Bermuda's public transport system ground to a halt this morning, as members of the Bermuda Industrial (BIU) rallied to the side of six striking BAS-Serco firefighters.

BIU president Derrick Burgess said that the union was still hoping that BAS Serco management would meet with the union to resolve the issue - and prevent a work stoppage by blue collar Government workers.

Labour Minister Terry Lister last night called on the two sides to meet and said that strike action beyond the BAS-Serco workers would be illegal.

Through the Department of Communication and Information (DCI), he urged all affected workers to ignore the strike call and go back to work.

Meanwhile BAS-Serco management could not confirm that a meeting would take place.

Hundreds of unionised workers met at the BIU's headquarters on Union Street yesterday afternoon.

"They will support their colleagues at BAS Serco," said the union's leader Derrick Burgess immediately after the hour long meeting.

"The management has refused to abide by an arbitration award. They have had a unanimous vote to support their brothers at BAS Serco with a work stoppage in support of their brothers."

But Mr. Burgess said that he would not know until today whether a national strike would go ahead.

"We are hoping to have a meeting with management and get this thing sorted out - that's what we want to do."

He added: "We had a meeting with them on Friday and we tried to get it sorted out but they didn't co-operate."

A long-running dispute between BAS-Serco and its six unionised fire-fighters boiled over again Friday when their six unionised fire-fighters took strike action.

Assistant Justice Philip Storr had granted an injunction just a week earlier which barred the Bermuda Industrial Union members from attending an arbitration hearing set up by Government to work out a new pay deal.

Mr. Burgess said last week that the judge's ruling had effectively "handcuffed" Labour Minister Terry Lister, who referred the matter to arbitration, and that it meant that a 21-day strike notice issued in December was still in effect.

"The issue is one of recognition and composition of bargaining units," said Richard Savard, BAS-Serco's vice president of operations.

"It is before the Supreme Court to be decided in March. We'd rather everybody take a deep breath and step back and let the Supreme Court have its deliberations about the process of certification and what constitutes bargaining units and the recognition process."

The company, he said, is always "willing to work" with all parties with a view to resolving the dispute.

But asked whether he would be meeting with the union today, he said : "We have nothing arranged at this time... That would be speculating."

Mr. Savard said that his company had agreed to a compromise suggested by Labour Minister Terry Lister at Friday's meeting but that the union turned it down.

"In the Minister's opinion, the action of the unionised fire officers taken at the airport on Friday was legal," a DCI statement said last night.

"However, it is his view that the parties, namely the BIU and BAS-Serco, should return to the negotiation table to resolve their differences. Escalation of this dispute beyond the fire services, he said, constitutes an illegal action that should not be entertained under any circumstances. The Minister implored all affected workers to return to their respective posts as soon as possible."