it is time for employees and management at the site to take a step back and think about the consequences of their actions. So far there have been a number of different accounts of the causes for the strike. Somers-Precision Construction, the joint venture managing the project, is not unionised. Some employees of the firm are seeking union recognition and claim they received permission to attend a union meeting at 4 p.m. at the beginning of August.

According to the company, the men left the site in the middle of a major concrete pour, with the result that the pour was ruined and had to be re-done, apparently costing the company thousands of dollars. The men were then dismissed.

Now the union is seeking permission for the men to be reinstated and for the union to be recognised as the collective bargaining representatives for the workers. There are a number of other issues relating to the dispute, including the question of foreign workers, whom it is alleged are being hired to replace the Bermudians and are being paid more for the same work. Finally, the employees complain that they are being paid straight time for overtime work.

Workers from other companies working the same site joined with the Precision workers last Friday in a sympathy strike, and all BIU workers will meet today to discuss what to do next. Whether the union decides to engage in an Island-wide strike or to hold a smaller scale protest, it should be clear that any kind of expansion of the dispute will send the wrong message.

It seems obvious that leaving the site in the middle of a major work operation was irresponsible on the part of the workers and the company has the right to dismiss employees whose actions damage it. The company's refusal to accept the offer of intervention by the Government Labour Relations Officer, and the failure to hold any kind of formal talks with the Bermuda Industrial Union may be a mistake; it may be that the company fears that direct talks would signal some kind of recognition of the union which it is not prepared to grant, and it is technically correct that the union does not represent the men.

But the company runs the risk of prolonging this action unduly if it does not accept some form of mediation. At the same time the union, if it attempts any kind of widespread work stoppage, will do the Island a huge amount of damage at a time when it cannot afford it. Not only will it damage the Island in the eyes of international business, but a widespread strike which inconveniences companies in the tourism industry may be the final nail in the coffin of Tourism Minister David Allen's efforts to rebuild the sector. That BIU president Derrick Burgess, Premier Jennifer Smith, Mr. Allen, and Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox were all in Boston this weekend meeting hotel owners -- and possibly the Monitor Group as well -- is painfully ironic. Poor industrial relations is one of the primary reasons for the lack of investment in new hotels. Now we have a new industrial dispute as Government and union officials try to develop a partnership with hotel owners.

Bermuda cannot afford a widespread industrial action now. The Government, which always faces the risk of being seen as subservient to the unions, needs to intervene to give both sides in the dispute a breathing space. In turn, the owners need to come to the table and the union needs to back off from any threats which could, on their own, do irreparable damage to the Island.