PLP Calls For Labour Survey To Be Released
“Reports that the OBA is delaying the release of the latest unemployment figures should concern all Bermudians,” Shadow Finance Minister David Burt said today [Jan 8], adding that they “call on the Premier to release the 2014 Labour Force Survey immediately so that the people of Bermuda can receive an unbiased view of the state of employment in Bermuda. ”
Mr. Burt said, “Media reports that the OBA is delaying the release of the latest unemployment figures should concern all Bermudians.
“This report citing sources stated that these figures show that there was a loss of 500 jobs in 2014. This should not be surprising as Bermudians have had a steady diet of business closures and layoffs.
“The OBA has an increasing record of a lack of transparency and this is just the latest from a government that seems to be preparing for an election by hiding bad news.
“We call on the Premier to release the 2014 Labour Force Survey immediately so that the people of Bermuda can receive an unbiased view of the state of employment in Bermuda. If there really has been a loss of 500 jobs last year, then the voters of this country deserve to know the truth!
“These statistics should be above politics, and the data that is collected must be published. We can only work together to stop job losses and reverse the rise in unemployment if the OBA is open and transparent about the true state of our economy.
“Who benefits from concealing rising job losses? Certainly not unemployed Bermudians,” added Mr. Burt. “Before we can fix the Bermudian jobs crisis, the OBA must first face the facts and be transparent and honest with our people.”
When asked for a response, a Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “As with all such Reports, verification of the data contained in the 2014 Labour Force Survey Report continues.”
The last 2013 Labour Force Survey was released in January 2014, and showed an unemployment rate of 7%, while the 2012 Labour Force Survey was released in October 2012 and listed an unemployment rate of 8%.
The PLP created our economic mess and now they’re out of ideas so this is all they have.
Interesting how everyone is worried about the PLP and no one is worried that we lost 500 more jobs last year!!
PLP’s fault still?
Yes it is!!!!!
Well we all know when a certain segment of society F!@#’s up, like Jet Gate and the rest of the Bull S!@+ that they have been GUILTY off, its not that critical, Historically its always been like that.
So don’t get bent out off shape, that’s just how they roll. Its a superiority complex that’s been engraved in our society Worldwide, and Bermuda is no exemption.
NEXT.
JetGate??? That’s the best you got on the OBA! You do remember that the money that was used was given to the OBA for use by the OBA! You do remember that the Premiere resigned!
Now lets rewind back 5 years and compare.
Who resigned over Berkeley / Proactive deal, or T-Steet Home scandal, or Housing Corporation Scandal, or $800 million of The PUBLICS MONEY missing, or TCD Contract Award, Whites Island Gift to Friends, Coco Reef Sweet Deal, Port Royal Golf Course, Bda Emissions Deal,Bermuda Cement Co, or Dockyard Cruse Pier, or “I had to Deceive You”? You know I could go on forever.
Give it a break. We know the truth. Nobody (including those in the OBA) is perfect. However, at least they did the right thing. When did the PLP?
Just to remind you Mockinjay that the $350,000 for the JETGATE issue came into Bermuda….can you help find the missing $800,000,000 that seems to have vanished…that is EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS
Actually yes! Many of the pains we are living through are STILL the PLPs fault. Because of the way they handled the public purse and our customers, we have massive debt, fewer customers (international business and tourists)which means less money coming in.
If the Government MUST save money because there is little to spend and it must be spent wisely, then it would make sense that there will be no massive Governement projects, which means fewer jobs. Once IB, Hoteliers, and those with money have confidence in the government, they will loosen their wallets and hopefully start to spend again. When money circulates, jobs are created.
You must admit, that IB is starting to show some improvements, hoteliers (because of Casino bill) are looking to develop again and we have the possibility of a new airport being built and Americas Cup!
Don’t think things are changing, call planning! Ask how many plans were being submitted each month, three years ago. Then ask how many have been are being submitted now.
You aren’t serious.
IB is NOT showing signs of growth, people are still slowly being let go as their jobs are outsourced!
Hell Marsh is said to have let over 10 people go before the holiday.
15 today at another place. What are you smoking – improvements?
The damage done in 12 years by the PLP will take double that to fix.
Every person out of work needs to understand, there was FULL EMPLOYMENT under the UBP prior, and go back to the the early 90′s and most had TWO jobs!
Yes, the bad ole UBP really set our expectations too high for when the PLP got in and erased 400 years of progress.
I agree with the Labour Survey but let it go back as far as 2005 and this will tell you the real story.
All the Facts will come to light.
Bad call PLP – Ii will expose your actions deeper.
are you kidding? So in your Mind the jobs lost under the PLP banner has no bearing on todays? So yea, it is the fault of the PLP. They were a useless Government that could not see past their nose,,,,,, and still are as Opposition !!
The 2013 was on Jan 17th 2014
We are on Jan 8th 2015 …start complaining if we don’t have it by a similar date (don’t forget to add a day or two because of the way the holidays fell this year)
I just looked into these reports… I think they are a waste of time.
Unemployment numbers should be based on Registered unemployed not on a telephone survey of a % of the population.
They may be useful showing a general trend, but nothing more.
Plp give it a rest.
I wouldn’t let Burt run a lemonade stand much less a country.
He might be able to run a merry go round.
Not even. Nothing involving money or any moving parts.
What the PLP is about to do is expose themselves further. lol
Let Burch run a Koolaid stand instead!! LOL
“Preparing for an election”? Where did that bit come from?
Don’t you know, they have been campaigning for an election since Dec 2012. It’s hard not being able to feed at the trough with the rest of the elite.
In the past few days it’s suddenly appeared a few times here in the comments. Seems to be a line that is being put out by the Opposition. Not sure what the logic is though. The OBA are going to take it to the full term and have the election late 2017. There is still plenty of work to do before then. The PLP must be mightily impressed with the America’s Cup announcement to think that a snap election is upon us.
I think the PLP are thinking if it were them, they would call an election now, so therefore the OBA may…Shows you what the PLP are about..POWER and not us, the people !
Burt.Finance Minister. Enough to give anyone nightmares for life.
Just something to say by the PLP and Burt.
Nothing constructive; period.
Just to let the sheeple know that the party still exists.
I need a rum.
Shalom.
The plp in their last 4 yrs of their reign of terror LOST 5200 jobs!!! And they are now concerned about 500???? Ignorance and belligerence has not limits!!! And the the plp in a nuaseating way prove that to be correct on almost a daily basis!!! Lets not forget the fact that almost everything they did in their last 8 yrs of their terror was spent with them trying to cover it up!!!!!
You don’t have your facts right, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Paid OBA bloggers just attack the PLP without even questioning whether their own party may not be doing right by the people of Bermuda.
People are losing their jobs! Talk about that, PLP haven’t been in office for 25 months!! Stop blaming the PLP – look in the mirror!
I don’t have my facts right??? I think you should do a little research and you will find from 2009 until 2013, which for the slow or disengenious will tell you that means the end of 2012, because the figures are released normally in Febuary!!! Now why don’t you look for yourself and come back and do the HONOURABLE thing and apologize??? Being you are a plp die heart, I know that will never happen????
I agree that Govt. should do a detailed Labour Survey’ from 2003 to present this way we can truly see how the PLP screwed up.
The PLP should have not mentioned this. – talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
Er, yeah, he has the facts right. Inconvenient though aren’t they.
“Bermudians have had a steady diet of business closures and layoffs.”
For many many years.
Would anyone like to start a list of hotels shut down between 1998 & 2012? How about tourism related businesses shut down during that time?
Lets start with that place the introduced taletop dancing at breakfast, The Sonesta Beach.
How many jobs disappeared there?
Next….
You may want to start that list in 1980!
How about all the new Insurance companies b/w 1998-2012?
I can tell you why we had hotel closures starting in the early 1980′s, if you are old enough, you might remember the BIU strike of 1981?? And if you don’t, read up on it, the way our visitors were treated by the biu/plp, it is any wonder how on earth we actually have anything left of. The tourism industry????
Now, let’s get onto the IB biz you seem to be crowing about from 1998 -2012! Why don’t you give the credit to were it really belongs?? ( as if I don’t know why you won’t ? ) All the credit should go to Sir John Swan and the UBP for that one buddy!!! The only thing your plp can honestly take credit for, IS SCREWING IT UP!!!!!!
They did not start up because of the PLP however, now that you mention IB, how many IB jobs did Burch & Co chase out of here? How many Bermudians with mortgages to pay are still looking at empty apartments? How many are now upsidedown in their mortgages? How many have not been able to keep up at all & have lost homes?
On a couple of hot summer days in 1981 was when the writing was put on the wall for Bermuda tourism. The BIU knocked us to our knees & we have not been back on our feet since.
If Burch chased them, why are they STILL LEAVING?!?!?
Answer that one!
Muppet: Not sure what you are on, but can you get me some? Being delusional has its advantages.
Not an OBA Muppet; but I believe when a trend in business starts i.e. relocation of Departments, they don’t “ALL OF A SUDDEN” stop and move back after the first HALF term of a new Party in power. Hell, all the PLP faithful continue to insist the OBA is a one term government. So if business have been driven away (and YES it’s a fact a trend that started with POOR PLP governing)than you have answered your own question as to why they are STILL LEAVING. Just accept the mistakes made by the PLP, and give the current government a CHANCE of at least trying to repair SOME of the damages carried out.
SMH
Oh, sorry; answer provided.
How about jobs lost in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012? I can remember Cox in the 2010 Budget telling us it was going to be a “year of recovery”. And then the same thing in 2011. Then the same thing in 2012. Never happened though. She was too busy “resetting the dial” I guess.
@ RU Kidding. New Insurance companies 1998-2012? Let’s see. In 2001, September 11 to be exact, about 3,500 people lost their lives in a terrorist attack. In 2001 many insurance companies were created in Bermuda. So you are saying the PLP should take credit?
In 2005, hundreds of people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina. Another group of insurance companies were created in Bermuda. So you are saying the PLP should take credit again?
You have no knowledge of the reasons except want to make it political. Now go back and hide in a rock.
1980 – the year the BIU/PLP’s general strike caused irreparable harm to our tourism product thereby destroying Bermudian employment opportunities for successive decades?
Concurrently do you honestly think the PLP should take credit for various natural disasters between 1998-2012 which in turn prompted the incorporation of reinsurance companies to cover the capital vacuum created by billions of losses?
Reality has an anti-PLP and anti-logic bias. But when has that ever stopped them before, eh?
Oh so it was the disasters. I guess it didn’t matter that the PLP was awful and unstable.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If the PLP was so bad the companies wouldn’t have come here.
And again, please let me know why the Jobs in IB are STILL disappearing 2 years after the PLP left office?
Really, does someone need to spell it out? Also, based. On what Companies experienced under the PLP don’t you think they’re still nervous at the thought that they might get back in? If it was my money, i certainly wouldn’t be investing until I knew for sure the PLP wasn’t going to fet ba ck in again NO WAY. That’s how bad they were for business!
“And again, please let me know why the Jobs in IB are STILL disappearing 2 years after the PLP left office?”
Because of people like you constantly going on about how they should leave. So they are!
In the last 5 years of the PLP’s reign more than 5,200 jobs were lost which translates roughly to 1,000 jobs lost annually.
If the 500 number stated by the PLP is true then they must acknowledge that this is a vast improvement on their record.
And this is before the new work permit policies have been implemented as well as the Americas Cup announcement.
The numbers I quoted above are directly from Govt stats in their quarterly bulletins.
In the first 10 years of PLP rules there were 5000 jobs created. Please tell me you have a point.
Actually, there were only 4800 lost from 2008 – 2012, but of course nobody loses jobs during a financial crisis… The global meltdown was the PLP’s fault right.
The “global financial crisis” myth. 0-15 months everywhere else. 72 months in Bermuda. Thanks PLP.
If a major artery is sliced open, you have to slow the bleeding until help arrives…I think the bleeding has slowed somewhat, now awaiting the help
3 yrs to go OBA
The delay is yet another example of a civil service that is not working. How long did it take to get census figures out last time round? Somebody remind us who was Government & responsible at the time.
Now if Mr. Burt wants to get some support, find out why the garbage hasn’t been collected in the East End this week.
The OBA government reluctance to release unemployment figures is part of it’s plan to create lemonade out of lemons?
you are probably right ! and the plp could not ever figure out how to make lemonade with all the lemons that suddenly went missing!!!!keep drinking you kool aid!!!
Well it doesn’t matter cuz ET Richards is addressing this issue tomorrow anyway.
Tiny bubbles….in the whine…..
Burt is an smart guy – very able and all that.- well educated. He is also positive proof that politics is an exercise to pander to those of way below average intellect. Only non high school graduates would believe his complete line of BS. Unfortunately, these people have equal votes. Beware everyone.
Burt – you should be ashamed. But then you are a politician – so you have no shame.
In fact David is the only chance PLP has for a future. So its your chance to succeed or mess up with idiotic crap like this. You could be truly a great leader David – but not by doing this. Get your act together or sink.
Don’t listen to the old school PLP. They are gone, and will never return – EVER.
Start anew – be yourself – not part of that ridiculous embarrassing party of fools who ran things very badly and then blamed evrything on whitey.
are u serious !this guy is to light skin to lead the new ubp/plp into the future you must be thinking of the surrogate’s surrogate that won that somerset seat !know that’s guy who now his bs.
Mr Burt you are better than that – you are better than them. The PLP. Old moaning PLP.
Let me get this straight. The Shadow Minister is complaining that Government is delaying the release of the 2014 Labour Force Study. It is now January 8th 2015 – just 8 days after the end of the year for which the figures are being compiled. To be more precise, we have had just 5 working days since the end of 2014.
According to “hmm” the 2013 Study was released on 17th January 2014, which by my reckoning is 12 working days after the end of that year.
I have no idea exactly how the Study is compiled but I suspect that someone has to actually submit the December figures before the the yearly report can be completed, and that cannot be done until after the year ends.
To suggest that the OBA Government is somehow delaying release of the Study only 5 days after the end of the year sounds just a little nonsensical to me, but it would help all of us to put this into perspective if Shadow Minister Burt can publicly announce the dates on which our PLP Government released the Study after the end of each year they were in office. I can only presume that it must have been in less than 5 working days. If not it would be an absurdity for the Shadow Minister to be making this allegation.
Please let us have the facts.
Survey was completed in … May – Sept of last year. You should do your research.
I see by your name you lot are back to name-calling and hate speech again.
New jobs. New hotels. AC. New investment. Building work starting. 150 new jobs at Fairmont. It’s all good news for Bermudians, amd bad news for the PLP.
I think we know who the “muppets” are.
So it won’t reflect the second half of 2014 properly.
Pathetic PLP grasping at straws once again. Honestly, if this is the best they got then they are finished.
We should feel sorry for them during this difficult time.
R.I.P. P.L.P.
You might think that we could learn from the misfortunes of other countries who saw their economies fall into decline, the UK for example took the hit 60 years ago when labor unions came into power and strikes were the norm, ship and automobile construction took the biggest hit as companies could not meet their orders.
Other eastern countries came along and took it all away right from under their noses, social assistance or ” The Doll”and free medical and free education further drained the country many people sat at home watching football on the Tube and drank beer to drown their sorrows others played the pools.
40 years ago some of the people UK had the good sense to invest their money in the Colonies,Bermuda was on the investment list eventually the UK Government of the day put stop to that as they saw money leaving the country they did not have the sense to realize that 6.65% income was coming back .
It is all about making good and bad decisions.
Interesting how the OBA cheerleaders here are so quick to comment all things bad as being PLP-stamped yet none of you have enough of a clue to comment on the business/insurance/reinsurance articles on Bernews that ACTUALLY speak to the source of continued job losses! Lets see how many of you spark plugs have the brains to comment honestly (on the XL purchase of Caitlin article today) about what it will likely mean for continued job losses! You people, your ignorance and blind loyalty/worship, will continue high-fiving and sticking for the the CEOs and directors who are axining jobs left, right and center in the name of competitiveness. You’re a bunch of ironic clowns and they dont even respect you.
Ian: Pathetic as usual.
Your brain dead reply is pretty pathetic
And who RESPECTS you Ian, the PLP ? I VERY MUCH DOUBT IT ! Your full of gobbadegoop !