contract since October, The Royal Gazette has learned.

And if progress was being made, BIU chief Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP had none to report yesterday.

"The matter is in the hands of a committee and is being dealt with,'' was Mr.

Simmons' only comment on the contract talks, which were said to be stalled.

Mr. Ray Russell, a former BIU shop steward, said a contract for about 40 BIU office, gas station, and maintenance staff employees expired in October.

He accused the BIU leadership of dragging its feet on a new contract because it cannot afford to pay any increases. The BIU has faced a cash crunch in the last 18 months and directed some of its members to social services, partly because some hotels stopped deducting union dues from members' pay packets.

The contract talks "have been stalled for a year and two months,'' Mr.

Russell said yesterday. "To bring the talks to a conclusion means they've got to pay out a lot of back money.

"The longer they don't bring it to a conclusion, the longer they don't have to pay out any back money.'' Mr. Russell accused Mr. Simmons of hypocrisy in his dealings with the BIU workers, and noted five BIU employees were fired after speaking out about a similar contract situation in March of 1988.

At that time, a group of workers from the BIU's Union Street headquarters descended on The Royal Gazette and accused Mr. Simmons of operating double standards when negotiating.

"He goes on about the hotel workers but we are in just as bad a position and we are getting nowhere,'' one worker complained at the time. "We have been pushed to the end of the queue and we are getting nowhere.'' About two weeks later, five BIU employees were sacked. Mr. Simmons then said an investigation found they "were not adequately serving union members,'' in addition to the fact they went to the Press with their story.

"This is not a cold-hearted decision and we are not a cold-hearted employer,'' he said. "We are as good an employer as any, but we are also an organisation which has to put the interests of its members first.'' Mr. Russell, an outspoken critic of Mr. Simmons, said he was ousted from the union several months ago.

Stevedoring Services and unionised dockworkers sit down this Friday to sign their two-year collective bargaining agreement -- six weeks before it expires.

The signing, which comes more than 17 months after the contract was arbitrated by American Laurence Seibel, takes place less than a week before the two sides start negotiating a new agreement.

A spokesman for Stevedoring Services declined to comment on the signing delay other than to say: "Ask the union.'' Mr. Chris Furbert said the union had been pre-occupied in recent months on disputes with Grotto Bay Beach Hotel, Pink Beach Club and efforts for a new hotel workers contract.

"It means sometimes things get set back,'' he said.

Mr. Furbert said the contract had been proofread by the union a month ago. The union then waited for its leader, Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP, to return from abroad for a final okay.