Premier Alex Scott yesterday admitted the General Election result was too close for comfort. And he pledged Government would listen more to the electorate.

"We came away with a message because a message was sent and a message was received," he told the crowds at the Labour Day 2003 celebrations.

The 22nd Labour Day march and speeches saw very few young people in attendance and numbers were down on previous years.

It is estimated about 400 people turned out - despite bright September sunshine.

Gombeys from two companies and two sets of Majorettes marched from Union Square down to Bernard's Park before the start of the speeches.

In a brief and to-the-point speech Mr. Scott told the audience that the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) had won the election with 52 percent of the vote - a narrower margin than he would have liked.

He invited the public not to take their concerns to the media, but instead to call Government MPs.

"Rather than picking up a phone to call the radio talk show, pick up the phone and call your representative, and when you are ready to write a letter to the editor, write to your Government - it's your Government," said Mr. Scott.

"During this term we won't leave anyone behind - we have heard concerns of labour, we have been made aware of age discrimination, we understand the concept of forced retirement and that there should be a partnership between government, management and labour when it comes to the notion of training."

In conclusion Mr. Scott said: "It's with all of us on board in a united front in the name of labour."

Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) president Derrick Burgess urged parents to play a more active role in reminding their children of past struggles to help enrich their future.

He called on Bermuda's youth to remember where they came from and those who worked so hard to initiate many of the changes that they now took for granted.

"We are putting out a book called The History of the Bermuda Industrial Union and I urge everyone to get one and make sure that your children read it and to make sure that if they don't understand it then they come to you."

Acting Opposition Leader and Shadow Minister of Health and Family Services Michael Dunkley told the crowds that they needed to embrace change.

"The one inescapable requirement for success in life is that it changes whether we like it or not," said Mr. Dunkley.

"People need to cope with change, to be able to adapt to change, to exploit change for their benefit and to create change that will keep the Island at the cutting edge of society."

Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Randolph Horton said within the forthcoming session he would be looking into the Employees Act and at the Workman's Compensation Act as well. He added everything was not perfect on the Island's labour scene.

"Memories of recent industrial action by the Bermuda Union of Teachers, the Prison Officers Association and workers at Bermuda CableVision Ltd remain vivid," said Minister Horton.

"Yet I remain confident that during the months and years ahead the Island will experience minimal strike action.

"I remain confident that reason will prevail, that union leaders and employer groups will resolve their differences in a spirit of mutual respect and collaboration."

Shadow Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Maxwell Burgess said that he would ensure that Minister Horton did what he promised.

Guest speaker New York Council Woman Helen Diane Foster told the people to celebrate labour but said, sometimes it was hard to celebrate labour when you did not have enough money to feed and clothe your family.

She said everyone who made it had someone to help them so it was not all about the "boot-strap theory" it was about reaching back and about making a commitment to helping those younger than you.

Ms Foster said: "It is not based on the have and the have nots because at one time we were all in the have nots. "When we embrace change make sure it is one that we can all swallow."

Barclay Carmichael, of Southampton, told The Royal Gazette that he always came out to Labour Day and was always appreciative of labour.

Somerset resident Gabre Selassie said he had unfortunately missed most of the speeches, but that he attended the Labour Day celebrations whenever he could.

Twenty-five-year-old, Allen Brown, said that he usually attended the event every year either as a member of the Bermuda Regiment Band or as a drummer in the Warwick Majorettes.

"This is the first time that I have been here and just been able to relax," said Mr. Brown.

Kevin Grant was pleased that Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU) president Nigel Pemberton had spoken about the lack of young people.

"People between the age of 30 to 40 are so influential and wield a lot of power and they should be out for this," said Mr. Grant.

Other speakers included Maynard Dill, president of the Bermuda Trade Union Congress; Anthony Wolffe, president of the Bermuda Union of Teachers; Dr. Noel Brown, president of the Friends of the United Nations; E. LeVere Richards, Caribbean regional secretary of the International Union of Food; and Sis Debbie Anderson, director of Internal Affairs of the Hotel Employee Restaurant Employee International Union.