We have no respect for ourselves. Mose Allen had it right when he called black Bermudians “crabs.” You ever watch crabs in a pot? Every time one makes any progress in climbing out, the others pull it right back down.

So sad.

In other words, if the lowly guest worker, for whom $8 seems like riches compared to what he/she would earn at home, agrees to work for 13 hours (taking the 3 hrs off as mentioned) without overtime pay, then the boss does not have to provide overtime pay. Something very wrong with that, as it is easily open to coercion and exploitation.

The PLP had an opportunity to create minimum wage legislation and botched it because business owners didn’t want it. That has now backfired because Bermudian workers cannot afford to take these low-paying jobs and the guest workers are being made to leave. A man with a wife and family is unlikely to live 4 or 6 to an apartment, much less to a room. Guest workers know there is a time limit to their stay so they steel themselves to live like that for the short haul, knowing when they return home they will be in a better position.

Telling me the UBP did it, 2 even 4 years after the event is one thing. Telling me the same thing 13 years later is unacceptable.

Just sayin

This is just flat out false. Because of the low birth rate in Singapore, they have actually been encouraging foreigners to immigrate there.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/257208/1/.html

There are just too many people who don’t get it. How much is the Bermuda dollar worth on the international markets? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING… Because foreigners can’t really invest in Bermuda, and because US dollars can be spent here, there is no demand for our currency. Hence, it has no real value. Although we are pegged to the US dollar, we can’t buy anything outside of Bermuda with the Bermuda dollar, so we need the foreign cash. We barely produce any food in Bermuda, much less anything else. Nearly 100% of what we need and want comes from overseas and has to be purchased with these foreign reserves.

Once upon a time in Bermuda, we had reasonable wages, rents and land costs. Restaurant and hotel experiences weren’t restrictively priced and were accompanied by interactions with friendly and welcoming Bermudians. Tourism was a booming source of foreign cash. Bermuda was probably the only place in the world where a taxi driver was a premier paying job or business to have.

This dynamic has changed over the last 25 years. As international business (IB) crept, then flooded in, with large amounts of foreign cash, the increased demand for housing, goods and services drove up the costs of living. Most Bermudians in areas outside of IB demanded that their wages keep up with this inflation, while others moved into IB and other better paying professions. Landlords determined to take advantage of generous IB rental allowances increased their rents substantially. Landowners increased sale prices, banks lent more, developers built more, and more people and businesses came. The rate of development meant that there weren’t enough local construction workers for all the projects, or restaurant workers, housekeepers and nannies to meet the demand. Thus, we had the influx of the low-paid foreign worker. Bermuda got more expensive as the “Bermuda Product” became less distinct, less inviting, less fun, less friendly and less safe for all of our visitors. This went on and on in an unsustainable inflationary feedback loop, leading to a bubble that has finally burst.

Figuratively, we have been a “Bermuda Meat” sandwich, with a plain slice of foreign kitchen porters and laborers underneath us and a sesame seeded slice of foreign C_O’s above us. Most consider the top slice to be important because they create jobs and bring in foreign currency. These jobs require years of education and experience, and a high level of accountability and responsibility. The bottom slice is considered less important because, while they do contribute to the local economy, they don’t create jobs or bring foreign cash. While requiring minimal academic education and providing minimal pay, these jobs require lots of work, a certain level of skill and training, and attention to detail. During the good years we really didn’t want to be the bottom slice. Now that pickings are slim, we want to blame the bottom slice for our misfortune. In fact, we now want to be the bottom slice, just not on the bottom of the pay scale. These workers have taken nothing from us…we gave them our leftovers and now want them back.

Be careful what you wish for. Yes, foreigners do send a lot of their earnings overseas. However, every foreigner that leaves is one less rent payer, grocery buyer and utility payer. The resulting oversupply in some areas should drive those costs down, at the expense of landlords, developers, vehicle dealers, grocers and retailers. Bermudians moving into the areas vacated by the lower slice are already indicating that the wages aren’t good enough. But, if that higher pay wasn’t sustainable for the businesses during the good times where do they expect the money to come from in the difficult times? Additionally, foreigners from to top slice are leaving our shores. With them go sizeable payroll tax payments, executive rents, private school tuition, and their “attachment” to us, if any. The government’s recent scorched earth tactics have burned both slices.

As the job market shrinks and the supply of available workers increases, wages will inevitably be pushed down as people become desperate for work. This desperation should lend a little insight into why the bottom slice foreign worker has been valued so highly by employers and so despised by disenfranchised locals. Desperation may be a step too far, but these workers come from thousands of miles away with the one goal of “working hard” to make money, often to support entire extended families back at home. They come, leaving their families behind, and they do work very hard. They put up with crap from both abusive employers and xenophobic locals because they know that their families will benefit from their struggles. While employers have the added expense and hassle of dealing with immigration, they gain the stability of knowing that these workers can’t change their jobs easily and the financial benefits of lower wage costs. At the end of the day, these workers provide a better cost-benefit for the employers and there is no way around it. They are prepared to work harder, faster, and longer for less money. We shouldn’t begrudge them for this.

As bad as things are, all the air isn’t out of our balloon yet. Things can and are getting worse, as is evidenced by the weekly job losses. There is a lot of blame to go around the entire community; not just to the politicians, but to the businesses, the unions, the workers, the teachers, the parents and even the kids. Bermuda was allowed to grow too fast. Things have gotten too costly. Our society has become too abrasive. Where we once had growing pains, we now have chafe, stretch marks and saggy, dry skin. Look at all the buildings in town that can’t be filled. Look at all the condominium developments around the island. Look at all of the rental units available and the falling prices. Bermudians have become accustomed to a standard and style of life that requires a critical mass of workers and foreign exchange. That critical mass cannot be met by Bermudians alone. We need to find our level. We need to focus on a sustainable path to growth.

I guess the real question is what do we want Bermuda to look like? How do we want Bermuda to develop? And an even more important question is, what do we have to offer to the world? Ultimately, we are a small, insignificant island when set against the world economic stage. We are not self sufficient, so we need the world a whole lot more than the world needs us. If Bermuda were swallowed by the ocean tomorrow, the world would hardly skip a beat. All of the international business performed in Bermuda can just as easily be performed somewhere else. We actually aren’t that special.

I am so tired of the divisive politics from both sides that only seems to inflame rather than heal, to agitate rather than balance, to complicate rather than solve. When are we going to see some well thought out, and measured solutions from all parts of our community? When are we going to figure out that if we want to participate in the global economy, then we must market and sell our “Bermuda Product”, whatever that is, at a reasonable price. We must offer value for money.

If we don’t wake up soon, nobody will be buying what we are selling!!! Then, we will have Bermuda for Bermudians and we can be hunters and gatherers all over again.

LOL

Get past the black and white. Until then, the death knoll rings louder.

How?

LOL I doubt you’ll answer but if you do think it out carefully there are a lot of mixed children out there.

LOL

mr c runs them and makes money from the items sold inside..

esso makes the money from the gas

So MR. Cannioner is so far off point to suggest that the PLP are playing the race card, when in fact he has more racist followers than ever before. There is no real push for any form of integration by the en-block white voters. It is them who do not seek to bring about good racial relationships in Bermuda. So why say it is the black people? Come Mr Cannioner I am really losing respect for you and so many others share my view as well. Be real in your position, and stop repeating what you are told.

Are you sure the PLP have the best interests of Bermuda and it’s people?

I was on a work permit and because of the term limits put into place by the present government my Bermudian partner and I had two choices :-

1. Leave Bermuda, which means no longer paying rent, buying from local business, paying taxes etc.

2. Stay in Bermuda and get married, which means I can now work where I want, have as many jobs as I like and by law my employer has to pay into my private penison. In 10 years I will have the same rights as my Bermudian spouse.

Are you really sure they are working hard for Bermuda or is it for themselves?

I will agree that potwashers don’t create jobs to the same extent, but they do contribute to our economy, buying commodities paying for general living expenses and doing a job that up until very recently very few Bermudians would even consider. I say open up these categories and let’s see what the result is, because I’m sorry, I too am all for hiring more Bermudians than guest workers, if they desire to work.

I also believe that the PLP know that guest workers create additional jobs for Bermudians they just could never acknowledge that running up to an election. That would go against their platform that says the PLP are for Bermudians and OBA are pro foreigner, even if it goes against sound reasoning…because they know that message plays well with their base supporters.

Really? Do you all forget that all 36 MP’s were elected by the people of Bermuda and all 36 are expected to serve the people they represent? That is a sad argument that because the OBA are not the Government that their MP’s should not be held to the same standards. They reason they are not the Government is because they were unsuccessful in obtaining the majority seats in the house. Those who elected them however, still expect them to fully serve on their behalf. So they should be looked at the same as it relates to taking a pay cut. 36 seats in the house all 36 have an obligation to the people.

When the OBA and their supporters realize this then they can be taken seriously.

Over the next few college years i was actually pretty happy with the new govt… from what i remember there was a lot of racial back n forth, so in 2003 i voted ubp in paget (i think it was gibbons?).

After that loss, i was actually impressed with Alex Scott for a bit.. but then, in my opinion, everythign went to hell. Racial divisiveness came out (esp around election). I think talking/rectifying/providing opportunity to share the wealth isnt a bad thing in itself, but i felt that those things were more created to shame the white community as opposed to really helping anything.

Needless to say policies from then onward to me have been basically about gaining votes. All the freebies (totally unsustainable), most of which have either been greatly shrunk or eliminated, bitter statements made (vote for ubp is a vote back to the plantation), etc etc just make me feel that the PLP is more into keeping the island divided so they can keep the power….

Do i think its weird that Whites only vote one way? yea i’d say that is mostly true.. the question though is why? I feel there is merit in it too. PLP will tell you its because they cant handle a powerful black man in charge. To me thats pure BS and great propaganda. To me i’d say its because the PLP is, by definition, a labour govt (even if they dont really match taht description anymore). They started out supporting the working class (which is obviously predominantly black.) I think as time as passed, the PLP’s battle between blue collar and white collar, regardless of race, has shifted to be a more black vs white thing.

Yes statistically the white collar workers were white and blue collar workers were black, but i still would say white vs black is different than white c vs blue c.

anyway fastforward to nowadays, and i think that a lot of whites are just pissed off that the PLP is (in their eyes) tossing the island to hell just to appease the majority voter. Who cares about debt, and IB, and tourism and this and that, as long as our main voting core has what they want, even if we cant afford it.

… whew. that would be the majority of my opinion, all done! lol