Workers laid off as a result of the sudden closure of the Wyndham Hotel for the winter season remain upset and concerned about their future despite being given some assurances and support from their union and Government departments.

Around 70 attended a meeting at the Bermuda Industrial Union yesterday morning and some were still visibly angry at the way the hotel management had left them in the lurch by giving only one week's notice that the hotel was closing until April 1.

The union was able to provide them with contacts to help those facing financial difficulties and a number of alternative job opportunities that have become available ? but speaking after the meeting BIU president Derrick Burgess recognised that some of the more than 100 workers affected by the closure would fall on hard times.

"Any time you lose on a job in Bermuda it is a hardship until you find another one. For some people if they lose a week's pay they are in a serious situation, and those workers who are laid off for a period of time during the year are always playing 'catch-up' afterwards," said Mr. Burgess.

"It is not that easy for a lot of these people because not everyone has a second job to fall back on."

Working with the Government, the union was able to provide affected staff with some assistance to help them through the lean times and Mr. Burgess said he would be keeping in contact with the hotel management to ensure that it fulfils it obligations to workers under the collective agreement it has with the union.

As hotel staff streamed out of the union's headquarters following the meeting there was a mixture of anger and resignation at the decision, taken at the beginning of January by the management of the Wyndham, to close the hotel until April 1.

One employee told : "We were not warned it would be closing. Before Christmas we asked the managers and we were told it was not going to close."

A housekeeper at the South Shore hotel, who did not wish to give her name, said she had little faith in Social Services providing financial help for her in the interim, was angry at the lack of warning from the hotel and did not have any trust in the hotel's owner Clifford Schorer.

"I don't know if we will get our jobs back in April, it is all up in the air. All I know is that we need assistance, we need work. The Government has said it might not be able to help all of us but it can help some. The whole situation stinks," she said.

Another worker said: "We are hoping that we might get our jobs back, but there are a lot of people disappointed because they do not have another job."

One employee who has worked at the hotel for 39 years, and gave her name as Mrs. Fox, said: "I'm going to chill out at home. My husband has retired and now has another job and my son is working. But this is the worst treatment I can remember from the hotel. It is ridiculous how they have carried on."

Hotel greeter Elliot Darrell, who has worked at the establishment under its many previous incarnations since 1963, said: "I have been through lay-offs before so I have learned to cope, but this is the shortest notice we have had. If people have got family and dependants to look after that's where the problems come in."

BIU president Mr. Burgess said: "The workers' immediate concern is for their welfare, expenses such as food and lights, and that is one of the reason why we had the finance assistance and labour and training people here who will do the best to get other jobs for them and even announced that a few employers had called them with jobs ? although I know there are not enough jobs.

"The workers are also concerned about their pay in lieu notice and also some have scheduled vacations and are concerned about their vacation pay. It is our responsibility to see that the collective agreement is adhered to and I have spoken to the owner and he has acknowledged this and has every intention of paying, he just couldn't tell me when but he did tell me that the hotel will reopen April 1."

In the longer term Mr. Burgess is backing the Department of Tourism's efforts to increase visitor numbers to the Island to bring enough tourists to prevent hotels needing to close down during the quiet periods of the year.

He said: "I know that our hotel occupancy numbers are not healthy compared to other years, and I know the Minister is doing his best to try to get low-fare (airline) carriers to come to Bermuda.

"One of the impediments of getting our numbers up is the cost of getting to Bermuda. If you compare the cost of getting to Bermuda next to getting to the Bahamas from the same gateways ? and Bahamas is a longer distance from particular gateways ? we are more than double the cost."

The management of the Wyndham Hotel was taken over by US-based Cendant Corporation last autumn and a spokesman said it was not unusual in the industry for hotels to close during the winter months in order to consider future options.