Some construction site foremen are turning away Bermudians for jobs in favour of cheap labourers from abroad, according to Derrick Burgess, President of the Bermuda Industrial Union.

And he said non-Bermudian labourers are being exploited by unscrupulous contractors who pay them up to 28 percent less than the official union rate with no benefits.

He claims some labourers -- both Bermudian and non-Bermudian -- are being cheated out of up to $100 a week in their pay packets.

"There are certain people using excuses to bring in foreign labour from abroad and then they exploit them,'' he said.

"Some take delight in exploiting our foreign brothers and sisters and the union does not like this.'' Now Mr. Burgess has called on all construction workers to join the union to get fair treatment.

And he promised action against employers who found reason to fire union card-holding employees after joining up.

The current boom in construction has led to an increase in the number of workers in this field, with nearly four percent more workers employed in 2000 from 1999.

In latest Government figures, an estimated $30.6 million worth of private and public projects were underway on the Island in the third quarter of 2000.

"As long as the boom continues, there will be a demand for construction workers,'' Mr. Burgess said.

Workers exploited -- claim He added that a union member told him he had been turned away from a job by a foreman because "I got 60/40 '', meaning he had the required number of Bermudians for the job.

He said: "The man was told `I ain't hiring no more Bermudians.' These are the types of things going on.'' He said that many of the construction firms were exploiting people imported for the job, who were working over 40 hours a week without bonuses.

"Some Bermudians won't do it. They say they are not going back to conditions in the 40s and 50s. Some employers -- not all of them, but some -- make an absolute killing with Bermudians and non-Bermudians. If they are not unionised, they are not paying the full rates.'' Mr. Burgess said that the going rate for an ordinary labourer was $17.90 according to union rates. But some labourers are still being paid $14 to $15 an hour, about 28 percent less that the going rate.

"A lot make $100 less a week in their pay than they should,'' he said. "They should come along and join the union. A lot of people fear that by coming to the union their employers will fire them. People should join the union and get what they deserve -- benefits, vacation and sick pay.''