little progress having been made and the key issue of wages yet to be argued.

The adjournment, the second since the talks began early last month, is due to the Hotel Employers of Bermuda and a disputes board member having other commitments.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP stressed the delays in the hearings were "nothing to do with the union''.

The HEB has five to six witnesses left to testify while the union has not begun its case.

The talks, before the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board, have been marred with non-contract arguments since they got underway.

The Board's members have had to go behind closed doors several times to discuss demands made by Mr. Simmons, including that all 19 members of the union's negotiating team should be paid to attend the hearings.

Mr. Simmons has also demanded the Board roll back its ruling barring the electronic media from the hearings.

Yesterday's hearings, however, moved along without any major interruptions as staff meal costs and hoteliers' contributions to workers' pension funds were brought up by HEB lawyer Mr. Steven Shawe.

Pointing out the BIU's contract demands have not changed since they were made in December 1990, HEB president Mr. Dennis Tucker claimed the union had failed to take into account the recession and the consequent financial position of the Island's hotels.

Mr. Tucker, the vice president of Sonesta Beach Hotel, again called the union's demands "astronomical''.

He said he considered the BIU's sick, layoff and vacation pay demands to be "nothing more than disguised wage increases''.

Mr. Tucker told the Board this week the BIU wants to "more than triple'' the weekly layoff payment (from $60 a week to $190 a week).

On top of that, he said the union wants the period a hotel worker can receive layoff compensation to be unlimited.

Mr. Tucker told the Board yesterday that in an August proposal the BIU had asked for 17 to 27 cent increases in the hotels' contributions to workers' pensions, an increase of 100 percent over three years.

"It demonstrates again the exorbitant demands the union has made and continues to make,'' Mr. Tucker said.

He added that every cent HEB members contribute to workers' pension fund costs them $50,000.

He said the HEB is proposing no increase in year one of the collective bargaining agreement and one cent increases in years two and three.

Mr. Tucker further said the HEB was proposing to increase the cost of staff meals slightly, which the union opposes.

The Board also heard that the BIU wants all hotel workers to receive an extra week their minimum two weeks vacation.