Burgess yesterday dismissed claims he should quit his posts in a row over a court ruling on overtime.

And he branded Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley -- who made the resignation call -- a "right wing extremist''.

Mr. Burgess said: "I'm a labour leader. We have a labour government. That's where I belong, in a labour government.

"If I was a MP for the United Bermuda Party, that would be a conflict of interest but that wouldn't happen, anyhow.'' Mr. Dunkley accused Mr. Burgess of coming close to "advocating anarchy and lawlessness'' after he refused to rule out Stevedoring Services workers on Hamilton Docks turning down overtime after Supreme Court Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux last week said general overtime bans on the docks were illegal.

Dunkley hits back "What I said was that I was most concerned that he would take to criticising the court system and a judge as he did and I stand by my comments.'' Mr. Burgess at the time said a refusal to abide by the ruling by workers would not be contempt of court -- but said the decision showed "ignorance by the judge''.

Mr. Dunkley said: "He said the judge was ignorant. For a man in his position to make comments like that, it's not acceptable in today's society.'' And he added: "The courts are the place to argue his case. These comments only incite improper behaviour in everybody who comes under his leadership.'' The clash came after a row between the two broke out over a controversial Supreme Court ruling that Stevedoring Services dockers had broken an injunction over an overtime ban.

Mr. Dunkley accused Mr. Burgess of coming close to advocating "anarchy and lawlessness'' after he refused to rule out dockers turning down overtime after Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux's ruling that the overtime ban was illegal.

Mr. Burgess, however, later insisted that he was not encouraging workers to go against the law but pointed out that, when faced with a choice of working extra hours or looking after their children, workers would make a "common sense'' choice.

Mr. Dunkley also dismissed Mr. Burgess bringing up a 20-year-old conviction of his mother for currency violations as an "irrelevant, petty and personal attack''. He said: "That's nothing to do with me. My mother made a mistake and admitted she was wrong. But that's just symptomatic of his desperation to smear me.'' And Mr. Dunkley said he was "mystified'' by claims he had exploited workers by working them from "sun-up to sundown''.

Mr. Dunkley said: "The vast majority of employees at Dunkley's Dairy have always been Bermudian -- right now, 85 to 90 percent of them.'' He added that the nature of the dairy business meant early morning starts and long operating hours with shift work.'' And he also dismissed a claim by Mr. Burgess that his silence was "thunderous'' when offshore company boss William Williams called for a campaign of civil disobedience to scupper new Commission for Unity and Racial Equality workplace reporting rules.

Mr. Dunkley said he had concerns over the impact of the CURE regulations and changes to the work permit regulations including strict maximum time limits for most permits.

But he said: "I said at the time, and I clearly recall saying on the radio, in no way will I ever support anybody who says we should not support the laws of the land.

"I would never encourage anyone to break our laws, even if I didn't agree with them.''