Shared Sacrifice

Hello Government of Bermuda,

Obviously there will be hardship going forward to recover from this pandemic. During the previous financial crisis, it was private companies that caused the economy to collapse with bad fiscal management. It did not help that the Government at the time did not see what was happening elsewhere and then try to protect Bermuda.

We are in a similar situation with private companies not being prepared for an emergency. Since they did not learn lessons from the past, it is up to the Government to implement measures for them to be prepared. We can be certain the company directors, shareholders and owners are living comfortable during this time, while their hourly workers are relying on Government assistance to get them through these times. Private companies cannot be trusted to ensure that they are prepared for emergencies and can afford to pay their workers through the tough times. There are stores and other businesses that have laid off their staff while their owners live in big estates.

In order to assist with the recovery and protect the Government in the future, there should be consideration to an unemployment tax. This can be something that goes in line with the progressive payroll tax. It would be unfair for Government workers to have to foot the bill by way of pay cuts or furloughs, so by implementing an unemployment tax it would mean those in the private sector will be contributing as well. If the tax is progressive and not a huge percentage, then there could be buy in from Government employees. Our current Finance Minister is very competent and I have no doubt he could come up with a progressive unemployment tax so that Government workers are not left in financial hardship due to poor private company management.

Regards