calling of an Island-wide strike in July during hearings on a new contract for hotel workers.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons and other union officials called hotel managers "liars'' while HEB lawyer Mr. Stephen Shawe said the union accused hoteliers of "fraud'' every time their demands were not met.

Two retired hotel workers opened the day's testimony by telling members of the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board they would not encourage young Bermudians to work in the industry because hoteliers of ridiculous pension benefits.

Mrs. Viola Rogers, a chef at the Southampton Princess when she retired, called her pension cheques "a gross insult'' for someone "who has dedicated her entire work life to the hotel industry''.

Mrs. Rogers told the Board she receives $178 per month after a 34-year career in the industry. Her salary upon retirement was between $370 and $500 a week.

Mrs. Gloria Wade, who also finished her career at the Southampton Princess, called her $171 monthly pension "inexcusable'' for twenty years' service.

Both ladies asked the Board to recommend the hotels pay a larger sum towards pensions.

Lawyer for the HEB, Mr. Stephen Shawe, said such matters were a matter for the Trustees of the Hotel Pension Plan, not the HEB.

Board chairman Prof. Ronald Haughton, agreed he had no jurisdiction. BIU hotel division president Mr. Herbert Bascome was re-examined by Mr. Simmons on various situations which had arisen during the contract disputes.

His testimony included his views on the union's reaction to the 1991 Hobgood Report, the Southampton Princess Hotel's refusal to provide major medical coverage for staff, sick leave and the HEB's suspension of union dues in February, 1991.

"When they stopped paying union dues, we should have stopped work,'' said Mr.

Bascome. "But we had the Country in mind.'' Mr. Shawe suggested the BIU did not strike because there were no guests in the hotel and "nobody would have cared'' -- it was not due to their concern for Bermuda.

"We would have cared,'' Mr. Bascome replied. "This is our Country...not yours.'' The exchange became more intense when Mr. Shawe tried to drive home his point by noting the BIU strike call in July, 1992, which Mr. Bascome said was "called'' by an article in the July 1 edition of The Royal Gazette .

"You're trying to tell me The Royal Gazette called a union strike,'' asked Mr. Shawe.

The lawyer said he could not see how the union expected to attain better relations with HEB members, by calling a strike in the middle of the summer in a recession.

The dispute over the basic wage for function porters at the Southampton Princess Hotel was also continued yesterday, with the hotel's financial controller, Mr. John Craigie being questioned.

Mr. Craigie admitted the function porters had previously been on a different base salary and that they had complained after the change was made, he said he simply followed what had been printed in the collective agreement booklet.

The BIU continued to insist the paragraph describing the change in base salary was "an error'' and was not the one agreed upon during negotiations.