warning issued to the union's strongman on the Hamilton docks, BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP said yesterday.

Mr. Michael Lohan, managing director of Stevedoring Services Ltd., said BIU dockworkers president Mr. Chris Furbert was issued a warning after the container ship Bermuda Islander was left half-tied to her harbour berth while dockworkers attended a union meeting last Monday.

But he declined further comment and would not say whether he met with Mr.

Furbert on Friday, as the dockworkers president had hoped.

"The matter has been dealt with,'' Mr. Lohan said. The warning sets up Mr.

Furbert to be fired if he breaks the rules in the dockworkers' collective agreement.

But Mr. Simmons said a union grievance over the warning is either already filed, or soon will be. He declined to comment on the specific incident on the Hamilton docks, but said: "The matter is before the grievance procedure, and we are going to let it go without any prejudice.'' The union president repeated his charge that Government and employers have conspired to bust the BIU, and he said the union had come up with a plan to fight back.

"We've got our plans going as well to stop this...and to retrieve our membership, and to put ourselves back into good stead with the community,'' he said. "It does not necessarily include any court hearings.

"That's the last thing we want, is any court hearings,'' he said. "The plans that we have are being worked on, and are not for publication.'' Marine and Ports declared the walkout on the Hamilton docks a dangerous act.

And in a staff memorandum, Mr. Lohan said Mr. Furbert's actions endangered the incoming ship and the future livelihood of the company and fellow workers.

Mr. Furbert objected to being singled out in Mr. Lohan's memo. He said the walkout order was committee-based, no workers were assigned to tie up the incoming ship, and management did not ask for help when the ship came in. The dispute was over working hours.

Mr. Furbert said the BIU was determined to remain strong on the docks, despite recent setbacks at Bermuda hotels.