White collar union leader Edward Ball has backed his blue collar counterpart Derrick Burgess in slamming arrogant management.

Mr. Ball who is General Secretary of the Bermuda Public Services agreed with the Bermuda Industrial Union president that employee-employer relations had slumped recently.

On Monday, BIU workers walked out over a dispute about outsourcing at BTC and all the union's members were called to an emergency general meeting that night to discuss grievances with BTC, CableVision, Serco, Stevedoring Services and Government. Industrial action has not been ruled out.

Yesterday, Mr. Ball agreed with Mr. Burgess that management were pushing things to the limit but he stopped short of endorsing any joint action with the BIU.

Mr. Ball said employers were changing terms and conditions without consulting the union, he said there were no clear lines of demarcation between management and human resources with things being said verbally rather than in writing.

He said management were encouraging disrespect towards union officials.

Mr. Ball said: "They are saying don't worry about the union or what the contract says. They are saying not nice things about union officials, saying they just want to stop the business. But that's far from the truth.

"We are finding employers are trying to negotiate directly with employees, outside the collective bargaining agreement."

He said management was refusing to consult staff, often leading to situations where mistakes were repeated and the whole company suffered.

"But there are experienced staff who know how to get round these problems. Employers are hurting themselves by not listening.

"It's the hierarchical chain - it's a case of 'I am the manager - you do what I say'."

Yesterday, Employers Council Executive Director Andrea Mowbray appealed for calm and said work stoppages would be unproductive.

She said: "We recommend all parties exercise caution so we can all work together on this.

"We should keep an open dialogue to deal with the change in the way we do business, whether that be outsourcing or cost cutting."

Mr. Ball said management needed to get acquainted with labour relations law and other acts affecting their businesses, consult workers, get qualified human resources people and clearly explain the company's succession plan to employees.

He said employees were worried about being kept in the dark about what was happening to their pensions plans while performance related pay was also a big concern.

He said: "These are troublesome times because of September 11. We have to sit down and talk.

"They are hiring consultants right, left and centre but claiming they don't have money. You question how thrifty employers are actually being."