dropping in 1991 and 1992, hotel owners may have reaped better earnings than in past years.

And the BIU again hammered accountant Mr. David Lines' financial summary which showed major hotels suffered a net loss of $17.5 million in 1991.

BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons called for the Hotel Employers of Bermuda to hand over individual audited financial reports from the Island's guest properties and resorts.

Addressing the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board, he said: "I put it to you their revenues were better in 1992 than 1991, and quite possibly better in 1991 (the year recession set in) than 1990.'' BIU vice president Mr. Derrick Burgess, on the witness stand for the second day, agreed with Mr. Simmons that hotels had "certainly added money to their coffers''.

Ways they did this, he said, were by increasing room rates and food and beverage prices. And by increasing the daily service charge that guests paid and pocketing the difference to offset workers' pay raises.

"So revenue could increase with fewer guests?,'' Mr. Simmons asked Mr.

Burgess.

Mr. Burgess agreed, adding "If there's less people (staying at the hotel) you would tend to think there would be less revenues, but that's not necessarily true.'' Mr. Burgess conceded to HEB lawyer Mr. Stephen Shawe that the hotel industry was in recession, but he said there might be hotels that were not suffering.

He added workers were in a "depression''.

Mr. Burgess said the BIU could not possibly know if the whole hotel industry was suffering unless it got individual audited financial reports from the Island's hotels.

He pointed out that requests had been denied by the HEB. Mr. Shawe asked Mr.

Burgess why, if he admitted the industry was in recession, was the BIU making such high demands.

Pointing to its demands for a wage hike of seven percent and sick benefits that would cost hotels an extra $2.1 million, Mr. Shawe said, "In light of your acknowledgement the hotel industry is in a recession, do you think your proposals are consistent with that notion?'' Mr. Burgess replied the BIU's proposals were negotiable and repeated it did not know the hotel industry's true financial position, because of the "unreliability'' of Mr. Lines' report.

In the afternoon the BIU called its second witness, general secretary Mrs.

Molly Burgess, who testified that an agreement had never been reached when the union sat down to negotiate with the hotels.

Mrs. Burgess will continue testifying when the talks resume this morning. They have been adjourned twice since starting in May.

It was anticipated the hearing would be over by the end of the month and board chairman Prof. Ronald Haughton would announce his award by the end of January.

Hoteliers have said they cannot afford to give workers any pay raise at all for the first year of their 1991-1993 contract. They have put a three percent raise on the table for the second two years.

The BIU, however, is asking for double that (seven, six and seven percent) and is demanding the raise be retroactive to February, 1991 when their collective agreement expired.

The board heard on Tuesday that hotel workers had not accepted the pay raises that some hotels implemented last May in accordance with the Hobgood award -- rejected by the BIU.

The extra money is being paid into an independent account by the HEB and will be distributed after Prof. Haughton makes his award.