The Bermuda Recorder

              volume 50 hamilton bermuda saturday october 19 1974 price 15 cents no 42 the hospitals dispute both sides refuse to bodge hospital ____________ r^m ___________________________ x5 — i^f ' " b ■ ■ ■ 5 s ; ; ; ijtjj c jlij£isjt£33i.i._iil _ the b.i.u board says no m — ! says the hospitals board regrets that the bermuda industrial union has chosen to issue a statement at this stage of our current negotiations in view of that statement the « board has decided the public should be informed of thel situation which is presently existingb it is quite apparent that the hospital board - supported by government is determined to evade their responsibilities to the public ana patients by refusing to negotiate in good faith with the bermuda in dustrial union in the current hospital talks however in a short discussion today with the labour relations officer the bermuda industrial union proposed that he set up a meeting at which he labour relations officer may mediate the union has put this proposal forward in the hope that such a meeting could bring about a change in the present stalemate between the parties the - bermuda industrial union is prepared to use the mediation machinery between now and monday midnight - the scheduled time for the strike to take place the union regards a strike at the hospital to be a very serious and sensitive area of public concern we are cognisant of the possible consequences and the danger it could cause to patients and the public in general for these reasons the union shall take every precaution to avoid an un necessarily prolonged strike and we do not trust the hospital authorities to be of the same attitude w he annual wage bill for those covered by the b.i.u agreement totals at the moment approximately 1,939,000 the offer the board have made to the union for an in crease in the first year would increase the wage bill by 15.11 percent to 2,232,000 the board have made a further offer of 10 weekly per employee for the second year of the contract and as a result the current wage bill would rise by 24.46 percent to 2,414,000 the union's last demand would increase the first year wage bill by 23.5 percent and their demand for the second year would bring the increase to 37.5 percent the board have proposed that those at the lower end of the scale should in general receive higher increases than those at the top of the scale and their last offer takes this into ac count 90.00 per week would go im mediately to 107.00 per week and to 117.00 per week for the second year of the contract first year with being 15 average the union's present demand is for an increase of 25 per week for every employee in the first year and an additional 15 in the second year a nursing aide in her first year would be increased from the current 88 per week to 106.00 then to 116.00 to give a few examples a maid in her first year of em ployment currently earning the lowest paid wage 86 per week would be increased to 103 immediately and to 113 per week for the second year of the contract a qualified ambulance driver currently earning 12300 per week would go to 137.00 per week then to 147 00 the board reiterate that their offer has been a fair and a reasonable one in all the cir cumstances the labour relations officer is continuing his efforts to achieve conciliation and the board's negotiating team is ready to meet with the union at any time if a reasonable proposal is received a houseman ' now earning 108.00 per week would go to 124.00 then to 134.00 these examples are typical the offered increases range from 14 to 18 weeklv in the a housekeeping maid in her third year is currently earning the admiralty house hotel site minister lashes out in the first definitive statement to come from the cabinet with respect to the new hotel college suggestion for the admiralty house site mrs gloria mcphee mp minister of education has taken strong exception to the contents of the recorder's editorial on the subject last week in a letter written on thursday to our editor she strongly defends the intention of the governors of the bermuda college to press for development of the site here is the full text of mrs mcphee's letter employment which is always a distinct asset obviously and secondly it will greatly reduce the outflow of money now estimated at between 3 5 and 4 million dollars for the hotel industry alone that leaves bermuda each year via the non bermudian hotel worker surely a project that would result in the retention of such a large sum in the local economy will be accepted as being economically laudable this result can only be achieved by a definite program to ber mudianize the industry the new department of hotel technology is the most obvious means of achieving this goal are not acquired over-night this is especially so in our major industry tourism furthermore i must point out that we are not ignoring the training that is needed for careers in commerce and technology indeed i invite you to visit our department of commerce & technology our department of academic studies and see our 420 students we are therefore calling a mass meeting of all union members throughout the island for wednesday night and if the strike is not settled by then the membership will be called upon to take the appropriate action to force a speedy settlement as minister of education i wish to make a few ob servations on your editorial of 12th october entitled tourism and priorities and to clarify certain misconceptions first of all it must be pointed out that it is not intended that there will be any true en vironmental loss at the ad miralty house site when the college is built the foreshore and the eastern slope of clarence hill - which we refer to as a botanical and biological reserve - will be preserved it is intended that the facilities will blend perfectly into the land scape furthermore with reference to an environmental loss it is intended that the residents of pembroke west will be allowed access to the beach and shoreline certainly during the summer months when the demand is greatest in addition residents will be en couraged to use the library and the auditorium since it is planned to develop the college as a community college in the true sense of the meaning of the word the hotel owner can be deemed as illogical the same salaries and wages now paid to the 1,700 plus non bermudians directly involved in the tourist industry will obviously have to be paid to well-trained bermudians who replace them ber taking courses to prepare them for scientific and technological fields commerce and the various trades are on the curriculum of our secondary schools also the bus-boy the waiter the reservations clerk the assistant manager etc when per forming his or her service recognize that without the two way effect which is brought about a healthy wholesome attitude to their chosen career their future their children's future and indeed our future is jeopardized l m fcy*kw im \ _____________ you have confused service with servility - much to your discredit you refer to bowing and scraping on behalf of the present and past students at the department of hotel technology not to mention future those persons employed in the hotel industry today and those working in bermuda's restaurants i take exception to these words i would like to think that such behaviour went out with the emancipation act of 1834 your statements about service can surely be taken as a definite insult to anyone working directly or indirectly with tourists - this would un doubtedly encompass the majority of the working force in bermuda the ministry of education through its hotel training unit and commerce departments in the secondary schools via the bermuda college intends to continue providing suitable training for every level of employment in our main in dustry i will constantly remind the youth of bermuda of the words of dr martin luther king — if you are a ditch digger be the best ditch digger take advantage of the training that is offered and become the best manager the best bartender the best accountant etc and remain mindful of the fact that there is dignity in every form of labour in this way bermuda's future will be guaranteed bermuda's economy is based on service we do not have an industrial economy where the bulk of the working force spends its time on assembly lines and rarely deals directly with other persons in their day-to_ay job the vast majority of our employees are dealing constantly with other people - providing a service hence we need our youth to be suitably trained to meet the demari-s that will be made of them at any level of em ployment the skills necessary to provide first class service any service given by bermudians today should be given graciously whether it be in the field of medicine plumbing teaching hotel work or any other field provision of a service is a two-way street indeed like shakespeare's mercy it is twice blest - it blesseth him that gives and him that takes inudianization will not lead to any direct financial gain for the employerb 1 must point but the fact that increasing the numbers of bermudians in the hotel industry at all levels will certainly be of direct financial benedit to bermudians per se firstly it will provide additional your comment that ber mudiamzation of the industry will lead to a financial gain to we would like to think that