officers at the Bermuda International Airport's freight shed have a better place to do their work.

Eugene Blakeney, Bermuda Public Services Association general secretary, said there had been several meetings between his organisation and the Courier companies and he hoped the outstanding issues could be settled.

"Those workers have put up with conditions that only can be described as appalling for a long time,'' he said.

"They could not stand those conditions any more. The couriers are still being serviced but they are being treated like any other customer. Now they must stand in line.'' Before the industrial action, there were three officers assigned to the courier services so that they could get their packages processed with greater speed.

Mr. Tim Marshall, lawyer for the couriers -- United Parcel Service, Federal Express, DHL World Wide Express and International Bonded Couriers -- said any business that is expecting to receive letters and packages from overseas should be warned that delivery may be delayed between 24 to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Collector of Customs Gerry Ardis said he believed a resolution was not far away.

But he admitted success would be limited until the present operation was moved to a better location.

Mr. Ardis said he had "tremendous sympathy'' for his staff who were forced to work in an old, dirty freight shed that was unbearably hot in the summer season.

Last Friday operations at the Customs airport freight shed came to a halt for about two hours after staff stopped work to protest conditions.

All three Customs officers, members of the BPSA, worked in the courier section.

They stopped because they were frustrated at the lack of progress being made.

They wanted the new facility Government promised some time ago.

Mr. Ardis confirmed there were high level meetings among union officials, lawyers, the Ministry of Finance and representatives from the Island's courier services. Upper level management at the airport were also present.

He said BPSA members would not process any courier packages in the airport shed until further notice.

He added: "They will revert to a previous system where all courier packages come through the baggage hall as accompanied passenger baggage.

"We had this system before. This now means that Customs will only be available to process courier packages for a short period in the morning between 9.00 a.m. and 11 a.m.

"The reason for that is that the baggage hall must be kept clear for arriving passengers.'' Mr. Ardis said unionised workers would not perform any overtime duty and the operation would cease at 5.00 p.m. sharp.

However the workers, he said, have agreed to process packages that have come into the Island as air freight because of the large volume of paperwork involved in each transaction.

A side effect of these new arrangements Mr. Ardis said is the entire process would now take much longer.

"The principle issue remains that we need a new courier clearance facility at the airport. The plans for this have been ongoing for some time. I hope we can now move this forward.'' UNIONS UNS AIRPORT FLY