When the foreigners come back (which they will thanks to the OBA). We do not want to have inflated rent and housing or else we will be back to square one. We need to fix the root cause of why are economy crashed in the first place.

The PLP’s campaign, however..

From one union member to our quote unquote leader

The simple point is this — PLP anti-business policies have led to job losses and have stifled job creation. I’m an employer, I know this.

Through proactive policy and reversing the terrible policies of the PLP, the OBA is saying that those policies will be a catalyst for new investment by the private sector and more jobs.

Look no further than the increase in payroll tax and the moratorium on work permits in certain sectors. Do I need to draw you a map?

That could lead to a bailout, and if the govt doesnt do it then people might riot.

Will the BIU be held accountable or the govt in this scenario?

Just a real questions brother or sister. Honestly, when were we really all together as one Bermuda? I am 33, and as long as I have been alive, I have known there was a divide in this country. Have you?

If you really want to go down that road, lets look at government over the last 20 years, and see who has earned what off whose back.

I like many don’t really have much to say about Mr. Furbert, but if you are going to start pointing fingers as to who earned what on whose back, let’s open up the books, and look at how both the PLP as well the UBP handled business. I expect us to find some shady deals that went down under the plp, the same way deals were made under the ubp. Lets come clean 360 degrees, so going forward, this does not happen again. This is the change we need.

In your words “let me be clear here”, I wouldn’t consider it thinking outside of the box, but rather thinking along the lines of conspiracy theories. Don’t be ridiculous! You can’t seriously be questioning whether or not the OBA is holding out on 2,000 jobs? I am not the least bit surprised you would even spew this type of ignorance.

“How all of a sudden are we going to create all of these jobs all because we have a new party?”

Because now we have a Government that has a plan on how to stimulate the economy to hopefully get us out of the mess we are in and in the process sir, as things start to turn around, jobs will be created! It is not rocket science.

Your whole press conference is a joke. In one breath you are congratulating the OBA (and I have to admit it was a pleasure hearing you utter those words – the resentment and anger in your voice gave me a chuckle. Thank you!) but in the next you can’t even bring yourself to understand that WE have voted, Bermuda has voted for the change we wanted. In no way did the election get handed to the OBA. They won the election plain and simple. It was a close race but in the end OBA was victorious and thank goodness they were. It was time for change. Bring yourself to accept that. It is an embarrassment you can’t especially in your capacity.

Read Here:
During 2008/9, the union had a total income of $2.89 million, and total expenditure of $3.56 million, with an overall deficit of $663,994.

Throughout that year, the union collected $2.05 million from its members, down from $2.20 million the previous year. The number of members dropped from 3,953 in January 2009 to 3,855 in December 2009.

It spent $1.57 million on salaries of paid officers during 2008/9, and another $1.57 million on other expenses of management.

A further $2,002 went on sickness pay to members, as well as $1,571 superannuation pay, $3,600 education benefits and $15,002 unemployment and other benefits.

The BIU need to put someone else in charge who can speak and apply logic instead of mindless ranting.

1. The OBA won – not his PLP.

2. He may well be forced to provide financials to this new Government.

3. He won’t get the grant that PLP promised him.

4. His own members may actually find out how the Union has mismanaged their money.

5. The Union may go broke.

6. He will be hated by his own people, unemployed, and unemployable.

Now, does that feel better?

tax cuts and concessions will put a further strain on revenue. employee salaries/wages, and employee related costs are the largest expense items of the government.

talk of creating 2000 jobs….well in truth we would all love to see that..but the current environment doesnt suggest that will happen any time soon.

Sadly, Mr Furbert completely fails to grasp the fact that term limits were and are a major turn off for our lifeblood – international business – and it was the PLP’s stubborn refusal to accept this reality that has resulted in the steady exodus of these same businesses. If our new Government holds fast to their promise to hold a moritorium on the Term Limit rule and it results in 2,000 new jobs being created, I wonder if he will finally realize that it wasn’t a conspiracy by business people to “hold off on jobs” in order to make the PLP look bad. It was the PLP that failed to listen and be proactive.

It is always exceptionally difficult for a political party to accept that fact that it is there own failure to move with the times that results in losing power. It happened to the UBP in 1998, and it just happened with the PLP on 17th December 2012.

Mr. Furbert. With the challenges facing the union around dwindling membership, lack of good governance, incomplete financial records and your own admission in the “press conference”, and I use that term loosely, that you have an incomplete account of what the current state of the Stevedoring dispute is, to name a few. I really wonder how you find time to call a “press conference”. A “press conference” mind you, that in the end seemed not to be on the behalf of the BIU and its membership, but more on your own behalf to sadly cry out personal views on the election results.

What really amazes me is that you miss so many points with your one sided view…. Mr. Furbert did you ever stop to think that the lower turnout and people not voting (which is also their right to do so) was in part due to the fact that they could no longer vote for the government of the day, or that perhaps the government could have turn people away by various actions, or that one’s beliefs could be aligned with a different philosophy other than that of the PLP?

To squarely put the election lost on those that did not vote is, for most logically thinking people, ridiculous. Are you so blinded or perhaps misguided, that you have not seen the issues of the island. I supported the PLP in the last election as did many others, but the time has come were folks no longer vote for a party “just because”. People want effective leaderships, good governance and a sense of security for themselves, their families and the island as a whole and when they believe that this is not happening, they have the right to vote for change.
Let’s look at this realistically, for the OBA to win they had to receive not only votes from their own supporters but also votes from PLP supports. The reverse of this statement would have also have been true in previous elections when the PLP defeated the UBP. This “choice”, whether to vote or not to vote, whether to vote OBA, PLP or independent is what democracy is all about. I have spoken to many people who this time voted for the OBA that in the past voted otherwise.

What I find interesting but also thought provoking are some of the statements that you have made in your tirade. Clearly, you really did not think about these before saying them as they within themselves provide reasoning to the blame you have placed at the feet of the non-voters.

For example, you said “There is a party that formed, been here 15 months, don’t have no platform, you don’t know where they will take the country, and all of a sudden they are in power.” This statement alone should have provided you with some realization to the fact the people were truly disheartened with the government of the day, so much so, that they would chose such a green party over a long severing party as the PLP. This alone can be said to show just how much people wanted change….

In some ways you actually contradicted your own statements as you mentioned early in your Q&A session that you “heard people where unhappy with the unemployment levels”. Well Mr. Furbert that is at least one reason for the change of government. When I, and many others listened to the press conference we really found it hard to see the relevance behind you having one other than to express personal opinion.

Mr. Furbert, as the leader of the BIU, I would advise you to focus on the running of the BIU and righting that ship. The union faces many challenges in its own right and now more than ever it is time for strong leadership. Focus on that, or you to may find yourself suffering the same fate as the last government, being voted out. Look to united Bermuda instead of dividing with personal tirades held under the cloak of a BIU “press conference” and most importantly develop channels of communication with the new government to assist the needs of your membership. This is a critical time for Bermuda and its people, not only for the current generation, but also future. We have to work together, you can influence so many in your position, try leading with principles of good governance and inclusion instead of personal agendas and divisiveness.