thrown for delegates at a major conference of American advertising agencies being held in Bermuda.

And a hired fishing boat took centre stage as the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) went out on an evening cruise as part of their annual conference, this year being held at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

The fishing boat -- draped with banners demanding concessions from the industry -- followed the boat carrying top advertising executives on their cruise.

The move came after members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) crippled the television advert-making industry in a dispute over pay.

Now they have jetted to Bermuda and taken to the seas in a dramatic bid to force advertisers into a U-turn.

The strike is supported by other film and TV unions -- plus a host of top stars like Tiger Woods, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith.

SAG national organising director Melvin Karl said: "We do have very rich and famous and high-profile people, that is not what this is about. Many of our actors earn less than $5,000 a year.'' He added: "Many in the industry are high-profile but they are honouring the strike as well as the low-paid people.'' And Mr. Karl said: "What's difficult to swallow is that we have never had better economic terms in the US. We are not sharing in that and to be rolled back is just too much.'' Two representatives of the SAG and the AFL-CIO -- backed by the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) and the Bermuda Public Services Association (BPSA) -- said they had come to the Island in a bid to embarrass the AAAA into forking out the cash.

And they held a press conference yesterday at the BIU's Hamilton headquarters to publicise their cause.

BPSA president Betty Christopher said: "The local unions are here to support our brothers and sisters from the Screen Actors Guild. They're currently on strike seeking adequate compensation for the work they're doing.'' The strike -- which began 11 days ago -- involves almost all of the 130,000 members of SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Acting up: US acting union leaders Melvin Karl (centre) and Edward Feigen (right) -- in Bermuda to picket a US advertising agencies conference as part of an actors' strike over pay -- yesterday won support from the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) and the Bermuda Public Services Association. Also shown is BIU first vice-president Chris Furbert.