dispute with management over vacation allowances.

About six operators refused to answer calls in support of a colleague who had a holiday request turned down.

Last night a BTC spokeswoman confirmed that the operators "downed tools'' in protest at the incident yesterday afternoon.

The spokeswoman refused to go into details as to what caused the walkout and would only confirm that action had been taken.

"The operators did down tools this afternoon and we are now taking a close look at monitoring the situation as we don't want this to disrupt services,'' she said.

"The action is mainly affecting long-distance calls.'' The Royal Gazette has learned that the row blew up even though management agreed to back down on their original decision and allow the operator to take her holiday.

Last night it was unclear whether the action would continue today or whether BTC management had drafted in replacements to man the telephones.

But when a reporter telephoned the operator, the call was answered. The operator then refused to comment on the action.

Last night Derrick Burgess, president of the Bermuda Industrial Union which represents telephone operators, could not be contacted to discuss the action.