Needless to say, I feel great pride and deep humility in having the honour and privilege to address members and friends of the Bermuda Industrial Union as its outgoing President. Pride, because to have been chosen to lead this great union ten years ago is perhaps the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon any Bermudian. I am humbled because I was elected to share the same stage with a long list of intelligent and courageous men and women who withstood the test of time unbowed and unmoved in the struggle of the BIU against anti-unionism.

I believe that only the service to God can exceed the importance of service to the children of God. I declare to you that I believe that by serving as President of this Union I have been of service to God and the children of God ? the members of the Bermuda Industrial Union who form a major part of the workforce in Bermuda. For this I feel truly blessed.

I developed an interest in trade unionism while working in the hotel industry where the BIU was the sole bargaining agent. Some may assume that my interest in trade unionism arose because I was dissatisfied with my working conditions at that time. Nothing could be further from the truth. I enjoyed my job and always gave my employers my best. But I also felt that there were times when fairness and just reward were not evident in the workplace.

I also believe that enjoying one?s job is necessary if we are to produce the excellent service upon which the survival of our tourist industry depends. The question is often asked ?What do people want from their jobs?? The answer is that first and foremost workers want job security. Workers also want to be held in high esteem by management, especially when they put forward their best on the job. Trade unions encourage their members to be life-long learners so that they can be the best employees possible. If employers encourage employees involved in learning we will see a lot of positive changes in the workplace which will move the labour relations agenda forward.

I began my career in the hospitality industry as a dishwasher and I was able to work my way up the corporate ladder to become General House Manager of Coral Island and Palmetto Bay Hotels. My last managerial position was as Director of Personnel at Grotto Bay Beach Hotel. I accomplished this by taking advantage of further education, both in Bermuda and abroad. It was my knowledge of trade unionism that allowed me to stay the course when I disagreed with a policy where Bermudian workers were not treated the same by top management as were foreign workers when it came to wages, which placed me almost at the bottom of the ladder again. However, I continued to give good service with a smile as a bartender. I can truly say that I am grateful for the experience because it was an invaluable lesson in preparing me for the position of President of the Bermuda Industrial Union.

Trade unions not only enable the ordinary worker to receive justice and fair play in the workplace, they also express the collective viewpoint of their members in the political arena. There are some in Bermuda, who believe trade unionists should not have a voice in the governing of our Island and they will do anything to weaken unions, particularly the Bermuda Industrial Union. Hence the Bermuda Industrial Union is constantly under attack. I am aware of that not so long ago an Opposition Senator called a Government Department asking for the BIU?s financial report. This same Senator has done nothing in his life to enhance the well-being of the workers in Bermuda.

The finances of the BIU appears to be more of concern to those who have no affiliation or interest in the welfare of the unionised workers. Even a Mid-Ocean News columnist, who shows no concern or interest in the workers in this Island at any other time, has written that she is concerned about the finances of the BIU.

More of interest to me than these people?s concern of the state of the BIU?s finances, which I can assure you is in good shape, is the claim that unions are no longer necessary because all the major battles have been won. This is nonsense at two levels:

Firstly, there are the subtle attacks on the workers? interests. Outsourcing is one of the problems that unions face. By this, I refer to the growing practice of reducing the workforce in a business and placing the work that should be done by the employees of that business under the management of a private firm that is not organised. This practice must stop. I agree that businesses have to do what they must do in order to survive and prosper, however, where there is a partnership at work; alternatives should be looked at to avoid job cuts.

Secondly, it is a lie that the need for unions has diminished. If this is the case, then the unions of some of the most powerful professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, accountants and associations that are formed by business people because of their joint interest, would not be in existence today. However, the Bermuda Medical Association, the Bermuda Bar Association, and the Chamber of Commerce continue to be in existence today. As a matter of fact, those unions of professionals do not negotiate, they merely dictate the rates that we the consumer must accept. That is serious power! Let us all continue to be guided by the principle that workers represented by unions never get what they deserve, they get only what has been negotiated. And we must always keep in mind that this is always more than is obtained by workers that are not represented by unions.

The Bermuda Industrial Union is interested in the success of the businesses that employ our members and we are interested in sharing in that success. I believe that businesses that make handsome profits have a social responsibility to the country in which they have been successful. Businesses should not be able to make millions in profits and not contribute to the social well-being of others in the community.

The existence of trade unions is for the protection and betterment of workers globally. One of the objectives of globalisation is to make a product as cheaply as possible and to sell it at the highest possible price. A large number of companies operate in foreign jurisdictions in order to get cheaper labour costs which results in increased profits. A major objective of the Trade Union movement is to ensure that everyone gets a slice of the pie, not just merely the crumbs. We are also concerned with the exploitation of labour. This still occurs in many parts of the world not only in terms of adults, but child labour is a reality in many countries. For what purpose one may ask? The answer of course is for increased profits. However through collective responsibility of trade unions globally, we are able to decrease the instances of the employment of child labour. But until child labour is eradicated completely, trade unions will be ever vigilant.

Clearly economic and social development cannot take place by ignoring labour. Government should include all three social partners (Govenrment, Business and Unions) when discussing policies that affect workers. This is the ILO model. When all social partners are included in all discussions, tax concessions to businesses are more likely to result in some measurable benefit to workers. For instance, some of the profits gained because of tax concessions could be used to train or re-train workers. Traditionally the banking fraternity in Bermuda has been a significant opponent to trade unionism. Banks in Bermuda are typically non-unionised businesses and in most of them, workers are discouraged from discussing their wages. However, the employees of HSBC in the UK are represented by Amicus, Britain?s largest private sector union. In fact in May 2005, 20,000 HSBC employees took strike action over pay after the bank announced it had made huge profits but did not give a pay increase to the workers. How are workers in the banking environment in Bermuda expected to receive justice if they are not only non-unionised but are unable to meet to discuss wages and working conditions? I must note here that the Bank of Bermuda, which is a member of the global giant HSBC, while not yet unionised, has shown commitment to corporate social responsibility and has partnered with the PLP Government to provide affordable homes for our senior citizens and in the establishment of the North Hamilton Economic Empowerment Zone among other social initiatives.

By the way, Amicus is a well-known supporter of the value of the formal link between trade unions and the Labour Party in Britain. While in Bermuda there are those who attempt to discourage the relationship between the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Progressive Labour Party Government, we read that ?the relationship between trade unions and the Labour Party in Britain is rooted in the history and values of the labour movement. It was the actions of the trade unions, organising to ensure a political voice for working people in Parliament which led to the formation of the Labour Party in England. Labour parties in Bermuda and the Caribbean all emerged from the trade union movement. The trade union link ensures a healthy and clear relationship between the world of work and the Labour Party in government. It provides financial resources for the party, equal representation defends the Labour Party from political extremism and ensures that the legitimate needs of working people stay at the centre of the Labour Party?s programme and priorities.? In fact, in Britain, Members of Parliament are also members of a trade union, which is headed by MP David Crausby, who visited Bermuda not too long ago.

Since the election of the PLP Government in 1998 there has been much talk about a conflict of interest which is commonly described as people wearing two hats. Certain people have said that trade unionist should not sit as Members of the Government. It was all right for us to sit as Members of Parliament while the PLP was in Opposition, however since we are now the Government some believe that there is a conflict of interest. Strangely enough, the question of ?Conflict of interest? was never applied to major business owners who are also Members of Parliament.

When I was appointed a member of the Immigration Board by Minister Paula Cox an Opposition Member of Parliament complained that a BIU worker representative should not be on that Board because it is a conflict of interest, yet employers have set and chaired that Board before my time, but that was okay.

I ask you why is that since the inception of party politics in Bermuda employers were chairing Government Boards including the Board of Immigration and there was no talk of conflict of interest and no one was accused of wearing two hats? Are we to believe that these men were pure of heart? These were the same men and women who systematically kept two thirds of the population out of the main stream for no other reason than the colour of their skin.

The Bible warns that you cannot serve two masters. But the two masters that the Bible speaks about are the righteous and the unrighteous. My two hats are built on the principle of righteousness. The people who are complaining that there is a conflict of interest when a trade unionist is also a member of the Government are saying that one should act differently depending on what meeting one happens to be in. However I haven?t had that problem. Let?s face it, for some of them politics is not based on principle only ? it is based on self interest. For those people conflict of interest will always be a real problem.

On this point we may conclude that trade union leaders are best qualified if all Members of Parliament to represent the workers interest. Unions, more than any other group, deal daily with the interests of the workers who make up the greater percentage of the population in Bermuda and elsewhere, hence they deserve much greater representation than is currently the case. Countries in which this is frowned upon are either dictatorships or countries in which business establishments are firmly in control of government.

There are others in the trade union movement who are involved with the Progressive Labour Party Government. I have no doubt that more trade union leaders will take up the mantle to serve the people in Parliament as I have done for the past eight years. It is my hope that this service will not be looked at as a conflict of interest, but as an added benefit to the workers to have representation at another level.

I cannot end my final message to you as President of the Bermuda Industrial Union without commenting on one of the most pressing problems in Bermuda today ? the practice of racism. Since November 1998 a new buzz word has appeared in the vocabulary of some of members of the Opposition United Bermuda Party ? the race card. I, and other members of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party have often been accused of playing the race card. While segregation was outlawed in Bermuda decades ago, if we are honest with each other we must all admit that racism never died.

I am grateful in being able to make my last address to you, the membership, comfortable in the knowledge that this Union is grounded in strong principle and will continue to improve the quality of life not only for its members but for all workers in this society. We can take comfort in the fact that the labour movement has played a major role in the democracy we have today.

It has been a great experience working with the social partners of the BIU, e.g. John Harvey of HEB, Jonathan Brewin of HWP, Edwin Wilson, former Director of Labour, and others in the Labour Department, Dennis Tucker, former General Manager of the Sonesta Beach Hotel, Ian Powell of Hamilton Princess, Norman Mastalir of the Fairmont Southampton Hotel and Mike Winfield of Cambridge Beaches.