THIS weekend Bermuda observes the 23rd anniversary of the official celebration of Labour Day in the island. It is a holiday the organised labour movement campaigned for many years to become a reality.

Each year when it rolls around, Ston-y the road we trod, Bitter the chast-ning rod, is the refrain that rings in our ears. It's from Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing, James Weldon Johnson's moving testimonial to the struggles and achievements of black people, past, present and future. It is cherished as the Black People's National Anthem.

Those sentiments become most pertinent on the eve of this year's celebrations as thought is given to the inordinate challenges now confronting organised labour, with the latter having had to march, take strike action and otherwise demonstrate against a Labour Party Government asserting itself for the first time in Bermuda's long history.

Collin Simmons, the Education Officer of the Bermuda Industrial Union, pinpointed many of the challenges, revolving around the Prison Service, the Teachers' Union, the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Bermuda Public Service Association in terms of conditions of work, safety and health and upgrading of pay.

Particularly, and as far as the BIU is concerned, it is facing one of its biggest challenges for some considerable time with Government.

Government's termination of Pro-Active Management System's $68 million contract for building the Senior Secondary School cannot be considered as something that's normal. The BIU now has to face the reality of representing its membership in terms of their welfare. Men and women have been put out of work at a time when the construction industry is booming, and there is no certainty when they will return to work.

Mr. Simmons said: "There is no doubt the integrity of the trade union movement is being challenged; we have to meet it and make sure we put the Bermudian workforce in its rightful place. Without fail, that's going to take some serious negotiations on behalf of the union. There have to be some real terms for the workers even if it means severance payments or whatever.

"Over and above those issues, the trade union movement is alive and well in terms of what its role is in Bermuda's economy. The trade unions are doing a fair job for their members," the BIU leader felt. "I will not put it any different from that, because you really had to be there when their officers are in action and see the votes of their members in terms of their acceptance or rejection of proposals.

"We are at a period in our existence where we have to meet change. With a Labour Government in power people have different perceptions of what they think a Labour Government should do. Most don't understand how Government functions.

"I try to tell people leave the name 'labour' out of the equation, as it is secondary. Don't keep thinking that because they are a Labour Government they know all about labour. Because when you are dealing with parliamentarians, a lot are new to the political front; they have no real background as to how labour functions or its role. On top of that you are dealing with the civil servants.

"That's where a lot of Bermudians don't understand how Government function and how civil servants are responsible for running the day-to-day happenings in Government. They make business decisions to which most people are not privy. We have to understand that Government is Government, not to say it is right or wrong, but it has to govern and the labour movement has to govern the affairs of labour.

"Therefore we have to meet these challenges on a day-to-day basis and as labour, do what we have to do.

"Recently we have had protest marches, strikes and other industrial action. Some are prone to say, 'You are striking against the PLP.' Not so, we are not striking against the PLP, rather its against Government. We struck against the UBP Government.

"The challenge for Bermudians is to understand that Government have to govern and will make decisions that are not popular. But the labour movement must represent the interests of labour and it also has to build social partnerships with Government, employers and other interest groups that have a common interest in labour.

"Those are our challenges. It is not a crisis situation but we will meet them," the labour leader confidently pointed out.

Picture:A Joint Labour Day Committee comprising representatives of the organised labour movement, employers and other social partners, will take to the streets on Monday, like the one above, for the 23rd Annual Labour Day March from Union Square through the city to Bernard Park. Collin Simmons(left, above) says speeches at the park will in all likelihood underscore the new challenges facing labour, having among other things to deal with a Labour Government in power for the first time in Bermuda's history.