The Bermuda Industrial Union could launch a general strike next week if Government does not meet with them to discuss the Berkeley situation.

And the union claims the report it commissioned into progress said 85 percent of the work on building the new school had been completed. The full results of the study will not be released this month.

The row came after Government sacked contractors Pro-Active from the project which is massively over budget and behind schedule.

The union is concerned about the liabilities of its wholly-owned subsidiary Union Asset Holdings (UAH), which provided the completion bond for the project and claims its rights as the project?s surety continue to be ignored or violated.

The union says it has been unlawfully left out of arrangements to complete the project, that Government had failed to pay Pro-Active money it was owed which could have satisfied its severance pay liabilities and that the union was out of pocket for $4 million by bankrolling Pro-Active.

BIU legal advisor Julian Hall said: ?If Government doesn?t meet with the union to discuss these matters on or before the close of business on Wednesday of next week, a full membership meeting will be held to consider a general strike.?

The call came after a morning-long general meeting at BIU headquarters which led to disruption throughout the public transport system and work stoppages across the island.

Asked if the courts wouldn?t be a better arena for the union to settle it?s differences with Government Mr. Hall said: ?We haven?t closed that option.

?We were asked to withdraw the injunction application which was due to be held two weeks ago in exchange for their agreement to allow us to have an assessment team in.

?The assessment ended this morning and is very favourable to our position. We also have every reason to believe so is the Government?s. It supports all that we were saying that was consistent about the level of completion.?

He said the union had requested a copy of the Government?s report but had also heard from the grapevine that it backed its contention that the job was nearly finished.

Mr. Hall said the assessors had verbally given the thumbs up about the advanced stage of the building but would be completing a written report in the next two weeks.

?They confirmed roughly, the level of completion that we say, of 85 percent.

?It certainly shows no significant deficiencies or flaws in our construction work, beyond that we will not say.

?I would rather see the report myself.?

The union has demanded Government return all equipment and machinery left on the site to UAH.

?It?s not Pro-Active?s equipment,? said Mr. Hall. ?Because of the bond, one of the documents put into place to firm up the bond was a debenture in favour of the bond holder, Union Asset Holdings Limited.

?A debenture effectively transfers ownership of all of the property of Pro-Active, including all of its equipment, to Union Asset Holdings Limited as security for the obligations that Union Asset Holdings has.

?It?s a standard debenture. The owner of all Pro-Active?s property is Union Asset Holdings. If the bond is released then the ownership goes back to Pro-Active.?

The union is also claiming a common law right to take over the running of the site.

Asked if it wasn?t Government?s choice about who built the school in the wake of Pro-Active?s sacking, Mr. Hall said first the bondholder had to be released from his obligation.

?The contract says the owner may finish the work in any event that he deems expedient, but subject to the prior rights of the surety.

?In the United States it is very clearly settled by the courts that the prior rights of the surety include the right, if he wishes, to take over the completion of the project.

?Of course the owner has the right to object to that, but it has to be a reasonable objection ? if he has serious questions about the ability of them to complete the work.

?When you are talking about a work which is all but 15 percent completed then there can be very little suggestion there isn?t the ability of the part of Union Asset Holdings Ltd. to put together a team, particularly as they have the workers at their disposal that would complete this.

?The reason they have that right is because they are being called upon to foot the bill. It?s that simple.

?If they are being called to pay for it they have the right to determine who?s being paid and what are the circumstances. They have a duty to complete the work properly and professionally, failing which they have obligations, that?s their right.

?It?s very well established in American law and this is an American contract ? an American Institute of Architects contract.?

He conceded the rights were not established in English law because such performance bonds were not in general use in England.

?There is an argument as to whether these rights are known to be in the English or Bermudian legal system.?

The union claims Government had awarded the original contract to Pro-Active as part of a commitment to black economic empowerment.

However in a press release issued yesterday Government said Pro-Active had ?won the contract fairly and squarely and additionally lost the contract fairly and squarely.

?At this point the issues surrounding the termination of the contract will be resolved through arbitration and that process has begun via Pro-Active?s lawyers serving a notice of arbitration on the Government.?