Bermudian construction workers are putting together a list of labour and safety concerns to present to Ministers, a union leader said last night.

George Scott, Bermuda Industrial Union chief organiser and a backbench Government MP, spoke out after a meeting of industry members at the BIU headquarters.

As reported yesterday, Louis Somner, a spokesman for Bermuda?s construction workers urged them to attend amid concerns about illegal guest workers and health and safety on sites.

Mr. Somner estimated that ?hundreds? of qualified local workers are being robbed of jobs by guest workers who breach their work permits. He also spoke of concerns about incidents such as workers operating without safety harnesses, and called on the Government to ensure immigration and labour laws are properly enforced.

Mr. Scott complained that Labour Relations Officers do not have enough power to enforce the law and that there are not enough examples of employers being ?brought to task?.

Around 35 construction industry workers turned out for the 5 p.m. meeting, which was also attended by Safety and Health Officer Doris Foley. Mr. Scott afterwards that Ms Foley had given useful information on what workers should look out for on sites and said that no one can force individuals to work in unsafe conditions.

?We are pressing ahead on issues and concerns within the construction industry and other places of employment with no representation,? he said. ?Hopefully over time we will get a list together of priority issues and present them to Ministers.?

Mr. Somner said one man who attended the meeting had expressed a ?valid concern? about whether tall cranes on sites are in good repair. ?We?ve no way of knowing how safe these things are. Some of them are as old as me,? added the 47-year-old. ?They are being erected by guys being flown in to do it and we don?t have checks in place.?

He added: ?This was one of the most productive meetings to date. I was very pleased with the camaraderie that came about and I could feel something positive in the air. Government needs to put in place more resources so we can have more inspectors go out instead of just hitting them (employers who breach regulations) across the wrist.

?Not all companies in this country are wrong but the bad companies should be on the alert because we?re not going away. We?re here to stay. Enough is enough.?

Meanwhile the Construction Association of Bermuda responded to some of the claims raised by Mr. Somner. President Alex DeCouto told that while there may be anecdotal evidence of firms breaching immigration and labour laws, the association is not directly aware of any specific cases.

?Certainly, on behalf of our member firms, if there are firms being allowed to flaunt labour laws we would like to see a level playing field enforced by the Departments of Immigration and Labour,? he said.

He added that the association agreed ?to a certain extent? with the comments that health and safety laws are regularly being breached on sites. ?Many of our member firms go a very long way to ensure compliance to the Health and Safety Act, and as an association, it is a mandate of our Code of Conduct,? he said.

?However, this does not mean that firms and workers do not ignore those laws. There is a distinct culture of relatively unsafe working practices in Bermuda, such as poor personal protective equipment like hard hats, steel toe boots and eye protection, and unsafe working conditions.

?As a construction manager myself I can tell you that the hardest to convince to comply are the workers themselves. We are working very closely with the Health and Safety Department in raising awareness and standards.?

The Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety did not respond to requests for comment.

The construction workers plan to hold another meeting at the BIU on July 6.