The Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) president Derrick Burgess is remaining neutral on a call to boycott fast food joints employing a disproportionate amount of non Bermudians doing jobs requiring no special skills.

Mr. Burgess called instead for an overhaul of work permit control systems and for workers to join his union to fight for decent working conditions and benefits.

He said there was plenty evidence that Immigration is "not kind" to Bermudians. "I know one person who has a law degree, has done her pupillage and has no job, because she has no experience," he said.

"When you've got a country with 8,000 work permits and hundreds of guest workers as lawyers, I don't see why we should have a problem."

At Wednesday's Senate sitting, Independent Senator Jeannette Cannonier made the boycott call, arguing that some employers were displacing Bermudians out of unskilled jobs like burger "flipping".

She said while the guest worker should not be held responsible, Bermudians should hold the employers accountable.

Yesterday Mr. Burgess was reluctant to state his position on the boycott call saying he did not know enough about the specific issues.

"I don't want to say boycott or not boycott not knowing the full problem. My concern is whether Bermudians have been given a fair opportunity to get the job," Mr. Burgess said.

"A fair opportunity would mean offering decent wages and conditions. A lot of people apply for these jobs and can't take it because of low wages and conditions. And it's designed that way - a lot of employers will offer a low wage, knowing Bermudians can't accept that."

But foreign workers were being exploited in the process, he argued.

When asked, Mr. Burgess said he was supportive of a minimum national wage, but he doubted whether employers would agree to a meaningful benchmark.

"If the minimum wage is not going to be $15 an hour, it's useless. There should be one but there's not going to be one because Dorothy Newman's report states that if a person is making $24,000 a year in Bermuda, they're poor. They (employers) will support one if it's going to be $4 an hour but it makes no sense."

Mr. Burgess added: "The best thing that can be done is to join the union - because a minimum wage will not help you with benefits."