today, defying a court order and appeals for industrial peace.

All divisions will "suspend service'', BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons said. This includes hotel workers and Government workers who have been ordered by the court to return to work.

He called on taxi drivers, most of whom are not unionised, "not to interfere with anything.'' The decision was made by a general membership meeting last night that appeared to be attended by at least 300 members. Mr. Simmons said the vote was "unanimous''.

Picketing is expected to continue at the docks today, but was not called for at other locations. A general membership meeting will be held tonight to assess the situation and plan the next move, Mr. Simmons said.

Mr. Simmons said he did not want to disrupt tourists. "But I believe if there is sufficient disruption, then that's going to get Government's attention, and certainly get (Bermuda Forwarders president) Mr. Toby Kempe's attention.'' He said today's action was designed to persuade Bermuda Forwarders to take back 15 workers who lost their jobs when they walked out twice last year in support of a fired shop steward.

A non-binding board of inquiry in December supported the dismissal of the shop steward but recommended the company take the 15 workers back. The company has refused to do so.

The union has accused Government of doing too little to help, but Government ministers have said they have done all they can legally: The board of inquiry was not binding, and the forwarding firm has refused to budge.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan called the strike decision "irresponsible and reprehensible''. Government was not taking sides, he said, but neither it nor the citizens of Bermuda should be injured in a dispute between the BIU and a private company.

"Bermuda as a whole must step back from the brink of what could be a disaster for the country, both in the short and long term -- and a disaster for Union members because of the potential loss of jobs ... At the end of the day Mr.

Simmons should take the matter to court for resolution, and not jeopardise the whole country.'' He said workers should "recognise that they have their individual responsibilities to Bermuda as a whole and to their families ... I hope Government workers recognise that they would be breaking the law, and they should not break the law but get back to work.

"...People have to make individual choices. They have to decide whether what they are planning to do is going to achieve anything, and whether or not they are prepared to put their livelihoods at risk.'' Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade said he would not condemn the union for its strike call. He said Monday's injunction and the arrests of 15 pickets at the airport "inflamed matters''. The timing was bad, he said, "but I'm not saying they were wrong''.

In a press conference earlier in the day, Mr. Wade said he believed Government had a responsibility to make sure the country was working, and to enforce the law.

But he questioned the timing of the Police arrest of pickets at the airport on Monday, which began while the union was meeting with Bermuda Forwarders' lawyer.

No solution was likely to come until Mr. Simmons and Mr. Kempe got together to resolve the core issue of the 15 truckers, he said, and the PLP would work towards that end.

National Liberal Party Leader Mr. Gilbert Darrell said the strike was illegal and he urged Government workers to return to work. He criticised the impact the actions were having on visitors. "Our party does not condone that our tourists in any way be used as a pawn of negotiations for this dispute,'' he said.

Hotel Employers of Bermuda president Mr. Dennis Tucker said hoteliers were waiting until this morning to assess the situation. `We are gravely concerned about the inconvenience this is going to cause our guests,'' he said.

Today's action could cripple the Island if it is effective. There has been weak support in some of the union divisions that the union asked to walk out late last week.

Only about 30 of 210 unionised airport workers have been off the job, and five out of 12 Government garbage crews were operating yesterday. Less than a dozen unionised stevedores have been working but even that was "a break in tradition'', Mr. Simmons said yesterday.

There has been virtually no response so far to calls for a walk-out in private and Government garages or by Works and Engineering truckers.

New "essential industry'' laws passed last year do not automatically prevent hotel workers from striking. But they could allow hoteliers to file a complaint of an "unfair labour practice'' if they do.

At that point, the law calls for all industrial action to stop as the process for resolving the dispute gets underway.

The Government workers have been ordered to return to work under the court injunction obtained by Government on Monday; Government argued the strike by its workers was illegal because there was no labour dispute with them.

Mr. Simmons said he made it clear to unionised Government workers that they could be in contempt of court if they stayed off the job, and could face fines or imprisonment.

But he said it was Bermuda Forwarders that was operating outside the law. He accused Bermuda Forwarders of breaking the law for not following non-binding board of inquiry recommendations to re-hire the 15 truckers.