understudies for certain jobs as a condition of granting work permits.

Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman said yesterday he would look at how much scope there was to extend requirements for companies to hire Bermudian understudies as a condition of granting work permits.

But he hastened to add there would be no wholesale inclusion of the condition because many companies would not be able to afford an additional salary while other jobs were not suited to an understudy.

Mr. Pearman, who returned as Home Affairs Minister last week, made the statement against the background of increased unemployment in the community and calls by the Opposition to require virtually all companies to hire understudies as a condition of granting a work permit.

But he said increasing the requirement might now be possible because there was now a pool of Bermudians looking for work, whereas there had previously far more jobs than Bermudians.

"For domestic businesses, where there can be more Bermudians included, we think there is scope to ask companies to look more broadly on the basis they really need an understudy,'' he said.

But he said including the condition would not be done where the extra cost could damage a company financially and force a closure or redundancies. But he said where the condition was included, it would be rigidly enforced.

Mr. Pearman made the comments after former Minister of Labour and Home Affairs the Hon. Sir John Sharpe said yesterday he felt there as scope for expansion of the condition.

"There may be a provision for some further attachment of conditions in the grant of some work permits of a condition for training of Bermudians,'' he said.

"There has been very limited scope for that in the past because there has not been a reservoir of Bermudians available,'' he said. "While I mention that possibility, the other side of the coin is the employer's reluctance and in same cases near inability to pay two salaries.

"Mr. Pearman, I know from his experience in private business, is very keen on training, so I am sure this is something he will give attention to.'' Sir John's comments came in an interview on his tenure as Home Affairs Minister.

Describing how he had returned to the Ministry he held through most of the 1980s when Mr. Pearman stepped down in 1989, he said the last 16 months had been "particularly busy''.

"A lot of time and effort were taken up with trying to keep the peace between labour and management at a time when both were being stressed by the weakening economy,'' he said.

"In this area, the biggest challenge last year was to keep the peace between the hotels and the Bermuda Industrial Union. I believe the Ministry succeeded admirably to the point where notwithstanding differences, there were no work stoppages to make a bad season even worse.

"When in February, 1991, the HEB-BIU collective agreement expired, the prospect of a strike was avoided when both sides were persuaded to allow Bill Hobgood to mediate the dispute.

"This culminated in the BIU and the four major hotels accepting him as an arbitrator and agreeing to be bound by his award. That for me and the labour officers was the high point of 1991. Our persistence had finally paid off.

"The low point came several weeks later when the BIU rejected the award which their negotiating team had agreed to be bound by. Hence the essential industries legislation which follows the same principles as applies to essential services, allowing the minister of the day to refer any disputes in the hotel industry for settlement to the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board.'' Sir John said the first dispute to be referred to the board, the Grotto Bay Hotel-HEB dispute, had seen the hotel refuse to take part, a break with past labour relations practices.

"As with the two facilities previously in the law to "settle'' disputes (voluntarily agreed arbitration and essential services arbitration) both parties have always participated in the hearing and always accepted the award -- the Government anticipated likewise in the case of the essential industries legislation,'' he said.

"I am on record in Parliament as saying that if the spirit and intent of the essential industries legislation was frustrated the Government would need to look for a remedy.'' Sir John also said the Ministry had succeeded in quietly settling "literally hundreds'' of disputes in labour and immigration and said the labour relations officers, Permanent Secretary Mr. Ernest Owen and Immigration Director Mr.

Neville Smith, deserved praise for this.

Mr. Pearman's tenure on the joint select committee on trade unions and labour legislation will be discussed at the committee's meeting on Monday.

He said he had offered to resign from the committee last Monday. Chairman Mr.

Gilbert Darrell MP confirmed that the subject would be discussed and said some members felt there was a conflict of interest while others believed he could "handle himself''.

HON. Sir John Sharpe.

HON. Irving Pearman.