Bermuda Forwarders' president Mr. Toby Kempe yesterday spoke publicly about the dispute for the first time in several months.

And he showed he was in no mood to strike any deals with the Bermuda Industrial Union.

"In our view the only place that this dispute can be settled is in the Supreme Court of Bermuda,'' he said.

He was adamant that Bermuda Forwarders had an extremely strong case that would stand up in court.

"The dispute stems from the dismissal of Mr. Lynn Darrell, who was a BIU shop steward at Bermuda Forwarders,'' he said.

"BIU members at Bermuda Forwarders broke the collective agreement between the two parties by walking out without notice on two separate occasions in support of Mr. Darrell.

"The second walkout occurred after the company had already agreed to binding arbitration and resulted in a 13-week work stoppage.

"In order to fulfil contractual obligations to its customers the company was obliged to hire new employees while the strike action was in progress.

"The strike action was eventually terminated when the BIU conceded that Mr.

Darrell had been legitimately dismissed. Even before this occurred, the company had publicly stated that it saw no reason to take back these employees.

"In our view they effectively brought their employment contracts to an end by their total disregard for the provisions of the collective agreement between the two parties and by their consequent walkout.

"Despite what the BIU may claim, this continual disregard for the collective agreement by BIU members over the last ten years is the root cause of the majority of the labour problems which have occurred at Bermuda Forwarders.

"It is apparent that there will be no agreement between Bermuda Forwarders and the BIU on the issue of whether the company should take back these former employees.'' Mr. Kempe said his firm had made it clear that sacked workers would be considered for any new positions as and when they became available.

"They simply have to make an application and all applications will be considered on their merits,'' he said.

"Indeed, one of them did apply for new employment some time ago and he is in fact now working for Bermuda Forwarders. More than this cannot be expected.'' He added: "Bermuda Forwarders sincerely regrets that the BIU has chosen to initiate a series of strike and picketing actions in all sectors of the industry in an attempt to bully us into accepting these employees back.

"The Attorney General's office has confirmed that these actions are in fact illegal and has acted accordingly.'' Police are investigating an alleged arson attack on Bermuda Forwarders site at Mills Creek, Pembroke, early yesterday morning.

Mr. Kempe said: "The intruders attempted to set fire to the main buildings of Bermuda Forwarders.'' Security guards said they scared off at least two men who had cut through a wire fence and set fire to a wooden dumpster. Containers of flammable liquid were found nearby.

Police said there was evidence of a failed attempt to ignite a second nearby dumpster.