Former Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess probably didn’t anticipate being overshadowed at his own retirement party last week, but that’s what happened when Tourism Minister Ewart Brown delivered a tough speech to the union wing of the labour movement.

The content of the speech was not entirely a surprise, although the occasion was. Usually, one would expect invited speakers to give the usual retirement day speech describing what a wonderful job the outgoing president had done, how hard he would be to replace and so on.

Quite courageously, Dr. Brown did not entirely take that route. Instead he told the union that it had to stop holding union meetings in the middle of the day, it had to take care not to go out on strike on a whim and it had to recognise that service levels in Bermuda were not what they should be.

He did praise the union — and Mr. Burgess, who deserves credit for this — for the improved labour relations scene in the hotels, and he also noted to applause, that he had demanded of the Fairmont chain that it move on appointing a Bermudian general manager. But the overall tone of the speech was unmistakable.

Dr. Brown said service standards had to improve and the union had to understand that hotels need to make a profit if tourism is to survive and thrive.

This was a speech that needed to be made. In some ways, only a Progressive Labour Party Minister could make it — without causing a general strike — and it was one that was long overdue from this Government. To be sure, Dr. Brown has touched on many of these themes before, but rarely in one speech.

This newspaper has not always agreed with all of Dr. Brown’s initiatives for tourism, and it is still concerned that the overall approach tends to be unfocused. But there is no arguing with results and in the last few weeks Dr. Brown has been able to put a number of key pieces together that can only help tourism.

One is the arrival of Jet Blue Airways. Others include the massive reinvestment plans for Ariel Sands and the Fairmont Southampton. These developments, which depend on planning approval, could do much to make Bermuda price competitive and to improve the Island’s tourism infrastructure.

The final piece of the puzzle is service, and this is what Dr. Brown’s speech last week was about. He knows very well that cheaper fares and modern buildings mean nothing if the arriving visitor is greeted with lacklustre or hostile attitudes.

It is possible that Dr. Brown was aiming his speech as much at Chris Furbert, who took over as president of the BIU the next day, as it was at Mr. Burgess.

Mr. Furbert has had something of a reputation for taking industrial action first and talking later, when most issues can be resolved with more jaw jaw and less war war.

It is in the interests of the union as well as the community generally for tourism to get on a financially stable footing, and the union needs to be an contributing partner in this effort. Naturally, the union must defend the rights and interests of its members, but it needs to do so as a partner to the tourism industry and not as an adversary. Mr. Burgess has done much to create this atmosphere until now, and Mr. Furbert needs to continue it.

And clearly, he knows where Dr. Brown and the Government stand.