society that is dominated by capital''.

This, according to Rev. Lorne Bean, the keynote speaker at the 12th annual Labour Day banquet held on Saturday night at the Southampton Princess.

Addressing an audience that included Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon.

John Irving Pearman and Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade, Rev. Bean spoke on the subject "Youth in Focus''.

"If Bermuda's welfare is the highest goal,'' he said, "then we all must contribute. The interests of the community must outweigh the egos of the individual.

"The belief that if one class makes it eventually the wealth will trickle down to the rest of us has trickled out.

"Righteousness exalts the nation not the bottom line of the tourist industry.'' "Economic growth is another voodoo word,'' he said. "How can we say we are growing when crime is increasing and our young men are going to prison or wasting themselves away on walls.'' He paraphrased an African proverb that says "it takes a whole village to raise a child,'' and told the 300-plus people in attendance that each was responsible for raising Bermuda's youth.

"They (the youth) are not "those children'' or "those young people''.

Instead they are our children and our young people,'' he said.

"We must tell them stories of what Bermuda was like before the BIU or the PLP, but I don't want to return to those days.

"The more the faces change the more some things stay the same. Attitudes to working people by upper management are despicable.'' But he said he was pessimistic about those attitudes changing.

"Until they change,'' he said, "the labour movement is important.'' He stressed the need for young people to get involved in the labour movement and said it was up to parents to tell them about their history.

"Tell them about Dr. E.F. Gordon. Tell them about how their people got here.

"Too many of our sons and daughters are going away to university and are coming back classy and polished with an expensive education, but many of them are too concerned with marketing themselves out to the highest bidder. We have got to learn to put others first sometimes.'' Rev. Bean had special praise for shop stewards.

"You are one of our most important resources,'' he said. "The trade union movement will rise and fall depending on how well you do your job.

"Don't misuse your power. Stand up to workers who want to use their union membership as a cover for their own laziness. It's a tough job. You've got to be a model worker because it's more than just a job, it's a calling.''