I guess the question I must pose to all of you is, how is that “shared sacrifice” idea that the OBA has been touting, been working out for you lately?

Certainly, we know that with regard to significant numbers of the unemployed — most of whom are black as previously highlighted — the OBA’s pre-election pledge to produce a bumper crop of jobs continues to ring quite hollow.

And despite their recent climb down with respect to their decision not to move forward with the Public Service Reform bill during the upcoming legislative session, there remains a palpable disquiet among Government employees that their employment security remains at risk.

The Government and/or public sector is the largest single employer in Bermuda and with approximately 90 per cent of those workers coming from Bermuda’s black community it is also the largest single employer by far of black Bermudians.

When one therefore attempts to produce a demographic profile of the typical Bermudian who is carrying the brunt of the so called shared sacrifice called for by Premier Michael Dunkley and his OBA Government, I suspect it would most likely look like a 41 year old black Bermudian male and/or female, with one or two children earning about $48,000 per year.

We too in the Progressive Labour Party believe that their will have to be some sacrifice in order to address our fiscal challenges, where we differ is that we are vigorously opposed to the so called sacrifice falling disproportionately upon those least able to afford it.

As the Shadow Minister for Human Affairs which includes Workforce Development, one of my most significant concerns is the terrible waste of human talent and potential as a consequence of current economic conditions.

This cannot bode well in terms of our social cohesion and ultimately societal stability. It is also personally disappointing, in that the former PLP government did so much to modernise and advance the goal of bringing workforce development to its deserved position of prominence with respect to overall governance.

One of the key policy goals was to strongly align education and training with the real world economy, and therefore provide the necessary tools for the Bermudian worker so that they could more fully compete. Not only locally, but globally as well.

It has been really difficult to witness, as I previously noted in terms of my own constituency, the number of educated and qualified people, such as a recently minted young female lawyer or the veteran banker — both black professionals — who are without work in this economy, as the floodgates of immigration are opened wide again under the OBA.

Recent policy decisions — as noted — which have been adopted by Michael Fahy, the Minister for Home Affairs, with respect to Immigration, such as the “Bermuda Employment Visa” and its companion piece, the “New Business Work Permit” will have the very real potential of further marginalising Bermudian workers, such as the bright young lawyer mentioned above.

In other words, we run the real risk of negating any gains in education. And, on the workforce development side of the equation, by creating policies that result in more Bermudians either becoming mired in long term unemployment, or choosing to take their considerable skills and talents elsewhere.

Increasingly, Bermudians are once again beginning to realise that it is the Progressive Labour Party that will protect the long term interest of our young people and workers in this country, by addressing destructive racial disparities, making immigration policy’s work on behalf of Bermudians and not against them, and by fostering greater diversity in our economy.

Rolfe Commissiong is the Shadow Minister for Human Affairs and the PLP MP for Pembroke South East