disruptions in two of the Island's small hotels.

A strong showing of representatives from all sides, Government, the unions and the employers, turned out for the first day of the two-day event at the Bermuda College.

Three labour relations experts from overseas were brought in for the seminar and made presentations at plenary discussions during the morning session.

Dr. Dan Kruger, professor of labour and industrial relations at Michigan State University, Arthur Matthews, director of labour programmes at Cornell University, and Jerry Goolsarran, a senior specialist on labour relations with the International Labour Organisation were the invited guest speakers.

Dr. Kruger, who is no stranger to Bermuda and to most attending the seminar, spoke on the mutual gains to both employee and employer of good working relations.

He pointed out that many "job relationships are often the most stable relationships one has, more stable in many cases, than even marriages''.

He suggested that the number one challenge for democratic countries today is creating an economic system that will provide more and more for workers, thus improving the standard of living for both employee and employer alike.

Experienced on the Bermuda labour scene, Dr. Kruger suggested that a problem he sees locally as well as in the US, Canada and Britain, is that many managers are limited in their use of their workers.

"Many managers have only utilised the hands of their employees, to the exclusion of their head and heart,'' he said. "If they were to use the heads and hearts, this would lead to greater productivity.'' Mr. Matthews, in telling the audience that communication is perhaps the most important skill that all parties need to hone for better working relations, was very encouraging about the local scene.

"You here in Bermuda are such warm people, there is no reason why you can't be the world leader in communication,'' he said. "You have the opportunity to set the benchmark for the rest of the world.'' A staunch advocate of mediation to solve problems, Mr. Matthews discussed different mediation techniques with the participants during the workshop sessions in the afternoon.

Realising that conflict is healthy, but must be managed correctly, paves the way to moving forward to the year 2000, he noted.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) specialist Jerry Goolsarran spoke on the importance of moving away from a confrontational approach to solving labour matters, to a consultative one.

"The ILO holds that social dialogue must be encouraged in member states,'' he said. And he held up Barbados and Ireland as examples of countries that have made the change with beneficial results. Both countries, he pointed out, now have the lowest incidence of labour disputes in their respective regions of Caricom and the European Union.

Acting Premier Lois Browne Evans and Labour Minister Paula Cox were on hand and delivered opening addresses.

Ms Cox said commitment, conviction and courage are of paramount importance in preparing for the challenges facing all in the new millennium.

She reiterated her belief that labour legislation governing employment is long overdue for Bermuda, an indication that this is one of the priorities she has set for the Ministry and the Labour Advisory Council.

"We are not after five months going to be able to do it all today,'' Ms Cox pointed out, "but we are committed to doing it better than it has been done.'' UNIONS UNS