Bermuda can weather the recession if Islanders pull together Labour Minister David Burch said today but he also hit out at the culture of greed which had exacerbated the crisis.

In a wide-ranging speech to Government workers at the Bermuda Public Services Union HQ he took a swipe at failing bosses paying themselves bonuses, employers who deduct health and other benefits without passing them on and Bermudian landlords who charge extortionate rents for houses their parents worked hard to pay off.

He urged Bermudians to work hard and improve their training to give themselves a better chance in the downturn.

Here is the full text of Sen. Burch's speech

Good afternoon.

Let me begin by saying what a pleasure it is to be invited to the BPSU.

Ms. Hart, thank you for the invitation to address your membership this afternoon. I am joined today by the Director of Labour and Training, the Hon. L. Milton Scott.

There are many areas of my Ministerial responsibility which would be of interest to your members. But today I will focus on ‘How the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs & Housing is working to help Bermudians during the economic downturn’.

To begin with I will deal with the topic in relation to what the Ministry is doing, and then I will talk about some things that I need you to do to assist.

There is no secret that Bermuda (like the rest of the entire world) is going through an economic recession. Recession is a word people don’t like to hear, but today it is a universal reality. To reassure you – let me say: we have been through it before, and we will go through it again.

“To everything there is a season.”

Let me say that your Government and this Ministry is approaching this crisis with level heads and a fierce determination to guide us all thought it with the minimum of damage.

I believe that the events and fallout of this recession are more catastrophic because of the ‘G’ factor. For those of you who are wondering what the ‘G’ factor is ….. it is the Greed factor.

Greed can be seen as the foundational cause of many of the events that led to this recession.

The greater the greed, the deeper the ramifications.

An Executive is responsible for the loss of billions of dollars for the company where he is employed, yet he continues to receive millions in bonuses and stock options. On the other hand, a bank teller miscalculates one deposit and is fired.

Extortionist landlords charge mercenary rents on properties that their parents worked hard to leave to them debt free.

Their parents would roll over in their graves if they knew the types of prices their children are charging in rent.

Employers take money out of employees pay cheques for benefits, but don’t pay it into the relevant agencies.

Resulting in employees without healthcare or social insurance benefits.

Those are just some examples of greed.

I could go on - and on – what about contractors who quote a king’s ransom for the job, but only pay their workers the minimum wage. How much profit is too much profit?

Greed is what has sent our economies into a tailspin.

As the Minister responsible for Labour it is partly my responsibility to ensure that all qualified and available Bermudians are suitably employed. I can tell you that the Department of Immigration will be looking at which industries need us to implement moratoriums on issuing new work permits. Presently the construction industry has my focus and attention.

Meaning, that Work Permit applications for the construction industry are given special attention. All new and renewal applications are personally seen by me.

Construction firms applying for work permits for electricians and plumbers will find some delay in their approval. I am prepared to look in every nook and cranny for a Bermudian before approving a work permit for a tradesman when there is an unemployed, or under employed, Bermudian.

But I need your assistance during this process. If I do not know that you are unemployed and looking for work I cannot tell the contractor where to find you.

Please encourage your family and friends to register with the Department of Labour and Training.

When the contractor calls you to offer you employment with an hourly rate less than what you received in your previous job, don’t tell him you aren’t turning off Fox Sports Channel and getting off the couch for less than $35.00 per hour. Remember, the reason he is calling you is because you are unemployed.

Also, if you wish to receive a call back, keep the minutes topped up on your cell phone. Leave a secondary number of a spouse, friend, somebody who has a land line where potential employers can reach you.

Please prepare a résumé and keep it current. A résumé provides a potential employer with a snap shot of your work experience. Calling or visiting job sites and leaving your telephone number is not going to help the employer know what skills you have.

If you need help preparing these documents please feel free to stop by the Department of Labour and Training located on Reid Street East by VSB.

The hospitality industry will be the next sector to receive my attention. I met yesterday with a delegation from the hospitality division of the BIU to discuss and plan actions to assist this sector. You would have heard the Premier and Minister of Tourism and Transport announce the decrease in visitors to our island. Well … a decrease in visitors requires a decrease in personnel to service them. If half of the restaurants are closed and the occupancy levels at local hotels are down significantly then it follows that the personnel requirements should also drop.

However, layoffs in the work place should be proportionate to the ratio of employees. If there are 50 percent Bermudian and 50 percent non-Bermudians, that should be the ratio for layoffs and redundancies – 50 / 50. In some cases – if there are layoffs – one should look to keeping the Bermudian employees.

The Immigration Department will be looking closely at applicants made redundant applying to reside and seek alternative employment. It appears that some persons who have worked in Bermuda for a number of years have sent all their money back home and don’t have money to repatriate themselves. Persons looking for alternative employment after redundancy are directly competing with Bermudians in a contracted market. Clearly, if all their money is back home; then someone back home needs to wire some back to Bermuda so they can purchase a ticket home. Now employers must give an undertaking to repatriate their guest workers and we will be enforcing this policy.

Let me be clear, before giving any permission for foreign workers to reside and seek alternative employment, (and permission will be jealously given) they will have to demonstrate that they possess the financial means to repatriate themselves if they should not find employment in the allotted time period.

It is always my priority to ensure that Bermudians remain employed but it is even more so during these tough economic times.

Another measure employed by the Ministry to help keep Bermudians employed is the policy adopted by the Bermuda Housing Corporation that their building projects will use the traditional block and mortar method. Non-traditional building methods call for a high level of foreign construction personnel who are familiar with this method. So during this period all BHC projects will employ the traditional building methods. This building method is well known to Bermudian builders and will help to provide jobs for Bermudians.

I have reached out to my Ministerial colleague the Hon. Glenn Blakeney, JP, MP the Minister of the Environment and Sports, who has responsibility for the Department of Planning and asked him to place a moratorium on construction projects that use non-traditional building methods. I am happy to say that he has agreed and we will soon share this news with the wider community.

The One Stop shop – while not fully operational until July – will commence operations at the Department of Labour and Training on March 1.

Also on March 1 the Department will begin opening during the early evening hours to accommodate those persons who cannot get there during 9 – 5.

Career Fairs will be held approximately every six weeks. The first being held two weeks ago for those who had previously registered with the Department.

You must also make it your priority to ensure that you stay employed.

Assess your work level with a view to improving any shortfalls. Bermuda College is free, why aren’t you attending? Certification is the way we need to be heading to ensure that we remain employable. Our children return home with college degrees, but employers are also looking for certifications. The graduate with a BA who obtains their CA or CPA will be employed before the graduate without one.

Bermudians … let me be frank. I know that one cannot control with whom they fall in love. But … (for the love of country) we must stop selling our country in the name of love, lust or greed. The Department of Immigration, with assistance from the Registry General will be introducing some radical changes to address the issue of sham marriages. We will not countenance a non-Bermudian who is “married” to a Bermudian but living with their non-Bermudian partner, while holding a spousal letter obtained through their “marriage” to the Bermudian.

When you fall out of love, lust or greed and are no longer living with your spouse, this change in your marital status must be reported to the Department of Immigration.

Non-Bermudians who have a change in their marital status must come to the Department of Immigration to regularize their status. It is illegal to continue to function as the spouse of a Bermudian when this is no longer the case. Employers of such persons must submit an application for a work permit if they wish to continue to employ them.

The action of helping non Bermudians hide from the Department of Immigration has severe implications for both the Bermudian and the non-Bermudian.

It is an offence against the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act 1956 to harbour an illegal immigrant (Section 50a). Said offending illegal immigrant once caught runs the risk of being deported and placed on the stop list. The Bermudian can expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

We have zero tolerance for this type of behaviour and you can expect to hear shortly of some very radical policy changes within the Department to arrest this unacceptable behaviour.

My final plea is this … Bermudians stop selling your country. We are a very small island and we have a duty to save and preserve it for our children and grandchildren.

We can all survive this cycle of recession if we work together. We must go back to creating neighbourhoods within our communities. If you know Mrs. Smith works in the hospitality industry and is only working three days per week. Enquire how she is making out and offer her a hot meal.

I don’t know how much clearer I can make it – that we are facing some very challenging times – no need to panic – but we must be sensible in our approach and we must work together. I have every confidence that if we eliminate “I” and always consider “we” – we will have to marvel at how well we fare the current significant challenges we face.

Thank you.