not get tips they say are owed to them.

They gave hotel bosses until the week after Labour Day to hand over the cash.

After that they would take action and ask for the support of other Bermuda Industrial Union members, they said.

The plan of action was decided last night after hotel workers met to discuss the latest twist in their long-running contract dispute with the hoteliers' organisation, the Hotel Employers of Bermuda.

In a decision released last week, the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board decided workers should not be paid tip increases for 1992 as part of a proposed 1991-1994 contract settlement.

The decision, reached by a two-to-one majority, was a reversal of an earlier ruling in favour of the union.

BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP said workers were in a mood of "militancy and reason''.

They were militant because they felt hurt and taken advantage of, he said. But they were reasonable because prospects for the tourist season seemed good and they were hoping for peace and just treatment.

Mr. Simmons said: "The question was whether we walk away from it, just for the sake of peace, or fight for that which rightfully belongs to the workers.

"They have come down on the side that they are going to fight for their rights and for the amounts that belong to them.'' Workers wanted to get Labour Day over with before taking any action, he said.

"The workers decided it would be a good opportunity for the HEB and hopefully the Government -- and us if necessary -- to get together and see if they can come to a decision and pay the money.

"If something is not done to resolve the matter by the week following Labour Day then of course the hotel workers will be coming together and taking a decision to take industrial action that will force them to hand over the money.

"The decision now is to ensure that we get the money put to the workers.

"They have decided to take action against the hotels and to call on other areas of the union to at least give some moral support to their position.

'' Hotels had committed a "crime against the people'' by taking the money and then spending it, said Mr. Simmons.

"The Attorney General's office should be called in to investigate this case.

The Police should be called in.

"It's a national crime they are committing.'' One hotel, not the largest, owed its workers about $45,000, he said. "We're asking for the money that is ours.'' Mr. Simmons dismissed charges that towards the end of board hearings last year he accepted workers would not get the 1992 payments.

He said comments he made then had been taken out of context.

"At the time we were not certain that the hotels had in fact collected the money.

"It wasn't registering with me that they had collected the money.'' The HEB has said it is happy to sign the contract following the board's about-turn on tips.

But the board member who disagreed with the re-think, the Rev. Canon James Francis, warned it could do "untold damage'' to the industry.

Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP.