Government has been asked to step in to halt another docks dispute that threatens to cripple the Island's retailers. Shippers want Labour and Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox to intervene in a conflict at Stevedoring Services which has caused major disruption to the movement of goods. The row has been running since last week, with up to 15 workers each day staging a "sick-out'', which has disabled the docks operation and flow of commodities.

Yesterday, Container Ship Management Ltd. president Geoffrey Frith called on Ms Cox to take some action to halt the situation, which he said was the fourth dispute on Hamilton Docks in the last 18 months. He predicted a possible knock-on effect for consumers, shipping schedule havoc and major cost increases for all involved in the shipping of materials to and from the docks.

"There is nothing we can do, it is utter frustration when we are trying to provide Bermuda with a reliable service,'' he said. "If this continues it will cost us substantial money. I am writing to Paula Cox to ask her to take some action.'' It is understood that Bermuda Industrial Union President Derrick Burgess was yesterday involved in talks with the docks workers. He was unavailable for comment. The dispute is understood to be over possible union representation for office staff. Michael Lohan, president of Stevedoring Services, said he was unable to comment as he was not fully aware of the facts of the situation. The action has involved most departments at Stevedoring Services, with forklift drivers, top load and crane operators and other staff calling in sick. It is also understood that some workers had worked on the weekend, when overtime was being paid, but did not show yesterday for regular hours. It has meant the unloading of cargo vessels has been severely hindered and when freight has been taken off, it has not been possible for waiting delivery trucks to be loaded. Yesterday, the situation was particularly bad after an early morning operation to take refrigerated containers off the docks failed because of the dispute. At present the Oleander is moored in Hamilton and today the Somers Isle is expected in. Any continuation of the conflict could then start to affect schedules and ultimately delivery times. Mr. Frith said 50 containers were still sitting on the Oleander , meaning its departure Cox urged to intervene "It will be late getting out of here, we have no idea what is going to happen today but it means the poor crew and captain will have to push the ship in heavy weather.

"You can get the ship back on schedule after one day but if there is no work today we will be very dependent on the weather. If it continues we will have no choice but to charter a ship.'' During the last dispute at Stevedoring Services, in September last year, Container Ship Management, which manages Bermuda Container Line, spent $36,000 on charters.

Last night Labour and Home Affairs Minister Paul Cox confirmed the Ministry was keeping a watching brief on the dispute and had asked for further clarification of some of the issues.

"There has been some communication but things are at a very delicate stage right now and it would be most improper for me to comment,'' Ms Cox said.

"But certainly the Ministry will not be shirking its responsibility.'' Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley expressed his concern at the growing number of industrial disputes recently.

"What concerns me is that it appears to me that we have had a number of disputes,'' he said.

"There has been the dispute with the nurses and at Telco and there was a fire service issue (See story Page 3) , a sick-out at TCD and now we have a sick out at Stevedoring services.

"There seem to be a number of disputes simmering and if we don't deal with these problems in the proper way it will affect our reputation. Sick-outs are not the proper way of dealing with these issues.

"I am not taking sides with either the management or the employees in any of these disputes but what is important to recognise is that we have nothing to offer but our service and we cannot continue to withstand such problems.''