TRANSPORT Minister Dr. Ewart Brown yesterday accused ferry workers of practising "kindergarten labour relations" after a wildcat strike that left morning commuters stranded.

The Minister's remarks came after hundreds of ferry passengers had to make a late change to their travel plans yesterday morning because ferry services were brought to a halt by the sudden strike.

Bermuda Industrial Union acting leader Chris Furbert said the workers had taken their action in protest at the introduction of a new winter schedule - without provision for weekends off - after they felt they had not been listened to by management. Dr. Brown said there had been no prior notice of the strike and suggested that the workers had acted without the backing of the BIU.

"I think they have done a disservice to the Bermuda public, a disservice to themselves and a disservice to their union," said Dr. Brown.

"There was no official notice of this action, therefore we are extremely disappointed that the union members, probably without the knowledge of their own leadership, took this action.

"There is a lot of space between dissatisfaction and strike action and this is not a ministry where they cannot contact management or industry leadership."

Dr. Brown then spelled out his determination to prevent any repetition of similar wildcat strike action.

"It's becoming increasingly intolerable where you have workers trying to determine each and every aspect of management through strike action," he said. "And we will resist that in this ministry."

And he reiterated his disappointment that the strike had come without warning.

"This was a complete surprise," said Dr. Brown. "They went back to work and in the end, I think the union leadership saw it for what it was.

"I think people have got to understand that we are no longer in the kindergarten of labour relations and you can't just go from nought to 60 overnight."

Services were back to normal by lunchtime following several hours of talks between Marine & Ports staff and Bermuda Industrial Union officials.

Mr. Furbert said: "Workers at Marine & Ports decided not to work because they had problems that related to winter work schedules.

"The workers were comfortable with the winter schedule we had last year. There was a provision to allow one weekend off every three to five weeks. That provision was not there in the new winter schedule.

"We had four to six meetings with management on this issue and then the new winter schedule came in nearly two weeks ago. The workers felt that management were not listening to their concerns so they decided to take this action.

"When people feel they are not being heard, these things happen."

He added that the settlement reached yesterday involved a return to last year's winter schedule - but that the union would be watching closely how it worked in practice.

"As far as I know we will be going back to last year's winter schedule," he said. "The union will be monitoring the situation over the next few weeks."

A statement issued by the Department of Communications & Information yesterday said the strike had been the result of unresolved issues between Marine & Ports staff and management.

After the talks concluded, Marc Telemaque, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Transport, said: "The issues that were presented have been resolved and normal service has been restored. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused our commuters."