Corporation Workers Issue 21-Day Strike Notice
[Updated] With buses presently on strike and dockworkers on an overtime ban, another labour dispute continues to develop, with Corporation of Hamilton workers issuing a 21-day notice of industrial action.
Workers have filed notice due to their displeasure over the firing of two of their collegues, one being Michael Pond, whose story of being fined after slapping a teenager is now well known.
The workers displeasure with the situation escalated on Tuesday morning [Aug.16], with workers downing tools and meeting at the Bermuda Industrial Union headquarters, returning to work after lunch.
Chief Operating Officer and Secretary to the City of Hamilton, Mr. Edward Benevides stated, “The City of Hamilton has received formal communications from the Bermuda Industrial Union giving 21 days notice of industrial action to protest two staff terminations.”
“The City finds this action particularly disappointing given the last communications between us, about one of the terminations, took place some five weeks ago. It was clearly stated at the time that the City of Hamilton was prepared to quickly resolve the dispute by suggesting mediation and/or arbitration.”
“The second termination had not yet completed Step 3 of the grievance procedure. We are still of the opinion that these issues can be resolved using the existing mediation and arbitration services of the Department of Labour and Training and we look forward to a speedy resolution to ensure staff concerns are addressed and City services are not impacted.”
In addition to the three labour disputes listed above, prison officers are said to be considering issuing a strike notice in the very near future.
Earlier this week, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kim Wilson said, “The public is becoming very weary of these frequent occurrences of labour unrest. We are currently in a very precarious position regarding our economy.”
“We understand that the nature of the workplace means that disputes and complaints will arise from time to time,” said Minister Wilson. “We also understand the importance of upholding the rights of the worker and finding an amicable balance when disagreements arise between management and the employee.”
Minister Wilson continued on to say: “However, again, these are delicate times that we are currently living in and it is my hope that all parties would exhaust every single available avenue to find common ground solutions before engaging in snap industrial action.”
Well I’ll be, LMAO Bunch of Muppets.. Her we go again!!! Same ol Sh!t again!!
Well, I’m sure there are many landscaping companies looking for work that can maintain the city’s parks. There are private companies that can collect the trash. Construction/maintenance companies that can fix/paint whatever needs to be done. Any of you out there that offer such services or others go to COH and offer your services for good price. Any others?
I’m tired of this sh*t.
Nah, it wouldnt work. You would see projects being given only to certain contractors, and contract prices being well overinflated, plus certain government authorities benefitting personally on their own properties, etc, etc…..
WAIT A MINUTE!! Oh ya, that happens now…..
The BIU is truly pathetic and anyone who follows them is a slave.
Do they really need that many Corporation workers, 1 doing 3 watching.
JOKE A JOKE!! THESE LAZY B#STARDS JUST DON’T WANT TO WORK!! BUS DRIVERS THE SAME S…!! FIRE THEM ALL, AND GET PRIVATE COMPANIES TO DO THE WORK!!
12:30 PM Friday, August 18. Let every right thinking Bermudian who cares about Bermuda and our future assemble in front of BIU headquarters and show them they can’t push us around any more.
BIU your time has come.
No Justice. No Peace.
We SHALL overcome. We WILL overcome. We MUST overcome in order to be free.
By ANY means necessary.
Bermuda Power. Power to the people.
Correction: Friday, August 19!
At least the Corporation workers have given 21 days notice. More than the bus drivers have done.
My point exactly. The Corporations workers know they can be fired and replaced. The Bus Drivers? Same story, differant decade. Strength in numbers and the backing of a pathetic and greedy union. This gives a new meaning “to hell in a busbasket”.
Let the stress begin.
Um otta hair…………………………….
yep thats what i was thinking. At least there is warning.
Bus drivers don’t have to give a warning…
Heard Everest say it on the radio yesterday.
How courteous and within the law for them to issue the 21 day notice.
Not like the people currently in the illegal strike that Government doesn’t have the balls to do anything about.
I agree with @Onion and @Watchin completely. Fire them all and replace them. There are a ton of (smaller) construction companies that would welcome the chance to get some work. I can’t friggin wait for my passports to arrive so I can get the hell out of this f*cked up country. I’m seriously tired of all this sh*t. This country (island) has gone to sh*t. Get out while you can people.
You are KIDDING ME!!! All these people without work and these people want to strike??!?!? Inconsiderate b@$tards!! FIRE THEM ALL AND HIRE PEOPLE WHO NEED THE WORK.
Do you know how many people were screwed this morning because the buses went on strike!
Stop being LAZY @$$ BERMUDIANS and GO TO WORK. Then you wonder why employers would much rather hire a foreigner before a lazy piece of ISH local.
IRRITATED this morning.
Unless I see some picket signs soon I’m calling BS on any strikes.
You can’t call a strike and spend all day in bed. You walked off the job for a reason, time to go out there and make your case to the public!
Try to convince me that it’s allright to have bus drivers that smoke rocks en route. There are no drug test results to prove or disprove that statement.
Try to convince me that it’s perfectly fine for a grown man to bust a woman’s lip before trying to convince me that it’s fine to do it to a child, while on the clock.
You all need protecting from yourselves. You’ve destroyed the BIU. The BIU has no credibility left in the eyes of the public, and there’s a very apparent schism in your membership. You stand on the shoulders of giants and shit all over them.
WOW
I couldn’t wait to see who she was cause I had a real good feeling that this was the same person I had in mind. I have seen this Ms. Harvey woman on numerous occasions leave her bus running while fully loaded, get off and go into stores to pay bills, make purchases or do hell if I know what else. She has been warned of her behaviour repeatedly… And this is the sh&t the rest of you bus drivers chose to support and expect the rest of us smart Bermudians to agree with you on???? SMDH AT YOUR ABSOLUTELY PURE FOOLISHNESS….I swear I will never be able to look at most of you in a serious light again in my life….
@ Karma…wow…see there is always a bigger picture.
COH incident…i recall back in the day that if you were disrespectful to an adult you were disciplined and when you got home your parents disciplined you further and you were taken back to that adult and had to apologize for you actions. But nowadays its “don’t correct my child” parents KNOWING that their child/children are just off. Teachers have to go through the same thing, disciplining these children and parents are rinching or attacking the teachers for correcting their unkuffed children. Then when their children end up locked up or turning to the streets for guidance they wanna blame “the system” yet the most important and initial learning starts within the home.
I recall catching the bus one day and there were senior citizen patiently sitting waitn for the bus. soon as the bus came all the children jumped up and stood in front of the door to get on. I sqeezed my way through and made them all step aside and let the elders on. The childrens issue was “waaaahh they are gonna take up all the seats!” Some of these children nowadays could care less about an elder person. If i was this child’s parent…this case wouldnt have made it to no body’s court. The matter could have been dealt with between the adults and the child. So now through this incident it has given these children MORE of an incentive to freely disrespect ANYBODY knowing that they can SURELY get away with it. SMH.
I remember when I was coming up we waited for the adults to get on the bus first, and sometimes there were bus drivers who would tell us to let the adults on first.
Those days are long gone sad isn’t it!
I remember in the good old days when the hotel workers went on strike, and the guests and management had to clean their own rooms, and prepare their own meals. Some Hotels had to close all together. Those were the days.
I do not agree with this possible strike…Mr. Pond hit a young woman and as much as she deserved it we need to learn control and to turn the other cheek. People got together and paid his fine but he shouldnot be reinstated as that sends the wrong message – “that its ok to hit anyone if they say something you dont like”! The girl should have been made to do community service and it wouldnt have hurt to put her picture in the paper for all to see such a disrespectful young person. Actually her community service should have been picking up garbage all over the island and working at the dump shovelling garbage, a perfect punishment for a person who doesnt like stink!
Lets see buses now corporation workers?? What department will come next??????
ALL OF THIS IS GETTING WAY OUT OF CONTROL. 1ST THE BUSES,THAN TALKS OF THE CORPORATION OF HAMILTON AND ALSO THE PRISON WORKERS. WAHT THE HELL. IS THIS REALLY WAHT YOU WANT OUR YOUNG PEOPLE TO THINK IF YOU CAN’T GET YOUR WAY JUST STRIKE? AND PEOPLE WONDER AHY THEY ACT THE WAY THEY DO.. GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE
oh for f(*&# sake!
@ Sweetblack – They are getting it together, can’t you see? Smells to me like a ‘General Strike’ will be called in the very near future. Remember the last one? History lessons anyone? Look around and see all the labour tensions bubbling away beneath the surface. Everything is cyclic in it’s nature.
Anyone hear from Chris Furbert? Hasn’t GP1 collected him from the Airport yet?
Weren’t no orange juice in them cans that came from Jamaica but the crafty little pond dog escaped the dog catcher that time . And sweet little innocent old ladies came to the rescue to fuurther enrich this deviant .
Old Somerset Piggly Wiggly couldn’t wait to shed themselves of a particular cashier who skunked all of the resident dealers of everything from cats eyes to pee wee’s to the big bongies . Well aparently she moved on to greener pastures as a people moving ambassador .
Now both of them are trying to mess with peoples money and I say ,ONLY FOOLS WILL ALLOW THEM ! ! !
fire them all lazy sons of guns!! i firmly believe that if u strike for somethin so stupid like this you shud be laid off and same goes for the bus drivers! people are out there without a job and would do just about anything to have one and these suckrocks are goin to strike for what reason? fire them all they clearly arent needed at the job or an asset to their company….smh! ridiculous