BIU: Work Permits Should Be On Hold
BIU President Chris Furbert hosted a press conference this afternoon [Dec.5], and spoke about the recent staff layoffs at The Reefs Hotel in Southampton, general unemployment numbers in Bermuda, and said he feels all work permits should be put on hold until Bermudians “get a fair share in the workplace.”
On November 7th, Reefs General Manager Nagma Walker said, “As a part of restructuring and realignment of The Reefs Hotel & Club, 3 positions in the Maintenance Department were made redundant. These decisions are difficult as we value our employees and their contributions.
“We empathize with them and are working with the Bermuda Industrial Union to assist in finding alternative employment for the 3 individuals. During this difficult economic climate, we are doing everything we can to minimize job redundancies while at the same time, maintain our high service standards for our guests.”
Mr Furbert said that the three workers will remain laid off, and he recently met with Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry Patrice Minors to discuss the matter. He expressed the Union’s concerns over this, and said as the positions were made redundant, they cannot be filled by anyone else.
The 22-minute audio of the press conference is below:
Mr Furbert also spoke about general unemployment in Bermuda, and referenced labour statistics [shown below].
“Probably 15 – 20% of employers in this country are not doing the correct things,” said Mr Furbert. “They are trying to fly underneath the radar, and that 15%, maybe there needs to be a more stern warning to them if they get caught…”
Asked about the concept that some Bermudians have a sense of entitlement Mr Furbert said, “As far as someone being entitled to a job, I think first of all the Bermudian has a right to apply for the job, they must go ahead and of course present themselves correctly, but just to say that as I am Bermudian the job belongs to me, no, the Union would not support that categorically, but we still say there should be fairness….”
Speaking on the issue of work permits, Mr Furbert said “Whatever work permits have to be issued to any employer in this country, I would like before the Government issues one work permit, that – for now – all work permits should be put on hold until Bermudians are seen fit to get a fair share in the workplace. And once that has been done, then and only then, should we reopen any work permits for any migrant workers.
“I understand the need for migrant workers to be here, we have too many jobs for Bermudians to fill. If you look at the latest number here, it’s 38,097, I think is the number they gave in the latest report. It’s 38,097, and we don’t have 38,097 Bermudian to fill those jobs, we may have 27,000 or 28,000 Bermudians. But we don’t have the other 9,000, so we need to have the migrant worker to assist with our economy.
Video of Part #1 of press conference:
When asked if he was talking about white collar or blue collar, Mr Furbert said, “I am talking about any area. First of all we have people that have probably lost their jobs at exempt companies, at banks, we have people who have been accountants, lawyers..and all these sorts of people have lost their jobs over the past two years.”
Asked whether the BIU would like to see a moratorium on work permits, Mr Furbert replied: “The BIU would like to see a moratorium on work permits, yes.”
Video of Part #2 of press conference:
So, Mr. Furbert believes there should be a moratorim on ALL work permits? “The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance.”
VOTE OBA
BIU needs to make Furberts job redundant.
Maybe that is what he is worried about more than anything else. The gravy train has run off the tracks. The two former Presidents left him crumbs.
Am I the only one that cannot understand a word Chris Furbert says ????????
nope..
This man would never hold a position such as his, in any other country in the world.He talks gibberish and under his leadership millions of the members money is missing.He has no credability snd every time he speaks I am uneasy at how poorly he comes across.
what sharky said!
Ditto
I also have a hard time understanding what Furbert is saying… he seems to have a mouth full of marbels…..and he is always so angry !!!! he reminds me of Lavern Furbert, these two are loosing credibility amongst their B.I.U. members..
Oh be quiet you old relic.
The BIU has done NOTHING to help Bermuda at all in the last 20 years… except help themselves to a portion of peoples hard earned paychecks and then flushing tourism down the drain.
Eff you BIU.
Correction: you surely mean the last forty years.
I stand corrected!
WTH are you talking about?? Tourism?? The UBP made that extinct to focus their attention on International Business !!
Did you just start understanding the Politics in Bermuda 4 years ago? Or when the PLP came to power?
The Union represents the core workers of Bermuda and the numbers they carry alone has significant say for this country. Instead of trying to comprehend the message he is delivering all you fools would rather criticize how he speaks..smh
..so Tourism was “extinct” in 1998? Listen, it was on a decline, no doubt, but not extinct. The BIU assisted the PLP in putting the nails in that coffin. How many unnecessary strikes driven by the BIU have our tourists endured in the height of the season? The BIU has made it a habit of defending absolute nonsense ! Instead of calling on their members to be accountable and raise the bar higher, they defended all manner of wrong doing by threatening strikes and actually striking. The Govt should have put them out of business when they couldn’t repay the bond on that Pro Active debacle. One of the greatest failures of black people in Bermuda is the unwillingness to hold each other accountable to a higher standard.
You sure are ignorant to Bermuda history.
The BIU a useless organisation which does nothing to help Bermuda.
The BIU ruined tourism in the 70′s and 80′s and are still continuing their trend of ruining Bermudas tourist trade as evidenced this summer by their tantrum like bus strike.
In the 1980′s the BIU condoned workers standing on dining room tables at hotels and yelling like zoo animals at the good paying tourist customers who had no idea what was going on.
What was going on is the BIU was throwing a tantrum because a bartender had been fired for stealing from customer.
The BIU taxi strike of the 80′s saw tourists walking from the airport to their hotels.
Bermuda’s tourism trade never recovered from these fiasco’s and it’s all the BIU’s fault.
Government Statistics – Facts and Figures
1998 Cruise Visitors 188,300
Air Arrivals 368,800
2009 Cruise Arrivals 318,500
Air Arrivals 235,900
1998 # of beds = 7,472
2009 # of beds = 5,820
1998 visitor expenditure cruise = $64.9 million
air = $266.4 million
2009 visitor expenditure cruise = $43.1 million
air = $438 million
Notice that with almost double the # of cruise passengers in 2009, Bermuda took in less money! Air passengers outspent cruise passengers tenfold in 2009 even when arrival levels were at their lowest under then Minister of Tourism Dr. Brown!
You are pulling figures in 2009 and that falls into the Recession era for the world. So you agree that more people came but spent less?? That has to do specifically with the recession and that speaks for itself.
The Tourism industry was killed by the UBP in the 80s. Back in those days our tourist were young college students. Now since the IB came our focus toward bringing older Tourist to the Island.
Interesting how you can’t respond to the truth of the matter which is the BIU killed tourism.
Bro. Chris tell it like it is!!! When the so-called job creators create jobs for BERMDUIANS then we can talk about work permats and perhaps so-celled “permanant residency” for part-time FORIEGN exempt company ppl. Until then, the Union forever. UNTIED we stand, DIVIDED we fall.
“BERMDUIANS”
“so-celled”
smh
“UNTIED we stand, DIVIDED we Fall”. LOL
you pple do not understand the dignity of defience which bda’s unions represent. This is why you do not undrstand Bermuda and BERMUDIANS. you pple must learn what dr. king said “the labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, government relief for the destitute and, above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome”. we shall overcme again!!!
Aside from the obvious comedy that is Furball, and why would anyone defend that miserable throwback…I am more intrigued BDA Playa, why on earth you would offer yourself for ritual humiliation on here when you have no grasp of the English language – which is disappointing, but to have no grasp of something called a spell-check?…well that’s plain dumb. I’m sure Furball is delighted you and him are untied together, you deserve each other.
Although I often disagree with BDA Playa, in his defence this time – spell-check would not have caught ‘untied’. It is a word in its own right.
Further to this topic, perhaps it’s time for me to voice a thought I’ve frequently had when reading the posts of those who miss the point of the message and criticize the spelling and/or grammar of the messenger.
With the advent of texting, and the subsequent shortening and phonetic spelling of words, surely it is time to concentrate on what people are trying to say, rather than their education levels – which are not often as obvious, and are really not so important, when you come right down to it. Even the illiterate (which I am not trying to label anyone on this blog) have thoughts and feelings about what is happening in their country, and they should have the right to voice same without fear of criticism for the format.
Debate on content, not the messenger, is fair game. Personal criticism stifles commentary.
I totally agree… the more folks who come on-line to post comments the better. Who cares about their spelling and use of the English language! It is what it is. Can you understand what they are trying to say? Well that’s all you need to know….
“you people” should learn how to spell correctly, then maybe, you would be considered employable!
the dignity of defiance….you people….Dr KIng…….the captains of the industry…………………..who is this, EB?
suck on this idiot because your people are stealing this so called nestegg….and taking all of “us people down with them!
Well written.
United or Divided….Bermuda has already fallen….not comming back from 13 yrs of stupidity
You can’t fix stupid.
I’m not sure about untied, but chris furbert is certainly unhinged for suggesting a moratorium on all work permits.
BIU: standing up for the workers, as long as they are Bermudian workers. I thought working class solidarity knew no national borders, ho hum
This just shows how ignorant Chris is of the way the Bermuda Economy operates. If you stop issuing all Work Permits, eventually there’ll be no work.
I believe it was 1980/81 when the BIU called a General Strike during Peak Season. Apparently, at one point, visitors were forced to carry their own bags all the way across the Causeway to the airport! I wasn’t here at the time, so I may have some of this wrong. But I believe most feel that this event represented the beginning of the decline of tourism in Bermuda.
HAHAHA what a genuine joke BDA PLAYER. years ago it was united we stand devided we fall. that slogan was changed a few years ago to DEVIDED WE STAND AND THROUGH IGNORANCE AND UNITY WE FALL. AND YES IM A MEMBER OF THE BIU! Unfortunately its through brothers and sisters like you that our brother president continues to lead this membership down the narrow brick road. It,s time for all members and followers to open not just thier eyes but thier ears as well. Everytime I attend a general meeting or what used to be considered a general meeting.That was until your bro president decided that only certain devisions are allowed to attend I walk away laughing because all Chris has to do is mash up his face, start sucking his teeth, show a bit of ghetto mentality and everyone shuts up following his nonsense.Just like the loss of co-op our so called grocery store. Where and what happened to it?? And before long that big green building we know as the BIU will be known as the former biu headquarters. You people better take ownership of what belongs to you before you have nothing left to speak of. Anywhere in the world bro president and his crew would of been sent home on the next bus smoking.
Leave the union if you want becuase you are clearly not one for SOLIDRITY!!! Unlike you, so-celled bus driver, I KNOW my labour movement is the last nobel protest of the bermuda working man against the power of incorporated wealth. You DARE attak Bro. Chris because he want to put BERMUDAIN jobs first??? What wrong with you, so-called bus driver??? You want to take food out of your own childrens mouth so the FORIGNER can use bermuda as a “treasure island” to hide money from the tax man of his own country??? Congressman Neil call bermuda exempt business what it really is: a sofisticated form of tax evasion!!! Who you going to look to when Congress shut this tax evasion down??? The FOREIGNER doesn’t care about you bus driver. he wont be in bda anymore, anyway. Bro. Chris will be one left picking up the pices. And he is the one who will be looking after you bus driver no matter your ingratefuledness.
Bermuda player I should,nt even waste my time answering but I will. I truel feel sorry for you if you think for a minute that christ furbert really cares about you.I hope you got a banana raft ready if not your going to the bottom. You need to look no further then phc in warwick under is so called leadership. Esso got thier gas station making millions per year. phc got lots of money in exchange and the members of phc got nothing more then two $5000 trailers only here recently. Prior to that they had two broken down pink and blue buses up there as club house and changing room not to mention the pink and blues were a gift from DR. Brown. Now lets go to school at berkely and the bond.The membership never knew anything of signing of such bond until we were threatened for its failure to produce. Hence had everything went according to plan only a few hands at our biu wouold of benifited and I can assure you neither yours or mine would of been one of them. You call that UNITY HMMMMMMMMMM I SEE IT AS STUPIDITY.
.
Mate, you need to wake up and smell the roses before you and your union are looking UP at those roses!! And please learn how to damn well spell, you are butchering the language.
Why is Elmer Fudd is running the BIU?
BDA Playa, every time you come on here you show us how ignorant and uneducated you are. It’s no wonder you can’t understand why Elmer Fudd Furbert is such an idiot.
Look what he did to PHC. Still no club!
Hey BDA Playa – Umm I wonder if maybe XL or someone should make you their new COO or CEO. Judging by your spelling, you as a “Bermduian” are eminently qualified…lol…”untied we stand”. Why not read what you’ve written before you post and look like an idiot.
So what do you do,when you own a business that is all bermudian staff and a holliday or hollidays run consecutively and the full time staff don’t want to work regardless of extra holliday pay? Yes I understand it is there right to “not work”. but when you ask, “can you at least work one of the three days off” with extra pay, the answer is usually. “no”, I would rather stay home and get paid to not work period. Makes things that much more difficult in a recession to keep the business when every day that your closed cost thousands of dollars.
It leaves you in between a “rock and a hard place”.
I think you missed the fact they layed off 3 Bermudians and kept 4 guest workers. As usual the first to get axed in our own country is the Permanent resident. While all these asians come here for a better life having 2 children in 3 years !! Read the damn article before trying to make a point !!
I agree with Brother Chris’ views.
We need to do more to ensure that Bermudians are able to participate in the workforce.
Try educating them.
@sand even with education many Bermudians are out of the workforce !! I can tell you wouldnt know any of the struggle people are going through because you’ve most likely been spoon fed your hole life. Probably had a house and millions given to your spoiled ass. Then you come here to spew you nonsense !
Don’t forget the course in work ETHICS.
oh please hush up Mr. Furbert!!!!! I have seen LOADS of young bermudians get hired into the landscaping business and NOT ONE completed a WEEK! Work permits on hold my AZZ!!
I drove into town on Sunday morning at 11am and witnessed 30+ Works and Engineering employees standing around laughing and talking. I didn’t see ONE person working at the time and it was wayyyy too early for lunch…
So how do we have people making double and triple time off the taxpayers to stand around and do nothing when others are losing jobs? It’s clear these individuals look at overtime as an entitlement!
Here’s an idea – abolish overtime and instead employ the unemployed on the nights/weekends!
I saw it tooooooo!! our tax payers $$ down the drain!!
And me – East Broadway, noone was doing anything, it looked like a lovely way to spend a sunday. What a waste of money.
Me too! Couldn’t believe it!
Me too – I’ve written to Minister Weeks to complain – suggest you guys do the same.
I was amazed to see at least 10 workers in the grounds at the parliment building this past Friday setting up the Christmas decorations.One guy was holding a cell phone to his ear while wrapping lights around a small tree.Three others were chatting and laughing while a man tried to untangle a string of lights.He threw them away a few seconds later into a trash can.We’re broke and these blokes are taking a Piss.
I saw that too, I was driving with my husband and we both commented on how many workers were standing around having a good time when they should have been working…… not good when we are paying for this.
The Christmas Display on the Cabinet grounds looks quite amateurish, IMHO.
Reminds me of the work crew responsible for building bus shelters. hehehe takes them approx three months from start to finish. Yet i watched a few members from the bethel ame church in shelly bay build the bus shelter across from the church in just a few short days. Or the wall up in warwick just past lindo,s grocery about a year to build. another genuine joke
Yes, the infamous ‘Million Dollar Wall.’ Traded for about 50 feet of sidewalk no one will use. What a joke.
You have to wonder. One of the service clubs built the bus shelter across from Monpelier Rd. in something like one weekend.
Why are we paying for these do nothings?
Because Triangle – if we don’t Bro Chris will call a strike!!
BDA Playa? I also read your postings under the story about the handicapped tourist who was berated by the local bus driver about her wheel chair.
IMO you must be either a comedian or someone who just likes stirring the pot with your provocative comments.
First of all you can’t spell a lick and you sound ignorant as hell. If I didn’t know better I would assume that you are actually an intelligent person who is purposefully dumbing down his or her comments just to get people heated for your cheap thrill. I refuse to believe that you are actually as stupid as your comments would have us believe.
But then again I might be wrong.
Every hard working Bermudian with solid work ethic and who can speak proper English has a job. End of story. Bermudians with work ethic are the most sought after commodity in every single industry from IB to labour, as a Bermudian I can stand against any guest worker in my field and thus I have a job. And any poster here who claims they have an accounting degree. Hr degree etc. etc. but they don’t have a job due to a guest worker are 1:delusional as to the reason they do not have a job and 2: Have not realized that anyone who can pay for a degree will get one, having a degree is insignificant next to work ethic and the ability to form relationships and communicate.
We need to realize that the union is a mirror of our society and that is one that looks for lowest common dominator and minimal expectations (their accounting skills are a fine example, only 10 years late, no big deal….oh we could never have honored the bond..? oh well…’our’ government will not make us anyway – their expectations of us are right on the money.)
I agree 250% with you
@Kraken – Could not have said it better myself
Great post @ Kraken!
Although I am betting that there may be some of those who lost IB jobs, who may have the necessary qualifications as spelled out in your post, but may not yet have found replacement jobs. There aren’t many jobs out there and there were quite a few out of work. I am sure those who are already working are holding fast to their positions – if they have any self-preservatory sense, that is. That doesn’t leave much space for taking on new staff.
Lest, you forget, all Bermudian workers owe a debt of gratitude to the Bermuda Industrial Union. The benefits that we take for granted today, were fought for by the BIU and its members.
Chris Furbert, and those men who came before him and served as President of the BIU, need to be commended for their commitment to improving the lives of the workers in Bermuda.
It’s most unfortunate that few Bermudians know their history.
And that debt Laverne has long been paid and the Union and its executives owe Bermuda and the union members far more than they have been given…chris furbert is a raging fool who will be the sucking the union dry until the end…
It’s most unfortunate that a man of relative power and influence is so uninformed.
The benefits “that we take for granted today”, will be worth less than the square root of zero as long as morons like this continue to engage their mouths before putting their brains into gear.
Will your hypothetical history lesson point out how much better Bermuda was before 13 years of corruption, incompetence, idiotic protectionism and belligerence or will it be more revisionist account where the workers rise up and throw handicapped people of buses?
13years of corruption sounds a lot better then 40years the UBP put in..
This is not a valid excuse anymore. If you keep living in the past you will never move forward. Focus on today and tomorrow and you will have much better success than thinking about yesterday. And remember the UBP did not bankrupt this country, the PLP did. And that fact WILL NEVER change.
Straw man argument is still a straw man argument.
I’ve asked this question a million times! Please tell me what the UBP did that was so terrible that the PLP hasn’t done themselves. One thing the UBP did NOT do was to bankrupt the Country. Everyone knows that the PLP has out-UBPed the UBP, in fact, almost turned into the UBP, complete with its former leader and several UBP members in tow.
See?? I can tell you dont even know what the UBP done. You better ask somebody before you think they were all angels !!
You obviously don’t have a clue either.
Lavern. we Bermudians know our history…look at the former presidents of the B.I.U. and the hell they caused with tourism !!!! spitting and using foul language at our airport…Lavern we know are history….. and guess what the B.I,U. members have senn the light….
I agreed with you LaVerne until you mentioned chris furbert. The last reputable Leader of the BIU was Brother Ottiwell Simmons and still today is very well respected in this community. After his leadership the biu began slowly running down slope and now under the leadership of whatever his name is its hanging on the edge of the cliff.
Exactly. I have a lotta time for Ottie.
amen
True Ottie is an angel compared to Chris Furburt but remember who brought Bermuda to its knees in 1981.
Those few days in the summer of 81, when he called a general strike over a hospital issue, were the days when tourism died in Bermuda. No, he was not solely responsible for the death of tourism but the BIU played a large part in its decline & demise.
Mrs. Furbert, I’m gathering you meant “Least, you forget…”. I will give you a break as it was probably a typo. But it points out part of the reason why we Bermudians are out of work. We need to get more educated at all levels and ages, we (some of us) are NOT able to keep up with what the workplace is demanding.
So let me ask you a question, if someone were to listen to the absolutely stupid statement your BIU president is making. Just WHO is going to fulfill the work permit positions he is stating should be “put on hold”?!? You are going to try and defend a stupid statement like that? Really?!? I know you HAVE to be smarter than that, you have to be! Please, at least, let that be true.
And for the record Mr. Simmons and the BIU have done wonders for Bermudian workers over the years. Chris Furbert has done exactly NOTHING!!! He is actually undoing all the good that the BIU did BEFORE him. When will you lot realize this and get rid of him and the rest of the brain dead at your executive levels and below.
Really, you are going to defend him/them? Really Mrs. Furbert?!? Tell me it “ain’t” so please.
James, Mrs. Furbert was correct, at least in her spelling. “Lest” means “for fear that”, as in the phrase “lest we forget” which we hear every year at the Remembrance Day Service. Where Mrs. Furbert erred was in inserting a comma after “lest”.
Mrs. Furbert very seldom puts a foot wrong grammatically. She was the beneficiary of the good education that we all had access to back in the day. You are quite right in saying, though, that many Bermudians of subsequent generations are unemployable because they did not have that same solid footing in the classroom.
when correcting someone make sure you are right or you may look like a jack a$$.
Well mate, I stand corrected. Sorry Mrs. Furbert, but I did say it wasn’t important. So I don’t think I’m that big of a jack ass.
Its funny you chose to call me a name but didn’t bother to respond to the important part of my response. I will take that to mean you are in agreement with the rest of the response.
Exactly !
“We need to get more educated at all levels and ages, we (some of us) are NOT able to keep up with what the workplace is demanding.”
There is often a clear lack of commitment to hard work, to excellence and attention to detail. Even making time is a problem for many. And dishonesty seems to be getting worse as well.
Look in the mirror before blaming someone else.
So you think work permits should be on hold LaVerne?
How does that square with the Premier yesterday announcing Permanent Residency for job creators? Are you suggesting we tell job creators to get lost now? Cox has been talking about ‘less red tape more red carpet’ and you want no work permits. You obviously completely disagree with Cox.
Disagreement in the PLP ranks, LaVerne?
I guess it’s another day so the PLP changes its mind again about what it wants to do. None of you have any clue what the hell you are doing.
Laverne, The issue is nothing at all to do with a “history lesson” to me this illustrates that a) the BIU and yourself do not understand the problem and that b) in no way can either of you be a part of the solution as key elements to the destruction of Bermuda’s economy both in different ways – one via being outspoken and the other via inconveniencing tourists and ruining the OTHER pilar of our economy. The sheer lunacy of both actions and comments make me laugh that people think we should just throw all foreigners out here and fit some square pegs into round holes…. Bermudians are NOT qualified to take all jobs and plus all the demands on the businesses are making them ALL reconsider if business is worth it here to them… You need to promote the jobs at the high level and it benefits all Bermudians as there is money in the economy to spend.. For ONCE i must agree with the stance taken by gov currently, all be it that it was way too late and the last regime did some SIGNIFICANT damage. You need to encourage job creators and then we can all stand to benefit otherwise Bermuda will be a third world at a very fast pace. Wake up and smell the roses and let that chip on your shoulder go! Bermuda is falling apart… let go of the past and recognize that unity and common sense is required to fix it, something you seems to have a defecit of or inability to illustrate seemingly… No wonder Paula pushed people who think like this out, she recognizes the destruction it does to all of us. At least she seemingly gets it… the rest of you guys are stuck in the past hence are useless to aide in the future.
-Noel
With all due respect Ms. Furbert, the BIU died a long time ago. Perhaps around the same time the PLP died and was exchanged for these shadows of its former glory and relevance.
Here’s an idea – ignore the ignorance coming from Bda Playa and we’ll find a better Bermuda for ALL Bermudians. He thinks Chris Furbert is MLK! MLK was a bright man, not an ignorant and arrogant one!
Furbert: Have you realized that is we get rid of any more people off this Island that we don’t stand a change!!
Just some numbers for all of Bermudians: We have less 3000 work permits!! that means that just in groceries alone $ 15 million less into our local businesses, that means less employment for Bermudians, how about the rents that they don’t pay anymore, gas, plumbers, painters, masons, TCD, payroll tax, Social Insurance, etc, etc, etc!!!
This is all less income to our Government and locals!!!!
Furbert wake up you idiot !!!
How monumentally stupid can one man be?
He’s the guy that pushes the peak of the bell curve of intelligence way to the “y” axis. If you don’t understand this, then ah…never mind…you probably vote PLP anyway.
Actually, he alone could not push the bell curve of intelligence in any direction along the y-axis. You see, the bell cure represents the fitted normal distribution of the population measures of intelligence. It accounts for all values of intelligence distributed amongst the population. Taking this population to be Bermudians in Bermuda then not only would we have a population size of 63000 odd observations but, of more significance, Mr. Furbert’s measure of intelligence would already be accounted for in the distribution. Now, he may appear in one of the tails of this distribution according to the construction of the measure (much as you might appear in the lower tail if the measure heavily weighted statistical prowess and your comment above is any indication) but his measure would not move it. It could not with such a large population that has been measured or an accurately designed and performed survey to measure intelligence.
…funny!
Huh…??!
Bravo! I like the cut of your jib sir!
Well played.
how stupid can you be,you have do get the european back , they raise the sellary and quality and then you have do get wierd of all the asian and indians because no bermudian can afford do work for 14 dollar an hour like they do in the hospitality,or any other industry.and then you can start replacing them with bermudians.but thats do much do ask for because its bermuda a another world ,lol, bermuda is going down very quick and its not the peoples fall
the funny thing is , an any other country furbert or brown or all the other highly intelligent people bermuda has do offer, they would not even be allowed do drive a bus
All of you can bash the union all you want. However if there was not a union in the hotels, the inept management would railroad good Bermudian staff untill there was no choice but to hire from overseas and then they can do as they please. At the end of the day the union has the hard working Bermudian workers back, period.
As I have said on many occasions, and I will continue to say it, the difference between Chris Furbert and those of you who post under those stupid names is that he has the courage of his convictions.
Now you are quoting Martin Luther King. Check you history books again and see what people like you had to say about MLK when he fought for change. Now, you all revere him and even try to change what he had to say. People of your ilk did the same thing with Nelson Mandela.
The high tech lynching continues. Not one of you will ever show your real face (or name) because you are all cowards!!
right,lol, wake up
ok you wanne go back do history again, if jewish people would complain so much about hitler then bermudians about slavery,there would be no more germany.lol thats all we ever speak about black and white. get over it
Slavery was a asset/practice for over 200 years, then when it was abolished and we were kicked to the curb and discriminated for another 50 years.
The jews were attacked for less then 10 years. After that they were defended by many countries in Europe and even America. They were then given a country and millions of dollars in reparation. Now they run the media, diamond industry and New World order. So why would they complain??
Ganja Mon: you are wrong about the Jews. They have been attacked since Biblical times. Look up the original ‘diaspora’ and, in more recent times, ‘pogrom’ in Russia, just for starters. The Holocaust, although not solely a Jewish slaughter because blacks and the physically and mentally challenged were also murdered, was only the most recent of the extremely prejudiced responses to the existence of Jewish people.
Ask your self why did GOD send us JESUS please think about that!
The continent of Africa was raped of its people, land and materials.
There is no way to compare a Jews struggle to that of the negro? We are still struggling to get forward and are now almost, on a level playing field after 300 years of injustice and ethnic cleansing..
Try thousands of years for the Jewish struggle GM.
Exactly what ethnic cleansing are you talking about in Bermuda
On the contrary, it is highly unlikely that despite your references to “high tech lynchings” anyone here would do harm to Chris Furbert. However it has been proven that you indeed would go out of your way to harass, or worse, anyone who posts using their name. One of your recent examples was to ridicule Michael Fahy, by pretending not to know how to pronounce his name. This after you both being Senators and sitting at the same desk in the Senate.
Laverne Laverne Laverne,
Really do you ever get tired???
A great defender of all jack a$$e$. The only thing you are really trying to protect is the salary chris is paying you to sit around there doing nothing other then being on the talk shows daily and printing plp propagenda in our worker voice.give it a break
8 votes ………………….
LOL
Those who post under screen names do so for good reason. They want to keep air in their car tires. They want to keep the paint on too. They want to maintain their health. They don’t want threatening phonecalls late at night. They don’t want the method of keeping people ‘in line’.
Who we are matters little. The contents of our opinions do.
Yes, this is EXACTLY how Mrs. Furbert operates… Like a school yard Bully
I want to send Paula Cox a xmas card thanking her for letting her go from Senate…. Seriously thats one of the best things she did since being in office. She gave us all an early xmas present!
-Noel
Honey, when you live in the past you can’t move up and forward in the present and the future. Haven’t you heard that those that are “Stuck” mentally are the ones that can’t let go of the past.YOU ARE STUCK and making Bermudians STUCK! Come on Lady, Would you please get your head out of the past and out of your A$$ for heavens sake!!! You as one of the “leaders” of this country should be pushing for a better Bermuda, but all you do is create hatred and spout a load of BS!! Quote the past my dear, just keep quoting. The past is where people worked hard for their rights and belived and had hope to build a better future. That no longer exist.You can’t quote the present because at this point there is nothing here worth saving! And ps, Chris Furbert is an ANGRY moroon that just instills anger in others!
Why would they… I show my face and name and illustrate conviction to call you and others out on your faults and you resort to personal threats and insults even after a party member of the PLP called you out on it and cited you as an “embarassment” as you are little more than an outspoken coward and a bully yourself Mrs Furbert. Do you not wonder why you only got 4 votes versus Wayne? Or why you are out of Senate? Way to promote unity going forward for the next generation. Pass on YOUR hate, miseducation and insecurities to the next generation. PLP – “Moving Bermuda Backwards” under the leadership of like minded individuals to yourself.
-Noel
Maybe all the foreign BIU members should withhold their union dues.
Bro. Chris wouldn’t be able to pay LaVerne’s salary at the end of the month. Then how will she afford a new car?
The construction division had a multi-million dollar fund which has disappeared within the last decade . This work permit crap is about smoke and mirrors . Why hasn’t the union leadership explained the decline of a fund set-up to support construction workers in times such as these .
`But we don’t have the other 9,000, so we need to have the migrant worker to assist with our economy`.
Why is Mr. Furbert calling foreigners, Migrant workers? Keep talking down to the people that put money in our pockets and whatch us all go broke.
Wake up Bermuda
Im sure you mean money in their countries pocket. Other then the food they buy all the rest leaves the country !
Actually the term ‘migrant’ refering to workers from foreign lands is not considered derogatory at all elsewhere.
It is a much more pleasant term than ‘expat’.
can’t agree with you there TD…Mr Furbert and others choose the term deliberately as one would describe an illegal immigrant who crosses the border to pick crops and goes home at the end of the growing season…when all of the migrants go home the likes of Chris Furbert will be selling those gold teeth bought on the backs of union workers…..
call an election paula!
Raymond Russell knows what the BIU has pulled on its members over the years. They have $ 75k left in the bank according to the figures I saw recently…..hardly any money to help the workers, whilst the high salaried union officials continue to live large…..
I know what the actions, behaviours and threats have caused in contributing to the mass exodus of major hotel chains over the past 30 years……Bermuda is on its knees in Tourism and the BIU has a part to play in this. The sad fact is Bermudians are 1000% responsible for the FALL of ROME (BERMUDA) YES UBP / PLP / BIU….. That is the true Bermuda Triangle ladies and gentlemen. A poisonous triology of opposing camps.
The results have been everything I said they would be……Only We can fix this…..BUT we have PISSED so many folks off, our reputation STINKS……We continue to move at a SNAILS PACE. We continue to deny hotels gaming. We continue to provide CRAP public transportation/education. We continue the madness. Any fixes are dripped out like Chinese water torture…….Unless there is a MEGA new vision with a BUSINESS PLAN, executed without political BS or BIU nonsense, we will truly sink……We are at a dangerous crossroads. My hope is that the young people have had enough of the BS, the self enriching politicians, and the myopic dinosaurs that continue to strangle the lifeblood out of Bermuda – those dinosaurs that are part of the UBP(OBA)/PLP/BIU problem. Immigration policies have CHASED folks out of here. Bermudians have lost jobs as a result of hoteliers pulling out, or expat CEOs going elsewhere for LESS hassle. Filipinos have been vilified, and locals have been in lala land intoxicated with entitlement sickness. Some entrepreneurs have been blocked politically or in dealing with bureacracy either in Government, Civil Service or COH……
As monitor said so well 20 years ago, THE BERMUDA CRABS still need no lid on the boiling pot of water……as you can bet any Bermuda crab trying to escape will be pulled back down by another Bermuda crab……..
It is time for the OLD guard (in all camps) to move aside – enough is enough Bermuda. A strong leader is needed here who has zero tolerance for BS or racial manipulation that still plagues this terminally sick, political and racially divided island.
It is time to get real. Who wants to see this farce of Chinese water torture politics ended ?
i am with you
Well said Tony. You know that you are beating your head against a wall don’t you. The Monitor Group, at great expense, was brought here to help us out of a declining tourism industry. We spent time together on a committee for that. Many many hours given & nothing to show for it. The major recomondation was for a political free Tourism Authority. Some 20 years later it still has not happened.
In the past 13 years tourism has gone from decline into freefall. Thousands of jobs lost. Many businesses no longer exist. All because from top to bottom, managers & employees, none of them have the combined will to make a change in how service is given.
Meanwhile our competitors rub their hands in glee & Bermudas self destruction led by an inept Government that has no clue of what to do other than form another committee.
Read my lips: No Tourism Authority EVER!!!How can you ppl suggest govt give PUBLIC funds for tourism to a group of hotelers/businessmen/bar owners ect. not anserable to the PUBLIC!!! That is not the demacratic way!!! I do not even think such an idea is legal under BERMUDA LAW. Ridculos!!! Ypu ppl have plenty of money so go and spend it on yur own makting if you want … you not getting PUBLIC money. Exenpt cos spend there own money marketing bda and so should you. We will not let you ppl put the hands of the clock backwards and go bak to the days of the 40 Theves. I have news for you: — this is the NEW Bda and ther is no going back!!! Not now, not ever. This is Bermuda for all BERMUDINS not just for Front Street and union-bursting hotels and nightclubs ect. What your problem??? There are RULES now and those RULES must be followed by all. No excpterns for you ppl …
I don’t really know where to go with this, it’s just stupid on so many levels. I assume, therefore, that BDA Playa is a troll.
Ignore him/her. I no longer read BDA Playa posts. I don’t expect A level grammar or spelling here but I do expect thoughts to be laid out in some sort of orderly manner.
Same with those whose only response is to launch into a personal attack. They are not worth the response time.
My comment about an indapendant tourism authority is stupid because it comes from me??? Your hero Jim Wollridge say the same thing!!! Is he stupid to??? No PUBLIC funds should be given to a PRIVATE urganisation that is not ACCNTABLE to the PEOPLE!!! No, none of my tax dollars will be spend without REPRASANTATION!!! That is the WAY IT IS!!! What you pple say if govt want to abolish Ministry of Labor and give it’s budget to the BIU!!! I can just imgine …
you are actually growing on me now BDA Playa…you must have a reverse spellcheck as it is difficult to imagine that many misspellings
likewise, PUBLIC money should NOT go to the Present PLP -led Government: “that is not ACCNTABLE to the PEOPLE!!!… “
Oh Lord, BDA Playa!!! Please, please, STOP!!! I actually think you are a very clever satirist, because nobody could say these things and be serious.
I would be laughing if I wasn’t crying.
“How can you ppl suggest govt give PUBLIC funds for tourism to a group of hotelers/businessmen/bar owners ect. not anserable to the PUBLIC!!!”
As if the government and the BIU were actually answerable to the public. They should be, but they are not. They do as they please with our money, and we have no say in it at all. Protests, demonstrations and petitions don’t make a bit of difference. They do as they want, until it’s time for elections…
What you really mean, I am convinced, is how can people suggest that government let go of the purse strings to people who are not answerable to the government. I wish we could have an Education Authority too!
Respect Pastor Syl. Best post of this string
If you check, the PLP have been giving checks to black owned tourism businesses for years.
Tony, I HEAR you.
Belcario
You and I and Dale Butler could write the plan before lunch and make it happen….AH but the CRABS……those damn CRABS……………..
The union are me myself and I, and to hell with Bermuda. Time to close it down and just get on with it.
Do we have a rift between Cog and the BIU now?
Cog is, belatedly, starting to engage IB. True, it’s a mixture of double speak, nothing concrete, half promises and “maybes” and “possibly’s” and all delivered in that syrupy condescending tone that’s like listening to fingers on a chalkboard, BUT, it’s an electioneering step in the right direction.
Brother Chris appears to be saying “no”. Interesting.
A country run by incompetents.
Tony, I agree with you 100% well said.
Less than two minutes into video #2, it’s fascinating to see how Chris Furbert’s distinct change in tone when going from speaking with an Ex-pat reporter (judging by the accent – White) to a Bermudian reporter (again, judging by the accent – Black). Whilst both questions posed by both reporters were clearly valid, germane and appropriate, his tone, facial expressions and general body language denote a considerable amount of aggression and hostility when addressing the first reporter and yet when he addresses the second reporter, his tone, facial expressions and general body language are noticeably more relaxed and he appears to be far more accepting of what is being asked of him. It would be very interesting to hear, from him, why this is! The difference in his demeanour in such a short space of time suggests that there is a level of discrimination, very much on his part, between one reporter and the other. Given that the questions appear equal, as stated above, could it be that his discrimination is founded on another factor?
Obvious, but the camera never lies.
It constantly amazes me how a woman who is so enamoured with (as we should all be) a group of freedom fighters in Bermuda oh say about 50 years ago, and has such a good memory for “pulled mortgages” and the like is so against people anonymously having their say for fear of reprisal today… and often the fear is what SHE would do with names if they were actually known.
Laverne, unless this is an act, and we’ve known each other long enough I don’t think it is… you’ve become what you professed to hate many years ago. Please think and reflect on that. The oppressee is rapidly becoming the oppressor and instead of a lot of people in Bermuda fighting for their former ideals, they’re too worried about “courage of convictions” to actually hear the message of people who truly care about this island but would perhaps rather not see their wife/children harassed etc.
A work permit hold is the quickest way to END this island in less than 6 months. But hey, no real son of the soil Bermudians will be impacted right, solidarity! Until nobody’s left to pay rent, or buy groceries, or etc etc – and how long until there isn’t enough hard currency to get the Oleander to keep coming to bring food in? Like it or not, this island needs the outside word, but certainly not the other way around.
In reading all of the comments posted above I can see why the island is in the state that it is in and I am going to go there and say it!!! WE are in the
state that we are in because WE JUST CAN’T ALL GET ALONG!!! plain and simple that’s it!!!!!! As BLACK BERMUDIANS we don’t work together we work AGAINST each other and that is where our true downfall is. We bash each other instead of offering solutions. So what if one feels that Chris’s approach is unethical and “off the hook”? What is your solution? criticising instead of offering a solution!
I admire him because he is willing to “step to the wicket” for others no matter what the outcome! All I see on here are a bunch of complainers..,,my question to you is “What have you done lately?”..Oh I know..bash others for their mispellings, their thoughtless ideas because they are not the same as yours and so on and so forth! If we as blacks “pulled together” instead of ‘pulling each other down” we would see progression….
racist.
How dare you call me a racist!! and if I was to repond ‘like your momma” you would get offended!! How can i be a racist if I myself am black??? get a clue and while your at it get a life!!!
How can someone who is Black be a racist? Look up the definition! The EXACT SAME WAY A WHITE PERSON CAN!!! So, whilst sandgrownan searches despertately for a clue and a life (as per your heart-felt recommendations) why don’t you get a simple dictionary. Now you have a lovely day.
The fundamental issue here is that we are in an economic crisis, caused in the main, by the idiotic protectionist policies of the PLP. Their failure affects everyone, white, black, yellow, green whatever. Our recession is an equal opportunity recession.
The minute you start brining race into this discussion you lose credibility.
@ Dynamo..I know what I meant by my comment..sorry if you were not able to interpret it as such (not everyone can read with understanding)…..
@ whateveryouwanttocallyourself.. that’s alright Sweetheart. No need to apologize or make excuses for yourself. Clearly you are challenged in being able to convey your thoughts in a coherent manner. The important thing is, you tried. ‘A’ for effort. Very good. Well done you! You’ll get there one day.
Sorry Trick are for Kids but as an election approaches we will not be allowed to “pull together” for that is the surest way to see the party and the BIU leadership tossed aside…Only when the tension between the races is high can they keep us “pulling each other down” it happened in 1998 and 2007 and will be kicked into gear as an election draws near. It is the surest way to divert attention away from the performace of the party and the BIU leadership ….in many ways they are the same as the leadership of both groups have fattened their purse at the expense of the people they purport to represent the country is broke and so is the BIU….Would not have been this way if Ottiewell Simmons and John Swan were still in office and we are left with very poor sustitutes and never was beens….
Laverne: As I’ve said many times before. We are forced to write anonymously today because anyone who disagrees with the PLP is either labelled a racist (if white) or an Uncle Tom (if black). This apparently is the only way you people have of dealing with criticism. It has worked for you thus far. But at some point, even the least intelligent of your electorate will clue in and you will be out on your collective backsides. You will be turned on by the very people who voted you in, because they will realise that you’ve helped them the least. The average poor black family is even poorer now due to your party ruining our little island. Say what you want in reply LV – you know it is the truth. Your party is useless at running this country. Now your boy Furbert wants to stop work permits. Dumb!
I wonder if Mr Chris Furbert reads any of these comments. If so, I wonder what he thinks about the fact that 99% of the comments are against him? And not just slightly, either.
Of course he reads the comments, but he will not be surprised at the high tech lynching he is receiving today. He only has to read why you all have written about Premier Cox, former Premier Brown, Minister Zane DeSilva, Minister Patrice Minors, etc. etc. I see you’ve even lynched Mr. Philip Butterfield. There are some angry people in this country and it shows on these blogs. I wonder how many of them look like me.
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that arise in communities, such as charivari, riding the rail, and tarring and feathering. Lynchings have been more frequent in times of social and economic tension, and have often been the means used by the politically dominant population to oppress social challengers.
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology. (There is also an architectural style known as high tech.)
http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger/webedition/app/documents/show.php?sangerDoc=008951.xml
When has there ever been a lynching in Bermuda, please let me know the last date? You refer to it as if it were a social norm. Are you aware that we do not live in the southern United States? You seek to spin something that does not happen. Yes there are some angry people on this Island? Why because you and you’re political party have dragged this island into the gutter and then spewed lies to your own people and fabricated incidents such as high tech lynching which make no actual definitive sense. If there was actually a lynching then someone would be dead and swinging from a tree! Imagine what that is actually like and then think about it. Just because you are a black person it does not mean you are an African American from the Southern United States and that you have to live in fear of being lynched. You’re racist and small minded. That is why people openly criticize you, both black and white people. You and your attitude is what is wrong with Bermuda! That is why the economy is shrinking. Because the reality of it is, without work permits being granted our Island would have not have a functioning way to make $$$ for ourselves Why? Because we do not have enough skilled and educated labor? And the reason for that is the PLP’s approach to education and training, which is the same as the BIU’s. That approach is that you need neither of the two and the job should still be yours. The BIU has no place in modern Bermuda, they take from their own people and hinder economic gain for this Island. If we disbanded it tomorrow then this Island would move one step forward. What do you think exempt company CEO’s think about Bermuda when they see this idiot publicly say all work permits should be suspended! Time to move elsewhere, to a jurisdiction that has intelligent people in charge and that understands basic economics!
Wish you could hear the round of applause I’ve just given you sir!
Mrs. L furbert…
Queue the race card again? And just wen i thought you weren’t a one trick pony and learned a lesson from losing you senate post and district vote… wow…. if we all had a dollar for everytime you brought this up there wouldn’t be a recession anymore in Bermuda – we would all be rich! As a member of the governing political party and ex senator, are you actually even capable of respresenting all Bermudians as you should do – i think we all know the answer to that one based on the disdain and tone of your comments…
How self centered to believe that you speak for all people who “look like me” to quote you. You don’t, and yes “BERMUDIANS” of all colors race and interests are upset with the PLP right now. Wake up and accept that fact… it’s the PLP’s turn to get a dose of 1998… When the UBP failed they got turfed out. It’s the PLP’s turn now having seriously failed Bermudian society and voters.
-Noel
Lavern,is no longer a senator (thank you Paula Cox) The only way that she can spew her hatred once again is on the ‘PEOPLES SHOW ” she will once again take over this show as she has done in the past, and the host does not have clue what she is all about…oh by the way when ever the @#$% hits the fan with the ruling party out of the blue they are on the peoples show…..the host is a kiss ass to the P.L.P he is being used and for some reason he not aware of how he is being used…
Still playing the race card,i hope not to many people look like you…
with the election drawing near and the panic setting in from people like Laverne all of the emotional buzz words will come out as Laverne and the Sycophants, desperate to keep the paycheck coming at any cost, will use race. It is not going to work this time though as people see how low politicians will stoop to get a vote…you should be ashamed….
Navin R. Johnson
Chris,
how do you feel about are of these EX-PATS writing all this sh%t to you? the fact is maybe now you see we really do have a EX-PAT problem thats not going away, The PLP has supported this with your help!! Please just look around and see who is working in Bermuda all ex-pats
its over you all sold out and fill your pocket’s. OH OTTIE what has happen? the B.I.U and PLP has lost!!!!
lazy is as lazy does!
If I were a small jobs contractor or an independent maintenance man working for myself…I’d be up at The Reefs giving them a fee proposal to be their “on call” Mr. Fix It.
They’ll need someone to do the work when it arises even if they don’t want someone full time.
As much as I think Chris Furbert is a fool, I actually understand and agree with what he is saying. I think it is moronic for the immigration department to be giving out work permits when there are SO many Bermudians that are out of work. Immigration isn’t all to blame either, as the majority of jobs that would open up if a work permit ban were enacted, Bermudians would not want to do (i.e. laborer, short order cook, janitor etc). Bermudians need to realize that they will not get $35 an hour to do jobs like these, but understand that something is better than nothing.
Also, to all the expats that are commenting on this site, please keep your silly, asinine comments to yourself please. If this was your country you would be just as outraged or more so and would finally decide to build that electric fence around the border like you’ve been talking about.
As an expat worker who came to Bermuda, loved the work but not the island and left well before my permit was up, my asinine comments might outrage you further. Work permits are granted by immigration when someone from overseas can bring skills to the islands (for the benefit of the islands and its tax revenues) like mine – because the skills I have aren’t available on the island.
My friend, you need to realise that there are far greater problems with Bermuda than Mr. Furbert although he (and his cohorts) definitely are not a part of the solution for Bermuda’s future. I care about the people who I worked with while I was there – Bermudians of all races, Americans, Europeans, whatever – they all worked together, regardless of race. It’s a pity the rest of the island doesn’t do this.
Building an electric fence around Bermuda would finally sink the dream for everyone – all the foreign business would leave with their workers and their tax dollars keeping Bermuda afloat, no tourism (already ships aren’t calling any more) and with the amount of crime that is going unchallenged and escalating, where will it end? Do you think this news doesn’t get off island? Have you read the crime statistics per capita for Bermuda – it is a scary place to be! And that’s from someone who has worked all over Europe, Africa, Middle East, USA and now back in the UK.
All you’ll need then is for the UK overseas aid budget to dry up – then your governmental budgets would fail (like Greece and many more to come) ….. need I say more.
Seriously, Bermuda needs to WORK TOGETHER with everyone on the island, expats or not – not divided! Bermuda still really could be the beautiful place it should be, but not like it is today sadly – you’re all letting it slide into oblivion.
While I agree with most of the things you are saying here, I think it is complete bullsh*t to think or assume that there aren’t Bermudians with the skills these companies are looking for. The simple truth is that these companies are run by foreigners so they prefer and do hire their own people. It’s also commonplace for these I.B.’s to “advertise” to locals to appease the immigration department, knowing full well they will or have filled the position with an expat. Then they go and tell immigration that they couldn’t find a suitable Bermudian candidate and receive their work permit.
I have numerous friends and relatives who have gone away and gotten their education, some even attaining a Masters in their field, and they still cant find employment. You mean to tell me that they don’t have the skills required? There’s also the issue I have with these I.B.’s requesting 4, 5, even 6 years of experience in their ads, knowing full well that a returning BERMUDIAN student will not meet their requirement. How are they to attain experience if no one will hire them. It will not hurt Bermuda to amend some laws and make it so that these I.B.’s MUST have at least 50% of their staff be Bermudian.
you don’t get it – International Businesses do not come to Bermuda to provide Career planning for Bermudians, or to train them up to be CEO’s, tranfer them to their other locations etc. They come here to make money, period. They want to hire who they want and if they in the process hire a few Bermudians it’s just that – to appease the Bermudian Immigration department. A few have a Social Conscience and want to do something for the environment in which they are able to operate. It is a thin line between encouraging businesses to come here and then dictating what they have to do with their foreign investment. Time to find another way to skin the cat – to make this work for all parties.
@Expatworker, you should clearly stick to what you know and that is not knowing how Bermuda operates. I can nit pick at every paragraph you typed but one jumped out at me that need addressing.
This UK overseas budget you refer to does not exist. In fact, the UK does not give us any budget, we pay them !! They view us as a Overseas Territory, a piece of land and have a muppet (Governor) here from the UK living in a massive house with a massive pay check.
IB does little to help the Bermudian. The only benefits I can see is that they pay rent to people who are already rich and buy groceries from people who are already rich. Go figure
you are not very bright, are you?
I agree with you. why should these companies come to bda and have to train locals !!!what is going on ? you Bermudians need to go and educate yourselves….then apply for these jobs…
would you wanna work next to chris furbert or laverne furbert…l think not…..imagine what the christmas party would be like……loud, dumb and you cant say a word cause…….well we dont need to say no mo on dat do we.
@ Think About It – you might be right with some comments of how certain international banks and insurance companies fill their vacancies and to be honest I personally don’t agree with this type of immigration across the world, and their methods with 6+ years of experience etc.
When people leave the island to get their education and come back with the skills there should be a level playing field for all. But then, life isn’t like that at all, my friend. The 50% Bermudian law you recommend would have issues of legality though I’m sure and in the end would there be a benefit if business started to leave the island with further restrictions placed on them by the government?
My own permit was not in this area of business – very specific skills that have actually helped a Bermudian owned and staffed business become market leaders on the island, for which I am really happy for them and am sure they will all succeed and thereby increasing their own tax revenues for the island. As I said above, I care about what happens in Bermuda across the board (even though I am not there) and that’s because of the numerous friends I made.
As I said above, work together – not apart!
Thanks for Leaving one down!
What an ignorant comment!
You’re welcome – my pleasure.
Does the current BIU executive feel that because their predecessors were such a positive force for change this now warrants spending less than 1% of current Union revenues on actual member benefits with the vast majority of income being allocated to executive salaries?
Does the BIU membership agree that virtually all of the revenue generated by the Union should benefit only a handful of individuals while thousands of Bermudians remain unemployed?
When will the BIU members “get a fair share” of their Union pie?
Dear Mr “think about it”. As Mr Furbert states, there are more jobs to fill than there are Bermudians to fill them. So we have to have the ex-pats. Plus, they spend money, pay rent, buy gasoline, eat in restaurants. I don’t see anything wrong with ex-pats commenting, it is interesting to get their viewpoint too. As long as it is respectful, but i don’t see a lot of respect from either camp here.
If I was a guest worker/expat (i.e. hotel/construction/mechanic) with local firm and was a member of the BIU and my work permit was up in the next 12 months, I would automatically stop all my dues going to the BIU & ask them to be forwarded to a local charity. The local charity will benefit from the dues rather than giving it to the BIU management’s for their big fat salaries before looking after their members first!
WHERE IS THE MONEY?????????? CF must be pissed when bermudians workers come lookin for their share after being laid off!!
CANCEL all permit now and fill up the empty containers with them!!! HEY Bermudian’s grow so BALLS YOU ARE BEING TOLD BY EX-PATS YOU CAN NOT HAVE A JOB HERE (BERMUDA) can you understand what has happened its not your BERMUDA anymore!!!!!!
…and who do you propose provides the jobs and pays the salaries after you kick off all the expats? Get an education, show some work ethic and compete with the rest of the world just like all the expats (and several Bermudians) do. The sense of self entitlement is sickening. Do you not think other countries in the world have foreign workers? I’ve lived in several countries in my life and the simple solution is to be employable. I’ve worked myself through college and have moved up the corporate ladder, never “expecting” handouts or positions simply because I’m from a certain ethnicity or come from a certain country. Take some responsibility for your own situation. No one can change your plight but you. All the self pity shows your weak mindedness. Just like everyone else in the world, stop living in a bubble and if you don’t like your situation, do something about it!
@ Ex-pat-want-to-be – thank goodness you aren’t in power.
You’d be solely responsible for creating “Bermuda – Another Ghetto”
Open your eyes my friend – the world is not flat. Bermuda is a speck on the globe with a worldwide audience through the international business it enjoys. You are either a part of that with the successes it brings, or maybe you’d choose another path for Bermuda?
would you wanna work next to chris furbert or laverne furbert…l think not…..imagine what the christmas party would be like……loud, dumb and you cant say a word cause…….well we dont need to say no mo on dat do we. lol
Can you say a$$clown?