Big steps were made toward resolving the industrial dispute yesterday: The BIU agreed to go to court over the injunctions issue, and Emergency legislation was drawn up that would force a binding settlement in the long-festering Bermuda Forwarders dispute.

Union members are expected to march from union headquarters to the Supreme Court this morning, where the union will ask the Chief Justice to hold off the seizure of assets and $100,000-a-day fine he imposed for illegal industrial action.

The union will then appeal the original injunction declaring the industrial action against Government illegal. An application was made yesterday to the Court of Appeal, which meets Monday. The BIU's lawyer, Mr. Julian Hall MP, said he was confident the union would prevail.

The House of Assembly this morning is expected to pass emergency legislation that would tackle the Bermuda Forwarders dispute that started it all.

It would give Government for the first time the power to refer labour disputes to binding arbitration even if they weren't in essential industries. All three parties have agreed in principal to put the legislation through the House today and the Senate on Monday.

A general BIU membership meeting yesterday stretched from soon after 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with attendance gradually diminishing from more than 500 to fewer than 200.

"At that meeting, it was decided that the union would discourage and disapprove of all industrial action where it relates to any illegal strikes, that we intend to be in conformity with the orders and various papers that have been served on us,'' BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP said.

But he would not say specifically that he expected Government workers or others named in court injunctions to return to their jobs.

He said he wanted as many as possible to march from BIU headquarters to the Supreme Court for the court hearing this morning -- saying it was their legal duty to attend a court hearing in which they were involved as BIU members.

Mr. Simmons, unusually subdued after almost 12 hours of membership meetings, spoke of his frustrations with Bermuda Forwarders, Government, and laws he felt were biased in favour of employers.

He said the BIU had displayed remarkable solidarity in recent days and had received messages of support from union officials overseas.

But the BIU was misunderstood and beset upon by many at home.

The union wanted to be known as "the ultimate law-abiding citizen,'' he said.

It was born out of struggle, he said, but "we want to get away from the struggle.'' He said the union wanted to move more into the realm of education, and job training. "We want members to be the best trade people in Bermuda,'' he said.

"We don't want them to be the best picketers.'' The events came after a sometimes tense day at BIU headquarters on Union Street, where a little more than 500 members gathered at 9 a.m. for what was billed as the BIU's most important meeting ever.

Government had appealed to the union to follow the law if it wanted to avoid the seizure of assets and $100,000 a day fines but the BIU had remained firm in its refusal to send workers back or to fight the matter in court.

Early yesterday morning, after a late-night caucus meeting, Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade issued a statement that called on the BIU "to give serious consideration'' to avoiding walkouts "that will bring them into direct conflict with the law.'' Tension was high as BIU members stood outside while their union executive met in a morning session. Some argued the union needed to back down, because its members had jobs and families to protect. But others said only full-scale rioting would help.

Mr. Dennis Bean addressed the crowd at one point, complaining that "John Swan and all the rest of his hyenas'' did nothing for the working man.

He told the crowd to follow the union's instructions. They should not burn cars or destroy houses or block streets on behalf of the BIU. "If you want to go out and do things on your own, that's your own business,'' he said.

But as long meetings continued, the crowds dwindled and tension seemed to ease. Large numbers of lawyers started flowing in and out of the building, including Mr. Hall, Mr. Robin McMillan, Mr. Michael Scott, Mr. Arthur Hodgson, and by the end of the day when conclusions were reached there were probably little over 100 members remaining.

Mr. Hall, whose law firm is representing the BIU, said the union was not informed and was not present when Government obtained the injunction against it -- or when Government obtained the writ that ordered the "sequestering'' of the union's assets. That violated a "fundamental right'', he said.

"There's no shadow of a doubt that the decision made by the Chief Justice ordering sequestration will be successfully appealed,'' he said.

Mr. Hall noted that the original injunction was granted on a complaint made specifically by the Department of Marine and Ports. But industrial action there was legal because Marine and Ports is part of the transport industry, the same industry as Bermuda Forwarders.

MR. OTTIWELL SIMMONS MP -- "No illegal strikes.'' CHALLENGE -- Mr. Julian Hall MP (centre) prepares to take the BIU's case to court.