tolerate ongoing damage to its tourist industry. In any country there are some issues which transcend group interests and political interests. In Bermuda, tourism feeds the entire Country and only foolish people bite the hand that feeds them. We think that today only a very small group is doing the biting and a very large group is suffering the pain.

Management and the Bermudian ownership at Grotto Bay Hotel knew perfectly well when they refused the decision of the Essential Industries Disputes Board that they were "waving a red flag'' at the Bermuda Industrial Union and that their action was very likely to result in disruption in the hotel industry. Perhaps they gambled that the BIU would not strike or institute any industrial action in a bad year when many hotel workers are glad to have a job. In any case, they took a decision which they must have known had a good possibility of resulting in trouble for tourism. They may well have felt that the decision was best for Grotto Bay. It may be that rumours are true and the Grotto Bay owners do not care what happens to Grotto Bay as an hotel because they would prefer to have condominiums at Blue Hole Hill. Who would have the money to buy the condominiums if tourism collapsed is an open question. Whatever the case, Grotto Bay clearly did not consider the results of its actions on Bermuda and it had a duty to the people of Bermuda to do so.

The Bermuda Industrial Union continues not to understand that any threat of industrial action in the hotels is almost as bad as an outright strike. The Union seems to us to use threats as a weapon to get the hotels to bend without accepting that the results of a threat are very similar to an actual strike.

In both cases visitors stay home. In fact, threats seem to us to have a much more damaging result. With an outright strike, when it's over, it's over, and a Country can get back to business. Constant threats create the impression in the travel industry that there is always a problem in Bermuda's hotels and that visitors might be subjected to trouble. All it takes is that "might'' for the all important travel agents to advise clients to go elsewhere. Agents want happy customers and customers require trouble-free vacations. Travel agents do not keep abreast of the day to day events on any resort's labour scene but, after a while, they do list a resort as a trouble spot to be avoided. The BIU encourages travel agents to do just that by constantly threatening "trouble'' in the hotels. No amount of money spent on advertising will get visitors to Bermuda if travel agents advise clients to avoid trouble and go somewhere which appreciates their business.

The economic prosperity of the whole Country is now at risk. Tourism for 1992 and as an industry for the future is now at risk. During 1991 we made a bad year worse because we maximised our problems. We seem set to do the same thing to 1992. It is time for the people to decide that enough is enough and that Bermuda should get down to business while it still has some business to tend.