The Association of Bermuda International Companies has thrown its support behind Government plans for a workforce empowerment programme aimed at forcing businesses to improve opportunities for black Bermudians.

Chairman David Ezekiel said last month that ABIC supports the move because there had not been a radical improvement in the racial mix at the executive level.
“This proposal is not a quota system, nor is it a mandated process,” he said. “Based on our discussion with CURE (Commission for Unity and Racial Equality) we are comfortable with what it is designed to achieve, if it works in practice.
“We will certainly accept what it is set out to do – make sure hiring practices are fair and help put in training programmes to advance qualified Bermudians.
“There has not been a radical change in the racial mix in middle to upper management and it is incumbent on us to ask why this is not happening,” he said.
Mr. Ezekiel’s comments contradicted those of the Bermuda International Business Association, which largely disagreed with the need for the programme and said the major cause for lack of black empowerment lay in the education field.
The Royal Gazette has also learned that the empowerment initiative will penalise companies that fail to adopt special and affirmative measure for black Bermudians.
According to a copy of the CURE (Commission for Unity and Racial Equality) Stakeholder Workforce Empowerment consultative document obtained by The Royal Gazette, the proposal would end the voluntary position on tackling racial discrimination and promoting equality because this has resulted in very little change in the face of the workforce.
The legislation would empower CURE to inquire into an employers’ practices, ensure better compliance with equality of opportunity initiatives and force large employers (size to be determined) to develop a strategy for better representation, the document said.
It noted: “There is no current obligation to accommodate black employees, other than a commitment to social responsibility.
“Further, there are no real consequences for employers whose racial compositions are below workforce and industry norms and where no effort has been made to foster change.
“Current workforce initiatives do not attend to change with any urgency and immediacy. Indicators would be the unequivocal and explicit demographic change for the races in workforce representation, income and socio-economic status.”
Government feels CURE’s current legislation is limited in the extent to which it gives the organisation adequate authority to propose and verify employers are implementing measures eliminating unlawful and institutional discrimination.
When Government has asked companies to share their policies and strategies for promoting equality of opportunity and reaching proportionate rates of representation, there has been an absence of such plans and policies, the document said.
The proposal would penalise those companies that claim to be equal opportunity employers, (meaning they have committed to taking affirmative measures to ensure access to opportunity) but have failed to provide any documentation to support this claim.
Under the proposed legislation, false declarations of compliance will be sanctioned but are not deemed criminal offences.
CURE may conduct an inquiry into an employers’ policy and procedural processes, the results of which may be publicly displayed.
Government says the legislation is being introduced because blacks have yet to reach economic parity and equality in the workforce and there has been very little change from 2000-2004 and black Bermudians remain significantly more disadvantaged than whites.
The Annual Review of the Workforce Survey indicates that representation in its purest form would mean people in Bermuda hold positions and earn incomes consistent with their demographics – 56 percent black, 33 percent white and 11 percent mixed race and others.
The CURE Annual Review of the Workforce 2003 survey results showed that white employees maintained the largest proportion of executive management positions in the major industries.
Of the 1,968 senior management positions, black employees held approximately 29 percent of 568 of those positions.
The majority of black senior managers were concentrated in the public administration/defence sector at 65 percent.
In all other sectors, black senior managers held less than half of all those positions and black executive managers and black senior managers were least likely to be employed in the international companies sector.