent Mindmaps poll on the move yesterday. They said that switching to a May celebration could impact on retailers, restaurants and the financial services industry.In a joint statement, Chamber President Ronnie Viera and BEC President Keith Jensen said: “Earlier this year, in response to a request from the Bermuda Trade Union Congress to move the Labour Day holiday to May 1, the Minister of Economy, Trade Industry Patrice Minors consulted with various stakeholders, including the local and international business community. Businesses responded unanimously, clearly stating that such a move would not be in the best interest of the country.“As a result of the consultation process, the holiday was not moved this year; however it is understood that Premier Paula Cox announced her support of the move in September at the Labour Day Rally, causing concern among commerce partners.”Mr Jensen added: “In direct response to the Premier’s reported comments the BEC and the Chamber agreed that it was imperative that this matter be addressed at the national level. To this end we committed to jointly financing a national Mindmaps survey. The results clearly speak for themselves.”He said the results showed that 76 percent of residents (excluding non-Bermudians) believe that Labour Day should be celebrated on the first Monday in September. Support for keeping the September date was higher among females and black people.According to Mr Viera, business community representatives stated in their initial response that the move would be detrimental to commerce for a number of reasons.“Our tourism product is most closely aligned with North America, and any change would negatively impact traditional Labour Day holiday patterns,” he suggested.“Adding a third national holiday to the April / May calendar would be extremely detrimental to commerce. May is the first full month of our tourism season and is much busier than September, so the cost to retailers and restaurants in particular would be significant if they were forced to either close or operate on overtime.“Equally, the financial services industry would be impacted unfairly if they were forced to close for an additional day within the second quarter and again in the third. It was also noted that although it is not a national holiday, the Friday of the Annual Exhibition, when schools are closed, constitutes a fourth holiday day in the same period.”Four hundred people were polled and there with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.Useful websites: www.bermudachamber.bm, www.bec.bm.