Staff at the Coco Reef Bermuda, formerly the Stonington Beach Hotel, staged a sit-down strike yesterday afternoon to protest "unfair" management styles of hotel owner John Jefferis and his director, Andrea Jennings.

However, Ms Jennings told The Royal Gazette she knew nothing about the sit-down, and added the staff of the former Stonington Beach Hotel were "the best staff I've seen".

The staff of the hotel called the impromptu sit-down shortly before 1 p.m. yesterday, alerting the media and Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess about their unhappiness with their employers.

The Royal Gazette understands a dispute over beachfront property was the catalyst for the action, with staff claiming it was the final straw in a long list of grievances.

After Hurricane Fabian, the sea-wall on the Coco Reef property was damaged and a new path had to be found for guests to make their way to the beach, which the hotel shares with neighbouring Elbow Beach Hotel.

In order to make the path, several trees had to be removed, and several trees which were actually on Elbow Beach property were chopped down. "We were too enthusiastic ... Our overenthusiasm got the better of us (with the removing of the trees)," admitted Ms Jennings.

The result of removing those trees was that Elbow Beach is reportedly threatening legal action, though the hotel's lawyers, Appleby, Spurling & Kempe, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Elbow Beach also reportedly deemed the land unsafe, and placed a wooden fence along the boundaries of the properties, "as is their right," said Ms Jennings.

"However due to where the boundary runs, hotel guests are boxed in and cannot access the beach." Instead, Coco Reef guests have to climb through a hole in the fence to access the beach.

According to Coco Reef staff, this upset several guests so much they had decided to leave. "Guests are going to be unhappy. We're not offering what we've advertised..." said Ms Jennings.

Coco Reef has been told by insurers that they cannot begin repairs on the sea-wall until the insurers are involved. "Therefore, a decision had to be made because of the level of complaints we received and the silence of the insurers," said Ms Jennings. The hotel made the sudden decision at a meeting of with the BIU, hotel staff, owner Mr. Jefferis and director Ms Jennings on Friday afternoon to close the hotel on October 31 instead of November 11, as staff had previously been told.

But guests had already made bookings for beyond October 31, and several functions had been arranged, leaving staff with two weeks' notice to make rearrangements.

Staff were also left with only two weeks' notice of the termination of their employment, with BIU president Derrick Burgess telling ZBM there will be a price to pay for that. "They have to give a month's notice," he said.

Communication is what is missing between staff and owners, according to staff. A source told The Royal Gazette that the only way for staff to hear from Mr. Jefferis was if they demanded a meeting with him, "otherwise he won't say a thing".

"I've never known anything like it," said one employee, who asked not to be named. "It could've been a good relationship. We're getting sick and tired of the lies."

For example, a source has stated an extra 1.9-acres of land acquired by Mr. Jefferis under the new terms of the lease was not on the original lease, despite both Mr. Jefferis and Tourism Minister Renee Webb stating the contrary.

The Royal Gazette also understands that only six rooms at the hotel were "out of order" after Hurricane Fabian, despite Mr. Jefferis' earlier statement to the press that 32 rooms were destroyed, with a source saying if Mr. Jefferis planned to claim insurance on anything in the other rooms "it should be just carpet". The hotel would only have been half full if the entire 32 rooms were out of commission, the source said. Stonington has in fact received much of the overflow business from other damaged hotels such as the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

While Mr. Jefferis, who is currently off the Island, has stated he will be pouring $10 million into the hotel during the refurbishment period, it was alleged yesterday that the planned upgrades should not cost nearly that much. "He's keeping old mattresses, old TVs, mirrors, pictures," a source told The Royal Gazette. "He's not doing much. New curtains, bedspreads, some furniture."

The Royal Gazette understands Mr. Jefferis has informed staff, including management (who were previously told they would keep their jobs), that they will be laid off during the refurbishment of the hotel for six months with no pay, after which their jobs will be available again. However according to the Employment Act, employees can only be laid off for a maximum of four months, after which staff must be paid, whether they are working or not.

Staff at Coco Reef are also concerned that labourers brought in during the refurbishment period will end up taking over jobs not covered in their job description.

With an alleged reputation of sending threatening memos to management and demanding seven-day work weeks with no extra pay, Mr. Jefferis has also reportedly said he has no loyalty to his staff and in fact hopes they all leave the hotel. "We knew his reputation, but he is ten times worse," said one employee.

The Royal Gazette understands staff feel that while Ms Jennings, who came to Bermuda in September from Tobago, where Mr. Jefferis has another hotel, seems a "nice lady", she also appears to have been "brainwashed" and has made no attempt to get to know staff.

When questioned about tension between staff and owners, Ms Jennings said: "Stonington has the best staff I've seen ...They are wonderful at what they do." Staff know how to do their jobs, she added - they just needed motivation. "That's the foundation of the whole matter."

When asked why staff needed motivation if they were so good at their jobs, she replied: "A BMW is a great car, but it must be maintained. It's the same thing. If not, it becomes idle, it slows down, there is wear and tear. It may not be a good analogy to use a car, but that is what comes to mind."

Communication and being available to staff was the key, she said, as well as leading by example. "Don't ever ask someone to do something if we're not willing to do it."

Mr. Burgess was tight-lipped about the situation, refusing to specify exactly what the problems were and promising only that the BIU will "sort it out".

The next meeting between the BIU and hotel employees is planned for 11 a.m. today.