Bermuda has a "lame-duck Government which wavers in the face of opposition from hoteliers'', the Progressive Labour Party charged this week.

In a three-page statement, Shadow Labour Minister Mrs. Lois Browne Evans chastised Government for giving consideration to repealing the 1991 Labour Relations Amendment Act.

The law, which was rushed through Parliament to end unease over hotel contract talks, barred strike action by hotel workers during contract negotiations.

And it created the binding Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board.

But 13 small properties, belonging to the Hotel Employers of Bermuda, have refused to sign a new contract with the Bermuda Industrial Union.

They are particularly critical of a clause in the 1991 Labour Act which says an existing HEB-BIU contract will remain in force if the two sides "fail to conclude a new agreement''. They say the clause locks them forever into a relationship with the BIU.

And Elbow Beach, which imposed its own worker-management deal last month, has refused to recognise the union any longer.

This week a row broke out after the union found out that the hotel has also stopped deducting union and credit union dues from workers' wages.

Labour Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman sent the dispute to the disputes board for resolution.

But the hotel refused to budge and its unionised workers have vowed to strike for three days as soon as the hotel's occupancy exceeds 70 percent.

While Mr. Pearman said there was nothing he could do to stop the strike, he said he would consider having the Labour Relations Act repealed and have it replaced with new legislation with more teeth.

Mr. Pearman said Government might consider a clause giving hotel workers more rights in light of the Elbow Beach dispute.

And, he said, it was possible new tougher legislation would bar strike action once a dispute had been referred to a settlement board.

But Mrs. Browne Evans said the BIU had always disagreed with the 1991 Act, yet Government was only looking at repealing it after hoteliers complained.

"A repeal of the law in these circumstances sets a dangerous precedent,'' she said. "Do we have a two-tiered system of justice -- one for the union and one for the employers?'' Mrs. Browne Evans said a PLP Government would not be "bullied by either labour or the employers.

"A PLP Government would encourage and facilitate good industrial relations arriving at an acceptable compromise by encouraging the parties to thrash out a solution.''