Employers and employees will not get away with skirting around issues that have profound effects on the Island's white collar workers if the Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU) has anything to say about it.

BPSU secretary Ed Ball Jr. said yesterday that the union had dealt with both managers and workers who had "fabricated events" to suit personal agendas in reporting on grievances.

And he emphasised the importance of moral responsibility in Bermuda life, pointing out that much of the time people refused to be held accountable for getting things wrong and that the values of humility and honesty are rare commodities.

He said, from his experience, he had found several Bermudians to act "very emotional, fearful, rude, selfish and hostile".

He also blasted members of various local organisations for not expressing their opinions openly when it comes to controversial issues that they feel strongly about.

"Some citizens are very fearful to challenge controversial issues and are actually scared of reprisals," Mr. Ball said.

"I ask, `what reprisals?' You are a Bermudian, living in a democratic society, afforded universal rights and freedoms. Being responsible and humble denotes a willingness to think twice, to constantly re-examine our beliefs and actions, to correct our wrongs and to listen very carefully to what others have to say," he told Hamilton Rotarians.

And he said that he felt Bermuda was no better off in this new millennium "as moral values and moral obligations have deteriorated badly".

He called for a return to "the three Rs of respect, reputation and responsibility".

"In these very turbulent times, social struggles for power, property or privilege, cloud the reality of what is right or what is wrong. It is one thing to complain about what we do not like, but we have to work out what sort of society we do want," he said.

Mr. Ball said he believed that one of the keys to understanding what respect is was learning how to appreciate the problems of other people.

"It means taking time to request rather than to demand, to consider how your actions affect others, to acknowledge that other people's view matter as much as yours.

"Nowadays, some Bermudians do not slow down enough to listen to the needs of others. Listening without judging, overly criticising or interrupting others tells people that you value their opinion. This should garner the same consideration from the person receiving respect as the person projecting respect."