1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,800 Good afternoon, huh. First, I keep this on site, you. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:13,570 I would like to just recognise a wonderful lady from the Bible belt of Hamilton Parish. 3 00:00:13,570 --> 00:00:25,960 Dr. Hudson, you know, it's my belief that if this country would have paid attention to Dr. Hudson over thirty five years ago, 4 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:32,050 the problem that we have today would have been probably gone. 5 00:00:32,050 --> 00:00:37,780 So, Dr. Hudson, thank you for what you have done for us. I stand on your shoulders. 6 00:00:37,780 --> 00:00:43,740 Thank you. The book, 7 00:00:43,740 --> 00:00:54,840 The History of the Premier Industrial Union documents the efforts of the men and women who bought the bayou through its most difficult times. 8 00:00:54,840 --> 00:01:01,680 They were workers who had the courage of their convictions, as well as the commitment to confront the hypocritical, 9 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:11,760 vindictive and deeply entrenched oligarchy that was [INAUDIBLE] bent on systematically controlling all facets of Bermuda's 20th century economic, 10 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,640 social and political affairs. 11 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:24,080 They were aided and abetted by a succession of colonial governors prepared to go to any lengths and sustaining themselves in power. 12 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:32,450 In Bermuda, the working conditions were so oppressive that during the first one hundred and fifteen years after emancipation, 13 00:01:32,450 --> 00:01:39,260 workers workers were only able to amongst three major demonstrations against the exploitation of their labour. 14 00:01:39,260 --> 00:01:50,180 In 1853, 1932 and 1945, the eighteen fifty three protest was against the government's plan to use taxpayers money 15 00:01:50,180 --> 00:01:57,770 to import white Portuguese labourers to undercut wage rates demanded by black workers. 16 00:01:57,770 --> 00:02:04,100 Black workers condemned the proposal by a legislator composed totally of white employers. 17 00:02:04,100 --> 00:02:10,580 In 1942, the demonstrations centred on the mistreatment of several hundred Jamaican men, 18 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:18,080 women and children who had been recruited under contract to work at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Iryna Island. 19 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:19,850 Upon arrival in Bermuda, 20 00:02:19,850 --> 00:02:29,630 they were dismayed at what they termed gross violations of their contracts for employment and wages that they had been promised were not paid. 21 00:02:29,630 --> 00:02:39,470 Neither were their accommodations adequate. American born pastor from the AME Church, Rev. Charles Vinton, Hmong, took up the plight of the workers. 22 00:02:39,470 --> 00:02:49,580 Soon after, he arrived in Bermuda, and he vowed that he was prepared to fight to the end to eradicate the injustices of these workers. 23 00:02:49,580 --> 00:02:54,080 Reverend Mong also earned and published the newspaper called The New ERA, 24 00:02:54,080 --> 00:03:02,000 and he wrote articles in his newspaper about the harsh treatment of the workers and exposed the corruption in public places. 25 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,200 Protest protests by workers were met with abuse from their bosses. 26 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:14,480 The more vocal of the individuals demanding their rights or a summons before the sunset magistrate and often jail on the slightest pretext. 27 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,950 There was a series of riots at the Dakar. Fires were set to buildings. 28 00:03:18,950 --> 00:03:24,680 The next day, the first reading was given in Parliament of the Nineteen Oh two riot act. 29 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:30,290 Several of the workers were arrested. Eight were jailed to a term of up to eight months. 30 00:03:30,290 --> 00:03:36,290 In the aftermath of the rioting because of revolutions, coverage of events and his newspaper, 31 00:03:36,290 --> 00:03:41,120 he was charged with criminal libel and tried in the Supreme Court. 32 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:46,550 He was found guilty, sentenced to six months in jail and fined £300. 33 00:03:46,550 --> 00:03:51,170 Revit, amongst defiantly declared that he did not expect justice having to appear in 34 00:03:51,170 --> 00:03:55,880 court before a chief justice whose son was the prosecuting attorney general. 35 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:00,500 The assistant justice on the bench was the latter's father in law, Rev. Mong. 36 00:04:00,500 --> 00:04:09,110 Call them the father, the son and the Holy Ghost. I guess I would call them the lynch mob. 37 00:04:09,110 --> 00:04:13,730 Today we have Reverend Tweet, also from the AME Church. 38 00:04:13,730 --> 00:04:18,650 Reverend Treed was also one of the founders of the People's Campaign who called for equality, 39 00:04:18,650 --> 00:04:24,860 jobs and justice in Bermuda because of his active participation with the People's Campaign. 40 00:04:24,860 --> 00:04:31,010 The former obeyed government refused to renew his work permit in an effort to silence him. 41 00:04:31,010 --> 00:04:37,130 The church appeal the ruling by the minister, which was what was unfair about the adjudication of the appeal, 42 00:04:37,130 --> 00:04:42,800 is that the same minister who refused the work permit also turned down the appeal. 43 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,670 The Conference of the Churches took the case to court. 44 00:04:46,670 --> 00:04:54,140 The Chief Justice ruled that the remit of the government's denial of a work permit and the attempt to deport Reverend Tweed 45 00:04:54,140 --> 00:05:01,550 was unlawful and what would be recorded as a historical landmark victory for the AME Church and the people of Bermuda. 46 00:05:01,550 --> 00:05:08,270 So you see, nothing has really changed from Reverend amoungst time in 1898. 47 00:05:08,270 --> 00:05:18,080 The Reverend treats time in 2017. And let me say that during the time that Reverend Tweed was leading the court to date, 48 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:26,750 the church made a request to the government that Reverend Tweed be allowed to officiate and eulogise a one. 49 00:05:26,750 --> 00:05:35,960 His members, the government told him No. Keep me out of your pulpit, unionism came leader me. 50 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:44,780 In fact, the first blue collar labour organisation was started in nineteen forty four when the perimeter government force the newly elected, 51 00:05:44,780 --> 00:05:49,910 newly established US basis to cut wages up meetings working on base. 52 00:05:49,910 --> 00:05:56,420 They did not warn their rates of pay to exceed the wages paid by the meat employers because of this injustice. 53 00:05:56,420 --> 00:06:00,950 Workers got together and form the Energy Workers Association. 54 00:06:00,950 --> 00:06:07,910 They realised that Labour could not expect to get a fair wage unless and until it form a permanent organisation. 55 00:06:07,910 --> 00:06:14,120 Later, the name change the remaining workers association and subsequently the Bermuda Industrial Union. 56 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:25,730 The nineteen sixty five Belko riots on February the 2nd 1965 is a red day letter red letter day in the archives of the Bayou IRA, Philip wrote. 57 00:06:25,730 --> 00:06:34,730 It marked the climax as one of the union's most celebrated disputes when police and workers clash in what is known as the Belko riots. 58 00:06:34,730 --> 00:06:39,110 This was a recognition dispute between the BYU and Belko. 59 00:06:39,110 --> 00:06:46,610 The union's application for recognition to Belko was refused. There was intervention from the Labour Relations Office and their company. 60 00:06:46,610 --> 00:06:54,320 The company agreed to a ballot provided at all 231 employees participate in a vote which included supervisor, 61 00:06:54,320 --> 00:07:02,240 supervisors and management personnel, and they also stipulated that the union must get 60 percent of the vote in its favour. 62 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:07,820 Obviously, the union could not accept that strike action started on Tuesday, January. 63 00:07:07,820 --> 00:07:17,330 The 1996 65 80 of the 97 employees went on strike as a result of the February 2nd riots. 64 00:07:17,330 --> 00:07:24,500 Several of our members were charged in courts for them, namely Kenny Pohl, Vivian Mayne, Josh DaSilva and Kervin. 65 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:28,010 Reddy was sentenced to 12 months in prison after four months. 66 00:07:28,010 --> 00:07:33,110 Kenny Paul, who will who will be eulogised tomorrow, was acquitted upon appeal, 67 00:07:33,110 --> 00:07:40,280 meaning the civil and referee serve served six months of their long term. 68 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:49,990 They were granted Amnesty stem from persisting lobbying by the bayou and Reverend Coles from Richard Allen AME Church. 69 00:07:49,990 --> 00:07:58,870 Let me close by talking a little about the income disparity that exists today that has been cast in stone. 70 00:07:58,870 --> 00:08:00,790 And if it were not for the unions, 71 00:08:00,790 --> 00:08:09,970 it would be worse because unions based their negotiations on the job or position rather than on gender or race it took. 72 00:08:09,970 --> 00:08:15,580 If you look at the 2016 census report, you will see that every job category, 73 00:08:15,580 --> 00:08:22,960 as outlined with blacks and whites with with the same positions, whites are paid more than blacks. 74 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:33,920 This standard officially started in 1834, when whites refused to pay black workers the same rates that their masters hired them for. 75 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:40,410 And, you know, it was one politician that came to me not so well last year, and they were sort of annoyed. 76 00:08:40,410 --> 00:08:45,520 They said, I'm peeved off. They use another word. But they said they just finished the job. 77 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:54,960 This is very well competent CPA. And what they found out, the person that replaced them not only got more money that didn't bother too much, 78 00:08:54,960 --> 00:09:00,270 but that person got eight thousand dollars a month in live expenses, something they never got. 79 00:09:00,270 --> 00:09:14,390 That continues today. As I stated earlier in my presentation that the oligarchy were [INAUDIBLE] bent on controlling all facets of Bermuda, 80 00:09:14,390 --> 00:09:18,440 in my opinion, it still continues in regard to income. 81 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:26,210 In the 2017 final report of the Commission of Enquiry, the members of the panel, John, Fiona and Anthony, 82 00:09:26,210 --> 00:09:33,380 wrote something that even today indicates that they still want to control what one segment of the population 83 00:09:33,380 --> 00:09:38,930 earns when they made the following statement and they made this statement based on that assumption. 84 00:09:38,930 --> 00:09:42,770 They said the level of compensation for providing collateral for rent. 85 00:09:42,770 --> 00:09:49,970 Burgess and Vincent Holland see their mom use the name because it's out in the public appears on the face of it to be excessive. 86 00:09:49,970 --> 00:09:58,580 What they are actually saying is that there should be a cap on what black people earn and the sky's the limit for whites. 87 00:09:58,580 --> 00:10:04,130 What is amazing that a fellow my name is of Berlin was employed at the dockyard for the 88 00:10:04,130 --> 00:10:09,290 America's Cup and made hundreds of thousands of dollars and an eight month period, 89 00:10:09,290 --> 00:10:19,206 and he ends up getting a award from my aunt, Queen Elizabeth. Thank you.