Leader Of The Opposition’s Labour Day Message
[Labour Day message from Leader of the Opposition Marc Bean]
The historical struggle for freedom, justice and equality has provided our people with many lessons. Perhaps the greatest lesson is where there is unity, there is strength. As we fought for equality of opportunity, better wages, better working conditions and better benefits, it was our unity of spirit and purpose that overcame the wealth, the power and influence of those who sought to maintain the status quo.
Today, we find ourselves in a new struggle. A struggle to retain all that we have fought for and all that our forefathers sacrificed for; the preservation of some measure of fairness and justice in our own country.
We have seen those who seek to roll back progress employ every weapon at their disposal to divide us, silence us and implement an agenda that benefits the few and not the many. To those who know their history, the use of the courts as a weapon to tarnish reputations, drain resources and strike fear into others is not new, but is a resurrection of one of the oppressive tactics of the past.
Now more than ever our unity is our strength. Pastor Martin Niemoller once wrote:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Socialist.Then they came for the Trade Unionists. and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.
When the courts were first used to target members of the PLP, many or us stood silent. Some of us thought that those who had been targeted had somehow brought this victimization upon themselves and held other uncharitable erroneous notions. We in the PLP will not make that mistake.
We oppose the systematic targeting for destruction of our young black, Bermudian leaders.
We oppose the implementation of a version of shared sacrifice that says the many must sacrifice while only a few share the benefits.
The Bermuda Progressive Labour Party stands with the Bermuda Trade Union Congress, because we believe in a Bermuda where workers are treated fairly and with decency and dignity.
The PLP stands with Bermuda’s workers because you are us. You are our neighbors, our friends, our family. We rise when you rise and we fall when you fall. We laugh with you in joy and weep with you in pain. We share in your struggle and all that we seek to do, all we dream of achieving is for your benefit.
Together we will resist those who seek to take Bermuda backward and as sure as the setting of the sun, we will soon write an end to this dark chapter of our island’s history.
Yet as we seek to preserve the hard fought victories of the past, we must also look forward into the future.
We must look beyond fighting for the privilege of our children to seek jobs from the children of those that we, our parents and our grandparents had to go to for work.
We must look beyond fighting for better pay and benefits and towards profit sharing, management and yes, even ownership.
We must look beyond having more money to spend on frivolities, to a vision of group economic strength, influence and power.
We must speak out against shiftless and irresponsible behavior and stamp out the notion that a unionized worker is a lazy worker.
We must come together, share our wealth and resources and set to work on transforming our country into one that works for us and is run by us.
Putting our unity towards minding our business is the path to a better Bermuda for generations of yet unborn Bermudians deserving of a future of self-determination, freedom and justice. It can and must start with us; United, committed and strong.
- Marc Bean
Did he actually say these words, or were they just part of the draft speech?
“Together we will resist those who seek to take Bermuda backward and as sure as the setting of the sun, we will soon write an end to this dark chapter of our island’s history.”
TAKE BERMUDA BACKWARD????? Are you kidding me? What did the PLP make better? Does Marc understand that Bermuda (pre-PLP) had almost no unemployment, low crime, highest per capita income, little debt, and considered one of the top ten places to list and so on. What were we left with that was better after 14 years of the PLP! Even Labor relations were at an all time low a during the PLP 14! The Labour unions couldn’t even get along with the Labour Government. Please somebody that was not on the friends and family plan, educate me!
Bean for Premier.
‘where there is unity, there is strength’
LMAO…straight out of one of Maggie Thatcher’s Speeches!
Where was all this “wonderful WE stuff” – 1998 – 2012? Sorry forgot it was all ME stuff back then…
I know the feeling..I wondered the same from 1609-1997.
Even I will excuse you for your ignorance this time, being your brain is 406 yrs old, why would anyone expect it to be still working????
Yes Kangoocar bury your head in the sand and pretend like you guys won the privilege you enjoy fairly…
I’m not one to sit around waiting for you of anyones elses approval or like.. It a fact that between those dates black people lived in a very unbalanced unfair society.. Of course I don’t expect you to ‘get it’ of all ppl.
You might want to expand your study of history.
It is also a fact that between those dates a LOT of people, regardless of their skin colour, lived in a very unbalanced unfair society.
I am, however, pretty certain that you weren’t one of them.
You are certain I was not one of them? And what makes you certain about that? My families ability to pass-on any inheritance was all but erased by this unfair, unbalanced society in a very well known case that was Tucker’s Town. Have we collected ourselves and rebuilt? This remains a work in progress and remains a struggle up to today. Add to that the barriers and discrimination that continue today, you wonder why some in a certain segment of society have all but given up? Well not I. But don’t you dare act like you’ve walked in my shoes or the shoes of my great grand parents.
Nor you in mine
Mr. Bean and the union leaders live very fortuitous lives off the backs of workers.
The victim mentality does not jive with what is really going on. However, nice speech and God bess!
You folks are too much… You want to see fortuitous lives? go up trimingham hill, fairylands, and Tuckers Town. That was off the backs of workers.
Mr Bean do pray rell us where is you money tree or money orchard for that matter.
Will let you into a secret, it takes brains and hard work to make money.
We still have over two BILLION dollars owed that was left by the previos Administration.
You did not mention how we should pay this off.
And we have had more than a BILLION dollars added under the 2.5 years of the OBA. With no plan on how to pay this off.
You all are getting very boring, having the same lines on repeat. It’s time to move forward.
PLP debt from mismanagement or worse.
OBA debt due to PLP debt.
Yes we need to balance the budget. The shortest route to this would be drastic cuts to the CS and large tax increases. The OBA do not appear to be ready to do this and I do not believe the PLP would either, so we will have to wait and hope for economic growth out of the OBA initiatives.
To be clear, I am not a hardcore supporter of either party. If I comment on an article, which I rarely do, it is to discuss/comment on the article topic. However, all to often we read comments from persons who are clearly OBA supporters, making comments that have absolutely nothing to do with the article. Or they make a lot of comments on here that are simply not true and never are honest in their point. Using the same lines over and over is getting boring.
OBA debt due to PLP debt – not entirely true.
The fact is that the OBA has done NOTHING to improve our debt situation in 2.5 years. They have actually increased, doubled the debt, since becoming government. Independent economist say the government will increase it more because of Bob Richard’s miscalculation of the money he borrowed before and therefore will need to borrow again sooner than expected. So, then WHEN will this government take ownership and responsibility of the debt situation increasing under their watch?
yes large tax increase but not to our precious tax avoiding IB sector…heaven forbid they should help to clean the house they live in…
you really don’t understand how Bermuda’s economy works do you?
If you think things are bad now, what happens when we’re not a tax beneficial jurisdication and the IB companies leave……smh!
Precious is correct. The sooner you and others accept that and appreciate it the better off we’ll be.
If the drastic cuts to the civil service are made, like you are advocating, want that have a dramatic effect on the economy as a whole as that money will not be circulated in the manner that it will be through people’s wages, not to mention, the increased burden on Financial Assistance. I could be wrong, just saying.
Did I advocate it?
“Same lines on repeat”? Doesn’t that sound familiar? I find it interesting that you say its time to move forward, yet your party is constantly living in and drudging up the past! Cant have it both ways!
It’s not my party. I haven’t declared who I support. Let’s say I voted for the OBA in the last election, I didn’t vote for them or their supporters to keep using the same boring lines. There is obviously a big reason why the PLP is no longer the government. I am saying your party and their supporters use the same repetitive lines and they are getting old and boring two years into an OBA government.
14 years under the PLP all bad – same lines. Not true.
PLP left us with a billion dollar dept – This is the same boring lines we hear, as if we don’t know that already. This gets mentioned on repeat anytime people are talking economics. The fact is OBA have also increased our debt, doubled it, in the past 2.5 years. I don’t want to hear about the PLP. OBA are now the government. What are you going to do about it?
Look under the hood – Really! At what point are you going to remove your head from under the hood and starting coming up with a clear plan to fix the problems you have found under the hood.
Can I not have these concerns without being associated or tied to one political party. If I dear to question something about the OBA I must be a supporter of the PLP. Oh Please!! Small-minded!
Its amazing to me that you are so defensive and going on about how the PLP are not your party and why would I associate you to a political party when in your 4th sentence you do the exact same to me! “Your party and there supporters” “Small minded” you say lol, try hypocrite on for size!
FYI I don’t support OBA! I have never lived in Bermuda during their governance and probably never will. I did however live in Bermuda for PLP’s time in power and its still fresh in my mind!
Sorry if my comment’s upset you! Everyone’s entitled to there opinion.
When I said your party, I was giving you a taste of your own medicine. I guess you didn’t like it.
If the PLP and the other combined Opposition members ceased making unsubstantiated (no evidence has yet emerged) allegations of corruption and wrongdoing against the OBA MPs and Senators there would be no court actions. Simple. However it is apparent that these are deliberate actions taken against the OBA for political purposes and merely continue to hinder the new private sector investments needed to provide jobs, thereby hitting the very people the PLP say they are protecting. So much for pro Labour.
Wow does this all sounds so familiar..
I know their playbook is so predictable. This is the behavior of people who haven’t really had to think creatively or critically because everything has been afforded them. Now that the game is getting gritty they resort to the tactics they once derided. Hypocrites.
The ‘creativity’ of the PLP got us into this jam.
O MY….ATTACKING ANOTHER YOUNG BLACK MEN!!
FRIST IS WAS JASON NOW MARK.. BLACK PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION…HERE WE HAVE TWO YOUNG BLACK MEN OUT IN THE COMMUNITY DOING SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR THE PEOPLE OF BERMUDA…..AND LOOK AT THE NASTY COMMENTS..
Are you a five year old child ?
if he is, he would be in good company going by the rude and immature comments on this post and on most post attributed to the PLP each day on this site,, ho hum.
you were picking your nose everyday at school and sucking your thumb instead of learning how to write
Positive??? WHERE?
Pffft….what exactly is positive about all the nonsense this man spews? WHAT? He and his mates are hell bent on bringing this island down. Your faith in this man and what he stands for is very very misplaced.
It’s not about age.
It’s not about skin colour.
It’s about the ideas and opinions expressed.
I will never, ever understand how some people will value skin colour over substance. How the heck would you decide what was right and wrong if you were blind?
Give us back our Money so we can rebuild.
“United We Stand, Divided We Fall” Practice this at home and people would not be in such a mess. My father always taught me “Stick together as a family and you will make it”.
yada, yada, yada
First two-thirds: rubbish.
maddog has been living in a closet for 15 years wow Bean continues to out do himself when you think he couldn’t go any further backward he finds a new gear well done Mark i thought we had reached the bottom with you but boy do you continue to dig a deeper hole we Bermudians are not as stupid as you think we are
Thank you for making my commitment stronger
What Bermuda needs is to get. Away from party. Politics and. Just elect. 2 people. From each. Parish to run this country because. After being in the house a watching how both party members act they both look like little stupid children on both sides.
Commitment to what? Your continued hegemony?
seems whoever wrote this was not MarkBean
“I educated the country on positives of marijuana for children and nobody spoke”
“I let homosexuals know they were immoral and not to be accepted as equals and nobody spoke”
“I made very insulting comments toward a lady and nobody spoke”
“I made everyone aware the evil oba had to go so the plp could step in and save the country from what it largely created and nobody spoke”
“I ran as party leader for the second time and easily won and nobody spoke”
“in fact the only person that spoke allot was me cause I like sayin stuff and my friends tell me I am on point…actually now that i think about it… nobody spoke”
There was nothing worth listening to this past week by the PLP,BIU,BPSU. The membership are not As evident by the numbers.
Quote from Bean: “Together we will resist those who seek to take Bermuda backward and as sure as the setting of the sun, we will soon write an end to this dark chapter of our island’s history.”
Which dark chapter is that? The $1bn in a hole chapter? The economy in a mess chapter? The loss of some 7,000 people chapter?
Honestly: the PLP love to rewrite the history books, don’t they …
“All right, poured a little water on my soul”
Kevin at least one person is that stupid
For On the job training all you will get,”One foot in the door”.
Why would I want to try to teach some to do my job ?
On the job training is not necessarily about replacing the person doing the training. It can also be about helping other people advance as businesses expand and new opportunities appear.
No one in the workforce should stay stagnant in their skills, they can learn from others and help to train those coming up.
Community.
It’s a good thing for all.
Send us someone that knows how to have a job and a decent attitude, and we will GLADLY train them to do the job.