it was the Bermuda Industrial Union that had been victimised -- not him.

Mr. George Scott was one of three workers to lose their jobs at the hotel last week. The hotel claims they were laid off because of the recession.

But PLP candidate Mr. Scott said: "This is not a personal attack on me. It is an attack on the union and on the PLP, by the Hotel Employers of Bermuda and the Government.

"It was something that I have expected for some time because earlier this year the company did the same thing at their hotel in Barbados.

"I have been waiting for something to happen so I made plans to make sure my family and I would not suffer any hardship.'' Mr. Scott has been driving a taxi as a part-time occupation while he was working as assistant bell captain at the Castle Harbour hotel. Now the 36-year-old, father-of-three is driving full time.

He said it was obvious that he had been victimised because the department he worked in was not working at full strength. He said there were two people off work with recent injuries and one man with a long-term illness.

He said: "If I look at it positively and say I will get my job back it will still only be in eight or nine months time. What are the union members at the hotel going to do in that time.

"I am sure it will go the way of Grotto Bay and the Pink Beach. People are just not going to be represented.

"Management have chosen a leading person in the union to get rid of because I was willing to speak up. Those other people often do not feel as though they can speak for themselves.

"If things get any worse then people will probably react and people like the general manager Roger Borsink, who has no vested interests in the Island, can just leave.

"Last week the former Premier Sir David Gibbons said this is not a time to be fighting it's a time to pull together. That is how we feel.'' Mr. Scott could not go into detail about where his case against the Castle Harbour was, except to say that the union is following the grievance procedure and talking to management.