February 9, 2014

Dear Sir

So now we know that the era of strikes is not a distant memory but a lingering reality just like that mindset of the “us and them”. Listen to talks, read the comments and blogs and then honestly sense the political dynamics and the rhetoric coming from the parties. We still have the same issue or atmosphere as though it was yesterday in the political spheres.

The recent industrial action was not just a strike or sympathetic reaction to the dismissal of ten workers. While the visual display of marchers demonstrating with placards walking the streets is very much a symbol of labour solidarity, the motive is deeper than that. The fact that there was a strike at all, is a sign that we as a country have missed the mark, 1998 was the New Bermuda 2012 was the new vision but today we are a country without a soul that forms our unity. We are polarised and no amount of gesturing or blame transference our extremes are too far apart to rescue us from ourselves.

I don’t want to stand aside and say I told you so, but I did give up the bid to fight to bring a sense of centricity and coalition of purpose. I stated on live TV prior to the election, the biggest hurdle for the One Bermuda Alliance moving forward was the fact that it wasn’t an alliance and the sad part they really did not care to be an alliance and were simply satisfied as being a party with the word “alliance” in name only. I therefore stated that they will be battling labour while trying to resolve the country’s economic problems and that is no easy job.

I was vainly hoping that a centrist group could sit in the middle and bring the best elements from both sides together. There is enough hope among the general populace to forge a new reality but the naked appetite of political brokers only see victory by any means, the dynamics and consequences of victory they never contemplate. No one likes defeat and to celebrate victory only sets the seeds for the next war. We needed a victory for everyone, with an agenda and a vision for everyone. The Progressive Labour Party and any vestiges of the United Bermuda Party needed to be neutralised with a group comprising significant support from both. That did not happen due to haste.

The conditions within the world implores that to remain relevant we must rewrite the script for our country. Unionism is no longer the answer worldwide, nor is the old attitude of leave the economy to the experts. Truth is technology and globalism is reducing the pie for workers and increasing the net earnings of corporations, therefore widening the gap. Salaries and benefits cannot bridge the gap. World class education is an essential for every child born, add to that another concept of inclusion and entrepreneurship are some of the new keys that put more people in the market place and voice within the corporations and boards necessitating less conflict resolution and brute bargaining.

KHALID WASI