It was a night of solidarity for white and blue collar workers as they donned their best and turned out in full force Saturday night to hear the philosophy of Jamaican Senator Dr. Trevor Munroe.

Held at the Fairmont Southampton Princess' amphitheatre, the Bermuda Industrial Union's 20th Annual Labour Day Banquet speaker drove home thoughts of perseverance through struggle.

Dr. Munroe, a 30-year labour veteran and founder of the University Allied Workers Union (UAWA) in Jamaica, noted that he is familiar with the Island, having previously visitedBermuda on two occasions.

And he expressed his pleasure at being able to address the banquet and highlight the parallels of unions in Jamaica and Bermuda.

"As we celebrate labour, we must understand that labour is constantly insecure - labour is constantly being retooled," he said. "The labour that we celebrate has come from a struggle of those before us. We are coming from a time when we could not sit at a table at this kind of hotel. "We can and must celebrate the fact that our sons and daughters have greater opportunity and choice to move up from the bottom of the social ladder. That is an opportunity they have never had before.

"We are coming from a place where labour unions still remain a criminal organisations around the world - we must celebrate the fact that the BIU and the UAWU are now recognised. Our achievements have come through hard work and struggle. The struggle has helped us get to where we are now."

And in an event that saw the notable absence of members of the Opposition, the amphitheatre swelled with members of cabinet, including BIU president Derrick Burgess, Tourism Minister David Allen, Education Minister Milton Scott, Transport Minister Ewart Brown, Health and Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome, Ottiwell Simmons, Dale Butler, Deleay Robinson, Wayne Perinchief and Neletha Butterfield, all led by Premier Jennifer Smith.

Dr. Munroe pointed out in a changing world, employees must be constantly educated about the dynamics of a technology driven market.

And he challenged that trade unions around the world must keep in mind the basic human rights of workers if they are to provide sustainable living standards for themselves and their families.

"The world of 2001 is far more different than the world of yesterday," he said. "We need to sharpen our awareness of those differences. No depth of education that we possess today is enough to help us cope with tomorrow. In addition to a world with increasing borders there is growing competition and advancing technology we now face an additional challenge of how to partner with colleagues in the business community to ensure that our enterprises grow with an ability to compete, so that they can preserve jobs and generate income for the workers and their families."

It was a theme that was echoed later in the evening by BIU president Derrick Burgess, who said: "There is no doubt that the trade union movement has been very successful in bettering the lives of our people. We in the BIU see our union ever evolving so that it can meet the enormous challenges faced by our workers in the 21st century."