The United Bermuda Party yesterday pledged to work with international business to create opportunities for Bermudians to climb the corporate ladder rather than putting term limits on work permits.

At a party Press conference, Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons said the UBP had considered term limits when it was in power but had concluded the practice did not help Bermudians break into the top ranks of international business as intended. In reality, he said the practice amounted to little more than the creation of a "revolving door".

"It's like rearranging the pictures on a wall: A Canadian is simply being replaced by an American. That's not what we want and it's not what Bermudians want," Dr. Gibbons said.

The term limit policy, which was put into effect by the current Government in 2001, states that work permits will not be renewed beyond six years unless for the position of a "key" employee in which case it would be extended a further three years.

Dr. Gibbons said: "Let me be clear on this point: The current policy on work permits is not working for Bermudians". Backing up that assertion, Dr. Gibbons pointed to workforce figures which he claimed indicated that the number of non-Bermudians in the workforce had increased during the PLP's term with the percentage of expatriates working on the Island rising from 23 to 27 percent in the last four years. He added: "Since 1999, more than 770 non-Bermudians jobs have been created, while 1,000 Bermudians jobs have been lost.

This is simply wrong."

Dr. Gibbons stressed that the six-year work permit policy could ultimately limit opportunities for Bermudians if businesses felt their ability to do business was restricted. This, he said, could push businesses to move their operations elsewhere : "Because of term limits, the entry and middle level jobs that younger Bermudians want and need are starting to go somewhere else - to Ireland, the US or Europe, but not here."

He added that he did not expect to see a mass exodus of international business from Bermuda although that could happen in the long run: "Companies will not leave tomorrow, but as they grow they are looking at other places to put these jobs and that's not good for Bermudians. That's why we are taking a different approach."

As an alternative means of helping Bermudians secure high-level management positions, the party proposed a plan entitled Promote Leadership and Education; Developing Growth for Everyone (PLEDGE). And the party said participating companies would be rewarded for taking part with payroll tax relief.

The UBP added that its plan was in response to a cry from voters for help. Warwick South Central UBP candidate Gwyneth Rawlins said, on average, one in three of the people she had spoken with while canvassing in recent months had expressed serious concerns over work permit policies and that Bermudians were finding it increasingly difficult to break into international business despite holding the relevant qualifications.

UBP MP Maxwell Burgess echoed that concern: "Today, Bermudians are coming home from university with the right skills. But what we hear over and over again is that they lack the experience to get good jobs in international businesses. Our PLEDGE programme will fix that problem (by) including a new high-level, internship programme that will in its first year, give a significant number of Bermudians the opportunity to intern at the offices of international businesses here in Bermuda around the world."

When asked what buy-in for the proposal the UBP had from the Island's international business sector, Dr. Gibbons said a cross-section of international business management had "demonstrated interest and responded positively to the idea".

He concluded a bright future for Bermudians could be the net result of the initiative: "A future where the majority of senior management positions in our international businesses are filled by Bermudians. That's our vision ..."

Yesterday Labour Minister Terry Lister told ZBM: "The Opposition have made it very clear and they have taken off the sheepskin clothes and shown they are wolves, and they have taken away the New UBP and shown they are the old UBP, and it is business as usual.

"I am glad Grant Gibbons has said what he said and I hope the electorate hear it and respond."