The Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) has ordered the Department of Marine and Ports to reinstate a drunk ferry pilot or face public transport grinding to a halt on Thursday.

However last night Government said they would uphold the law which states that any industrial action taken once a dispute has reached arbitration is illegal.

As Government and the union clash over Dwayne Pearman's job, Labour Minister David Burch said he had sent the matter to binding arbitration on Friday and that the Labour Dispute Act 1992 "makes it clear that once the dispute has been sent to arbitration any form of industrial action is unlawful".

He added: "This also includes any person who incites or encourages, persuades or influences a person to take part in an unlawful action is guilty of an offence. The law will be upheld and both sides have been invited to nominate a member for the tribunal."

However, yesterday in the news conference, Mr. Furbert said the union did not think the matter needed to go to arbitration nor did he think Pearman could get a fair trial if it did.

He said: "How could he get a fair hearing in arbitration? We don't think it a matter to go in front of arbitration and he cannot expect a fair trial."

The dispute began last week when the BIU gave the Government until 3 p.m. on Thursday to reinstate Dwayne Pearman — who pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court in January to drunk driving a fast ferry — or face the possibility of a walkout.

On Friday morning, Marine and Ports Services' workers held a meeting at 8 a.m. disrupting commuters and a ban on overtime, which Government has called a work to rule, was put in place.

Yesterday, Mr. Furbert gave Government two more days, until 5 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) to reinstate Pearman or said all public transportation could come to a halt Thursday morning at 8 a.m. when the general membership would call a meeting regardless of arbitration.

Pearman, who was pilotting the J.L. Cecil Smith on December 21 at 5.30 p.m., was more than twice over the legal alcohol limit when he picked up passengers from the Hamilton ferry dock.

He tried to dock the ferry with the 60 passengers onboard, at Rockaway Ferry Terminal, and crashed.

Pearman was fined $2,000 in court, fired, may have his piloting license revoked and yesterday, Mr. Furbert, said that should be enough.

Yesterday Mr. Furbert said: "The management of Marine and Ports have put another, and I'm going to say it, a young black man on the street.

"We should be about saving jobs not putting people out of work. I think what we have put on the table is reasonable. They have three or four vacancies at Marine and Ports, so we're not asking them to create a position."

While Mr. Furbert confirmed the union is not trying to put Pearman back in a piloting position, he said Pearman could be a Leading Seaman. If this is not fulfilled, he said: "There will be no buses no ferries. The public transportation will halt as workers will be asked to come to a meeting on Thursday morning."

Last night, Premier Ewart Brown, said he believed Minister Burch would handle the matter capably and reassured the public Government would have zero tolerance for those endangering their safety.

In a statement he said: "We have a zero tolerance for endangering the well-being of our passengers because anything less would rattle the public's confidence in our commitment to public safety. Safety must not be compromised."

And the Premier expressed "grave concern" that the current discourse has distracted the public from the central focus of safe transport. Premier Brown said yesterday, "What troubles me about recent dialogue is the fact that there seems to be too little focus on commuter safety, particularly for those using ferries as a primary mode of transportation.

"We have taken significant steps to introduce a raft of initiatives aimed at making our transportation system more efficient, more effective and above all ¿ safe.

"In fact despite recent events, I want to reassure our residents that our public transport system is considered to be one of the safest modes of transportation. And this is an achievement that we are fiercely proud of."

Advising that the matter would have to be addressed by technical officers within the Ministry as well as the Department of Labour and Training, the Premier said he had confidence that Minister David Burch would handle things capably.