BIU leader Derrick Burgess has hit out at greedy restaurant bosses exploiting foreign workers who are too frightened to complain.

He said some non-unionised restaurant staff were paid as little as $8 an hour and had to work 16-20 hours a day to make ends meet.

Mr. Burgess said: "Where can you live on those wages?'' He said one eatery employee came to protest about this situation last week.

"He asked us not to do anything about it otherwise they would get fired. They come and they need somebody to vent to but if we do something about it they fear they will get sent back home.'' He said some unscrupulous employers were opting for foreign workers because they had more control over them.

Mr. Burgess said: "If they say they want someone to work at the weekend the Bermudian worker might say they have commitments to their family but employers don't want to hear that.

"Some employers feel that because some foreign workers are prepared to work for lower wages then the Bermudian workers should work for that.'' Employers also took from the gratuities pool at some establishments claimed Mr. Burgess.

He said Bermuda with around a quarter of the work force in unions lagged behind some European countries where 75 percent was the norm.

"That's the reason we can't get some of the good European chefs from France and Switzerland because they have better benefits over there.'' "Not all employers are bad, on the whole relations with employers have improved tremendously but there is still some abuse, particularly with foreign workers.

"To me that's worse, I certainly don't like taking advantage of foreign workers, it's not necessary.

The BIU leader said at one company two foreign workers had been sacked and two told their work permits would not be renewed for no reason. He said one employer had threatened a member of staff by telling him he had a `stronghold on immigration' and he would see that he never got work again, even as a cleaner.

"It's not good watching those people exploit those workers, this union has affiliates through Europe and the Caribbean, we have a reputation as a union and we are very concerned about representing people regardless of where they came from.'' Foreign workers should consider joining up with the BIU said Mr. Burgess to give them more leverage.

Mr. Burgess said one employer at the baselands had told his human resources person not to hire women of child bearing age.

Employers Council Executive Director Malcolm Dixon said: "I would hope, and as far as I am aware, foreign workers are treated decently.'' Mr. Dixon said the new Employment Bill, passed by the House of Assembly last week and likely to be law by early next year, would address some of the problems faced by exploited workers.

He said: "It will bring about some minimum standards.''