Union claimed yesterday.

Hotel workers, giving evidence before the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board, claimed some employees were being paid fewer gratuities than others.

The claims were made during a rancorous hearing, in which BIU president Mr.

Ottiwell Simmons MP traded comments with Hotel Employers of Bermuda lawyer Mr.

Stephen Shawe as he tried to prove HEB members were not taking the proceedings seriously.

Mr. Carvel Van Putten, doorman and chief shop steward at the Hamilton Princess Hotel, appeared on behalf of the housemen, chamber maids and floor supervisors of the Princess Club department.

He said the club is considered "deluxe'' accommodation by management and staff were expected to provide "extra service'' to the floor's business clientele.

But staff assigned to the Princess Club receive less gratuity pay than housekeepers in other areas of the hotel because generally only single guests stay there, he said.

He said the hotel should either subsidise the gratuities or give employees a higher basic wage to compensate for the reduced tips.

Mr. Shawe repeatedly asked Mr. Van Putten to name the maids concerned, but the chief shop steward refused, saying it would be better to wait until they appeared before the Board.

Mr. Shawe then asked who would be paying for the gratuity subsidy or the wage hike, to which Mr. Van Putten replied: "We would have to look into that. We don't know.'' Mr. Simmons objected to Mr. Shawe's "angle'' and "aggressiveness''.

Princess Club housekeeper Ms Alma Stevens said maids from other areas of the hotel laugh at the pay she and her co-workers receive.

Mrs. Dorthea Tucker, assistant housekeeper and chief shop steward at the Harmony Club, said her employer used to pay double occupancy gratuities for single rooms until March, 1991 -- when the HEB terminated the 1988-91 agreement.

The Harmony Club operates as "a couples club'' but single guests do occasionally stay at the hotel.

Mrs. Tucker said the maids were "very angry'' about the change in gratuities but talks with management achieved nothing.

"We depend on our gratuities,'' she said. "Its a problem to make a living without (them).'' Moving on to the long-simmering issue of Sunday work for Sonesta Beach Hotel's laundry staff, Mr. Simmons questioned laundry worker Ms Audrey Astwood.

Staff members still refuse to work on Sundays, and are therefore only paid for the four days they do work.

"We're not even taking home $300 a week,'' she said. "And we do a lot of work in that laundry.'' Ms Astwood said the hotel should either give them their free Sundays back, or pay workers double time to come in on Sundays.

Mr. Simmons then produced some flip-charts, said to be written by Sonesta president Mr. David Boyd, and asked Ms Astwood to read them.

"You're getting bad advice,'' one said. "Your shop steward isn't losing any money.'' The bottom of the last page read: "Redundancies. Think.''