Commuters suffered long delays when a dispute between the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Ministry of Labour brought bus and ferry services to a standstill yesterday morning.

Transport workers, hospital staff and Ministry of Works personnel were among those who downed tools to attend the 10 a.m union meeting about long-standing grievances.

The bus station was left empty but for a handful of would-be passengers waiting in vain, and a sign in the window of the ferry terminal announced that it was closed until further notice.

One woman, who had by 10 a.m already spent more than an hour waiting for a bus said: ?I didn?t know anything about the meeting until this morning, and it has prevented me from going to visit a friend.?

A man from a group of tourists left stranded at the ferry terminal when they had hoped to travel to Dockyard said: ?I don?t live here so I don?t understand what is going on, but it has been very inconvenient.?

The hour-long BIU meeting concluded shortly after 11 a.m and the buses and ferries were back running again at noon.

The action had first been announced on Monday evening through a Press release in which the BIU complained about ?several unresolved issues? with the Ministry and the ?seeming indifference? of the Labour Department concerning these matters.

It explained that these included grievances against the now defunct Trimingham Brothers department store and the Corporation of Hamilton.

The union also accused the Labour Relations Department and the Labour Ministry of being ?remiss in their duty to the workers of Bermuda with respect to the observance of Bermuda?s laws.?

As a result of this, an urgent meeting was convened on Monday night between the Minister Randy Horton, the Permanent Secretary Robert Horton, and BIU president Derrick Burgess.

Some progress is reported to have been made both at this meeting, and at a further meeting between Mr. Burgess and Milton Scott, the Director of Labour and Training, took place yesterday.

Following this, the mass general membership meeting began at the BIU headquarters at Union Square, which was packed both inside and out.

Secrecy surrounded this event, with members of the media banned from the building and even ordered to move from the pavement outside by union officials who accused journalists of ?trying to eavesdrop? on the meeting.

But speaking afterwards, Mr. Burgess said: ?We brought the General Membership up to date as far as what will be done to resolve the outstanding issues.

After the meeting we had last night with the Minister and the Permanent Secretary, and the meeting this morning with the Director of Labour and Training, they agreed in writing that a concentrated effort would be made to have the outstanding issues resolved in the next six weeks. It was a very well-attended meeting and the members were satisfied that what was presented should work. I am also to have a monthly meeting with the Minister to discuss matters which should help. It?s a welcome move and I look forward to it.?

Mr. Burgess said that strike action had ?never been on the books,? but refused to rule out the possibility that plans to update union members on the matter in six weeks? time could trigger further disruption to transport.

Minister Randy Horton said yesterday: ?I have discussed the issues with Mr. Burgess and we have resolved some of them. We will be meeting on a regular basis to ensure that all further issues are resolved. ?I?m sorry that the BIU meeting had to take place as I don?t think the country deserves the disruption that it caused.?

A Government spokeswoman said the ?only notable interruption of service occurred in the Waste Management Section? with some Works and Engineering and Housing staff attending the meeting which mean that household rubbish collections were disrupted.

She added: ?We are pleased to note that the Ministry worked to ensure that most, if not all, residential refuse was collected. The remaining areas, if any, will be collected first thing Wednesday morning.?

A second BIU meeting, this time for ferry workers, caused all ferries running after 7 p.m last night to be cancelled. Marc Telemaque, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, had previously described this as a routine meeting to discuss issues including the new ferry service to St. George?s next summer and the infrastructure of the ports in Hamilton, Dockyard and St. George?s.