Comments on: Minister: No Intention To Amend The Legislation

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 10:11:14 +0000

“This situation will turn very ugly soon if it’s not resolved”

By “resolved” I am guessing you mean that the Government give in and force people to pay money the union but do not give those people any say in what the union does with their money.

Why not take the popular vote away from everyone who is not a PLP member while we are at it?

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 10:15:42 +0000

I will not argue with what you say about unions, but you have missed the point that this dispute is not about the workers, it is about a power struggle within the PLP.

Our Premier said that “this has very little to do with the legislation and far more to do with internal politics of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party.” See https://bernews.com/2021/08/premier-david-burt-responds-biu/

Indeed, the decertification clause the Chris Furbert now cannot bear has been in place for over 30 years and was originally passed by a PLP Government. What does that tell you?

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 10:04:37 +0000

The issue is money. Under the new law everyone who works in a union shop must pay at least 1/2 dues to the union. Chris is afraid of losing that income.

By: trufth

trufth — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 15:09:10 +0000

Sadly, the govt will fold like a cheap lawn chair at the last minute.

By: trufth

trufth — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 15:07:45 +0000

Spot on! That’s exactly how it is which makes me wonder “what the helll is Furbert afraid of?” Seriously, is there a risk that the union will be voted out if everyone is allowed their vote?

That’s a real question btw – anyone have an answer?

By: United we stand

United we stand — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 13:41:23 +0000

Unions, I hope you see what your true worth is now to this labor government. No good deed goes unpunished. You where useful for creating parliamentary barricades and your vote but now you are surplus. Take heed, you have to unify. Think about unifying all of the local unions to create a Trade Union Congress. United you stand, divided you will fall. Look at history as the best teacher. An attack on one union is an attack on all unions. The hard working people of this country need and deserve good representation. If you believe they have lost their way, please don’t lose yours.

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:17:44 +0000

The issue is money. Under the new law everyone who works in a union shop must pay at least 1/2 dues to the union. Those who do not want to join the union can only donate 1/2 of their dues to charity, the union gets full dues from all union members and 1/2 dues from non-union members. The BIU does not want to lose those dues from those people who opt out of being a union member

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 09:46:44 +0000

Oh, it’s better than that. It is more like “one-half of all taxes levied must be donated to the Union and only union members can vote to change this law”.

By: Phillip

Phillip — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 03:05:17 +0000

This situation will turn very ugly soon if it’s not resolved. Just wondering what happens after the two day strike if this is not resolved….will there be more strikes?

By: Power in numbers

Power in numbers — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 00:45:03 +0000

BIU members I hope you see what your true worth is now. It is universally stated that “no good deed goes unpunished”. You where useful for creating parliamentary barricades and your vote but now you are just surplus. Take heed and realize you have to unify. Unify all of the local unions to create a Trade Union Congress. If you didn’t get the formula right the first time, grow from the experience and get it right now. You are all stronger in numbers. An attack on one union is an attack on all. It’s only a matter of time before your sister unions are targeted. Look at history, it is the best teacher. United you stand and divided you will fall. The rules of divide and conquer is still valid today.

Union leaders please look to the future and start to roll out your next batch of leadership. If you don’t have them, recruit or create them. You cannot wait until you are knocking on the door of retirements before you start to plan. I trust that your opposition is anticipating that you are not thinking this far ahead. A wise person once said “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Without good representation we are all just pawns in this game. Unions where and still are the backbone of this country. The hard working people of this country need and deserve good representation. If you believe they have lost their way, please don’t lose yours.

By: JAWS

JAWS — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 00:03:41 +0000

He just made himself the King of FLIPFLOPs.

By: Jus' Askin'

Jus' Askin' — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 22:20:04 +0000

can’t vait til monday

this is what happens when a person didn’t have to work for their seat

By: Ringmaster

Ringmaster — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 21:17:50 +0000

Why is there an issue? If the Union is doing a good job for their members why would they vote for decertification? Sounds like the issue is not decertification, and Bro Furbert may be in for a fall when he has little support for his strike call.

By: Ronda

Ronda — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 19:44:44 +0000

The proposal that the BIU is asking the government to implement, is akin to saying only those who voted for the PLP in the last election should be eligible to vote in the next election.

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 19:10:09 +0000

“The Government “continues to operate through the principles of reasonableness and fairness, taking into account the interest of all workers” and “has no intention to amend the legislation,” Minister of Labour Jason Hayward said today.”

Wow, that must have taken a lot of effort for Jason Hayward to say!