Chamber of Commerce executive director Joanne MacPhee has been suspended without pay after an outburst at union members during Wednesday’s industrial action.

Chamber president Ronnie Viera said the Chamber “in no way condones the statements made by Mrs MacPhee”.

“The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce represents all of Bermuda and wholeheartedly supports the rights of unions and their membership,” Mr Viera said, adding that the matter would be dealt with “seriously and swiftly”.

The full executive board is to meet and discuss further action, he said.

“We wish to reiterate that we find the statements made by the executive director to be unacceptable and offensive, and not at all reflective of the values or viewpoints of our organisation.”

It came shortly after a red-faced Ms MacPhee apologised for losing her temper during the marches by union members.

She thanked Bermuda Industrial Union head Chris Furbert for calming the situation.

“I made the inappropriate decision to stand on a balcony and yell down that they should go back to work and be glad that they have a job,” Ms MacPhee said, adding that her judgment had been clouded by her own bitter experience of unemployment.

Shadow Finance Minister David Burt branded the remarks “highly unacceptable” and “reprehensible”.

“It has no place in a diverse and civil society where we must have respect for the right of workers to organise and participate in peaceful protest,” Mr Burt said, calling it “a manifestation of the anti-Bermudian and anti-labour attitudes that continue to divide us into two Bermudas”.

“Healing this divide requires concrete action not apologies after being caught,” Mr Burt said. As a former director of the Chamber of Commerce I am appalled that the executive director of an organisation that claims to be politically neutral would incite Bermudians engaged in a peaceful march in support of worker’s rights.”

Mr Burt urged the Chamber to send “a strong message to Bermudians that there is zero tolerance for this behaviour from within their ranks” — and suggested that the group call for her resignation.

Addressing members in the aftermath of the dispute resolution, Mr Furbert also voiced concern at the showdown.

“Too many times the BIU leadership has been accused of coercing and inciting our members,” he said.

“Yesterday we had a member of the public that tried to coerce and intimidate our members. It was no ordinary member of the public. When you have the executive director of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, which is Mrs Joanne MacPhee, telling our members to go back to work and we could have had a mini riot yesterday — and I’m not trying to over dramatise anything — but when you have a person in authority inciting workers and I don’t want to get to no race issue but guess what, for Mrs McPhee to make that kind of statement, we could have taken it that way.”

Mr Furbert added: “We had a peaceful march, it was well-organised, we listened to what the police were telling us and there was no need for her to do what she did yesterday and she owes this country and our members apology.”

He called it “an eye-opener for the country” and an indicator of the current state of industrial relations.

Asked if she’d called the march a potential “mini riot”, Ms MacPhee said: “A bit of an exaggeration, but those who heard me did react very negatively, and it is true that Mr Furbert personally defused the situation. I am grateful to him for doing so.”

She said she’d been on private leave from the Chamber due to a family matter and “happened to be at a Front Street establishment when the union members walked across as part of the protest march”.

“Mr Furbert is quite correct — it was completely inappropriate, regardless of my position in the community. It was inappropriate to enforce my views in such a public way. I would like to make a public apology to the union and its membership for my misjudgement.”

Calling jobs “an emotional issue” for her, Ms MacPhee explained: “I was unemployed before I had my current position. It was a devastating time for me and my family. That’s where the emotion came from. It just pushed a personal button in me. I said it twice, and I said something about how it was more important to be feeding families. To do it in such a public way — how ridiculous on my part.”