Disgruntled trade unionists have decided to take part in this year?s Labour Day march ? despite frustration about it always being organised by the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU).

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), an umbrella body representing eight organisations but not the BIU, wants to see the annual event on the first Monday in September hosted by a different union each year.

This year, TUC members have been debating whether to take part in the parade at all due to growing irritation about the fact that it always begins at BIU headquarters in Hamilton.

Mike Charles, general secretary of the TUC and the Bermuda Union of Teachers, said: ?It kind of gets under people?s skin, especially because they (the BIU) have refused over the years to join the TUC. Chris Furbert (BIU president) has always been master of ceremonies. It looks to all intents and purposes to be a BIU function.

?It is something which has come up at our TUC meetings.

?No one wants to take it from them. We?d like it to be done in an amicable way. But Labour Day is for all workers. The Labour Day should be run by the umbrella body which is responsible for trade unions in the country.?

Armell Thomas, president of Bermuda Public Services Union, another TUC member, said: ?We are going to participate in the whole thing. We are trying to get all the unions to be more amicable.?

But he added: ?We have never ever been asked to participate in being the master of ceremonies at Labour Day. We might be asked to join the general Labour Day committee but we have never been asked to march from the BPSU building. It?s always outside the BIU. People get frustrated.?

Mr. Thomas said the TUC wanted the BIU to join it so that all the unions could speak ?as one voice?.

He said: ?This is the time of year that the TUC should be at its peak around Labour Day. We all have the same issues. We just want to come and be a family and we can?t be a family if the BIU won?t be part of it. The BIU doesn?t want to join the TUC. I?m a little disappointed in that.?

The row over the BIU?s refusal to join the TUC has rumbled on for years. The organisation currently represents the unions for teachers, civil servants, school principals, electricity workers, firefighters, prison officers and musicians and variety artists.

Mr. Charles said: ?We are hoping that the BIU will join. It would be of benefit to everybody because then we?ll have one body speaking for labour in this country.?

Mr. Thomas said the congress was a forum for unions to share their experiences, best practice and solutions. ?I?m trying to give the new president, Mr. Furbert, an opportunity,? he said. ?I can?t knock him because he?s just become president. If they feel that they don?t want to join then we say ?fine, we have given it our all, let?s forget about it and move on?.?

Mr. Furbert would not comment on the story. No one else from the Labour Day committee could be contacted yesterday.

? This year?s Labour Day banquet takes place at the Fairmont Southampton Princess on Friday evening, with speakers Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Labour Day events ? the 25th anniversary of the celebrations on the Island ? start at 9 a.m. on Monday with a fun run and walk. The march starts at 11 a.m. with the Bermuda Regiment Band leading the procession to Bernard?s Park. The day includes speeches from Premier Alex Scott, Minister of Labour Randy Horton and foreign and local dignitaries.

? Mr. Thomas was recently appointed president of the Caribbean Public Services Association at the annual conference in Belize.