pension plan should be squashed.

That is the view of Mr. W.A. (Toppy) Cowen, general manager of the Pink Beach Cottage Colony.

He fears hotels which have torn up the BIU-HEB collective bargaining agreement may be thrown out of the fund.

And yesterday he urged the Hotel Employers of Bermuda and the Bermuda Industrial Union to stamp on the gossip.

He said the organisations should deliver a joint statement to clear the air.

"I want them to reassure people they will remain in the fund.'' Pink Beach is one of several small properties to have offered management contracts to employees.

One big hotel, Elbow Beach, has also ripped up its BIU contract.

Three pension fund trustees are appointed by the Bermuda Hotel Association, three by the BIU, and there is one independent.

Earlier this month, it emerged trustees were carrying out a review of pensions.

They were looking at the implications of hotels splitting from the BIU, HEB, and BHA.

Mr. John Harvey, the HEB's chief executive officer, said previously properties which went their own way stayed within the fund.

This was because they still contributed to it, he added.

Mr. Calvin White, administrator of the fund, admitted the pensions issue was under scrutiny, but declined to comment further.

Mr. Cowen said the pension rumour was having an unsettling affect on his staff.

He feared it may have been started as part of a plot by larger properties and the BIU to frighten smaller hotels into toeing the line, and retain collective bargaining agreements.

"We don't want to leave the fund. We want very much to stay in it, and continue contributing,'' he said.

Mr. Cowen believed two years ago there was at least $12 million in the fund.

"There are a lot of benefits in remaining in it,'' he added.

Mr. Cowen did not foresee Pink Beach rejoining the BIU, and did not regret the decision to pull out.