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Dear Sir,

Please allow me to wade in on the Tony Brannon issue with strong condemnation regarding his "unflattering remarks about Bermuda's tourism product on the globally popular website YouTube."

His comments are a slap in the face to all Bermudians generally and particularly to Black Bermudians, especially those of us who worked long and hard back in the day to make Bermuda the flagship tourism product that he and his father's business benefited from.

To suggest that Black Bermudians "egged on by the BIU" killed tourism is another slap in the face to an organization that has a long history of fighting for the rights of the workers in this country.

However, the BIU is guilty of "egging" its members on by educating us that the position of the individual worker is normally weak relative to the strength of the employer.

The BIU is guilty of "egging" its members on by letting them know that collective action through Trade Unions helps individual workers to determine their terms and conditions of employment through collective bargaining and negotiating procedures to generally enforce their point of view on the operation of the workplace.

The BIU is guilty of "egging" us on by making us believe that we the workers are the motivating force behind Trade Unionism and the Trade Union Organization.

The BIU is guilty of "egging" us on by educating us in believing that the objective of Trade Union Organization is to organize the workplace, to include all workers in the bargaining unit to become Union Members.

The BIU is guilty of "egging" the workers on to believe that they contribute through their hard labour to make Bermuda the place that all Bermudians - including Mr. Brannon - enjoy today.

And finally, the "egging" on by the BIU has meant that all unionized workers in the workplace will have: Continuity of collective strength, freedom of speech, and with that comes a voice in the workplace.

Venomous

The rights of due process through the grievance procedure and fairness in employment matters and social justice.

Glaringly omitted from his venomous tirade was the role that the BEC, HEB and the UBP played in the "killing of tourism" in Bermuda, and it's so very painfully obvious why.

In closing, I'm demanding that the Government of Bermuda revoke and/or rescind or refuse him permission to use Hawkins Island for his summer events with immediate effect.

I am also calling on all right thinking Bermudians to refuse to support any of his business ventures until he takes out a full page ad in the daily newspaper apologizing for his unfortunate remarks to the BIU, the Premier Dr. Ewart Brown and to all Black Bermudians.

Orin Simmons[[In-content Ad]]

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