Public reaction to the industrial action taken by Bermuda Industrial Union members was mixed yesterday, with many residents refusing to take sides on the matter.

However, a Bermuda College teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said the lack of public transportation meant one of her students missed a morning exam.

“All of the students but one attended the test, and all of the students that attended had some form of transportation,” said the 45-year-old.

“One of my students borrowed a car from his dad, who is actually a bus driver. The one student that was unable to attend relies on public transportation to get to school, and she missed her test because of it. This is an excellent student that I’ve had before who has 100 percent attendance. She is an A student, but she won’t be penalised for missing the test.”

Luvince Cann, 43, made the best of a bad situation and offered to carpool in the morning on his way to work.

“I put a message on my Facebook page that said ‘Anybody need a lift to work? I’m leaving Whale Bay and I’m going to town.’ I picked up four people at the bus stop at the bottom of Whale Bay in my little, little car, with my six-year-old daughter in the back, and brought them all to town.”

Among those who did take sides was Karreim Sharrief, 28, who said that while the management at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess could have avoided any confrontation to begin with, the cost of the disruption might take too much of a toll on the economy.

“I think that the Princess could have gone about it in a better manner, so not to cause such a PR kickback and get the union involved. But that aside, I think that the union strike is extremely disruptive to Bermuda’s functionality in general. I know it’s not heavy tourist season, but what are you going to tell the tourists when they want to see the Island and the buses aren’t running? I think that’s really disruptive and it hurts our economy and it hurts out image.

“I think the need for a united voice for workers, and the need to not disrupt the Island’s functionality are both completely valid. I think the workers have certain rights and should band together to be supportive of one another, however if you have a situation like this where, let’s say ten people are affected directly, and then the entire union strikes and disrupts all these other components, like tourism income, then tourists are going to walk away with a negative viewpoint, saying: ‘Well I went to Bermuda and we couldn’t do anything.’ So that might actually impact and hurt the actual level of tourism that’s coming into Bermuda. They’ll tell their friends ‘We went to Bermuda but it was horrible. We couldn’t get around’, and stuff like that will trickle down.”

“I think my feelings are irrelevant, because it’s an emotional perspective, rather than a logical and practical perspective, right?” said Ananda Hill, 25.

“My emotional perspective? No comment. My logical and practical perspective would say that at the end of the day, there’s always room for improvement, in regards to everything. But one of the reasons why unions are so powerful is because, as a collective, you can have your voice heard in a communal way that people really didn’t think of before unions came around. [Their voices have been heard], for sure.

“Sure I was affected, everybody was affected by the strike either directly or indirectly. It’s Bermuda, right?”

Belcario Thomas, 39, also refused to take a position on the strikes.

“I understand ‘best practice’ didn’t occur from the management at the Princess, which then resulted in what we have. You can’t really stand on the principal that workers have to do more, because that principal is true. Workers have to do more. We’re suffering. But that principal gets confused with this ‘best practice’ principal, and that’s where the frustration is. So I don’t have a position.”

Where some found principals on which to stand, James Henry, 31, found irony.

“The BIU may have been justified in downing tools in the hotel, although I’m not sure what exactly the hotel violated other than good protocol. The hotel shouldn’t be laying people off after receiving millions in tax benefits. However, the BIU blew things way out of proportion by punishing the whole Island so quickly.

“Ironically it was the working people of Bermuda who depend on busses and ferries most.”