I wish to send a news flash to many members of the workforce, especially folks like the Works and Engineering employees who went on strike for a worker who broke the rules and the Marine and Ports staff who are objecting to the Government bringing in the Millenium ferry.The message is that times have changed. It is not and cannot be business the old-fashioned way. We are working in a time when Government is too large; there is the political will to reduce the size of the Civil Service; the Government is broke; the Government’s debt is too high; we are in our fifth consecutive year of negative growth (which in my mind means a depression); there are some 4,000-plus people who would love to have the job you could be taking for granted and not appreciate; and you could lose your job and be out of work for years! The old ways of doing things got us into this predicament and are therefore no longer sustainable.Against this backdrop, I cannot fathom why workers don’t see that now is not the time to strike; now is not the time to fight the Government; now is not the time to utilise the union bullying and scare tactics that worked in times of plenty.I can only conclude that many of these workers simply still just don’t get it. They don’t realise the predicament in which our beloved Bermuda finds itself. So since I’m a solutions man, I ask the question ”how do we get them to get it“?I talk to a lot of people. I have sources. My assessment is that they don’t want to get it and therefore never will. One of my bredrens has a favourite expression: ”There are none so blind, as those who will not see.“ I submit that this is the issue here.We cannot go on strike for staff who break the rules. Strikes and downing tools cannot be our first response as employees to any decision that management makes. Admittedly, management makes mistakes too and both parties must make sure that collective agreements are followed all the time, not some of the time and/or when it is convenient.Then the ferry situation. It really is smart of the Government to bring in the Millenium ferry, because now it cannot be held to ransom of fear of strikes, when we have thousands of tourists waiting to be moved about the Island and who do not care if worker x has a little problem with his boss and/or his boss‘ decisions.We have to be able to serve our tourists without fear of a strike, so well done to the Ministry of Tourism and Transport for bringing in the Millenium. Does anyone remember the fiasco that then Minister Terry Lister had to deal with a few years ago up at Dockyard? Absolute nonsense.These are the same guys who downed tools because a Ferry Pilot was disciplined for being drunk or operating a ferry under the influence of alcohol. The person should be dismissed for such behaviour; but the unions protect, defend and enable such behaviour.There is a way to protect the rights of employees without going on strike or resorting to scaremongering. Politicians don’t like to be messed with during tourism’s high season and this is when the unions who are inclined to strike are most inclined to do so.I remember many years ago there were no taxis and I remember hoteliers driving tourists to the airport in their personal vehicles and people carrying suitcases across the causeway.These experiences haunt our tourism industry folks. We cannot repeat this behaviour when we say we want to recover from this recession.All pillars of our economy need all the help, not the hindrances, that we can all individually and collectively muster.Now is not the time for those old tactics and it is no longer business as before. We must establish a platform of consistency, stability and dependability for people to want to do business here.Who is going to build a hotel in a place where there is a strike every time there is a disagreement? Not me. If we are going to improve and grow our economy; this has to stop.It seems to me that some people just don’t get this. If things are going to get better, we all have to ”GET IT“ SOON!And now, the Top 20Holding at #1 is Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring WanzHolding at #2 is Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch. I hear this one on the radio a lot.Improving to #3 is Beam Me Up (Kill Mode) By Cazzette.Up to #4 is When I Was Your Man, by Bruno Mars.Falling to #5 is Started from the Bottom by Drake.Slipping to #6 is Suit and Tie, by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z.Way up to #7 is Differentology by Bunji Garlin featuring Nigel Rojas.Up to #8 is Leh Go by Blaxx and the Roy Cape Band.Improving to #9 is Fog by Machel Montano.Up to #10 is Float by Machel Montano.Up to #11 is A Little Wine by Patrice Roberts, which is still rocking spots a year after its release.At #12 is She Ready by Machel Montano.Way up to #13 is last week’s essential new tune, Get Lucky, by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams.Falling to #14 is Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz.Flopping to #15 is Scream and Shout by will.i.am and Britney Spears.Slipping to #16 is Sexy People (The Fiat Song) by Arianna featuring Pitbull.Down to #17 is Gentleman by Psy, a former essential new tune.New at #18 is this week’s essential new tune — Blurred Lines by Robin Thick.In at #19 is People Like Us by Kelly Clarkson.Finally, in at #20 is Play Hard by David Guetta featuring Ne-Yo, Akon and Nothing but the beat.