March 17, 20123Dear Sir,May I comment on the withdrawal of labour by the ferry boat operators. The leader of the Bermuda Industrial Union, Chris Furbert, stated the strike was necessary because Government has disrespected the union. There are six fast ferries at this time. During the last three years it has been a challenge to keep them maintained and running to schedule. The union head, Mr Samuels has stated that management is responsible for the deterioration of the service. What he means by that is unclear. He went on to say management are the white collar workers. The blue collar employees are the people, such as deckhands and mechanics etc. Should the demise of the ferries be shared equally between the two sets of workers? Many times as I pass through the Dockyard I see workers standing around idly when perhaps more productivity could be witnessed. Maybe this is a fault of the management and more tasks should be assigned? My point is, there seems to be enough available labour that the ferries should be in a better state. Therefore management and workers should share the blame.Getting back to the claim of disrespect. I do not think that is the reason for the strike action. Perhaps the union is on a mission to discredit the current government. By withdrawing labour for petty selfish reasons it (the union) is trying to embarrass and make the One Bermuda Alliance look bad. There was no call to strike when the ferry service began and maintained its decline. A strike would have looked bad on the Progressive Labour Party, of which the head of the union is an avid supporter. Are the workers being used as political pawns in a game to weaken the Government so that the former regains popularity? What we do know is that these industrial disputes could lead to more instability as we try to strengthen our weakening economy. We must have leaders who have all our interests at heart so we can turn Bermuda around. That is what is needed at this time, not petty bickering designed to benefit the select few at the expense of us all.CHANGERSandys