bargaining over the last eight years, the executive director of Bermuda Employers' Council revealed yesterday.

Mr. Malcolm Dixon poured cold water on claims collective bargaining was virtually dead.

The allegations were made this week by Dr. Leo Troy, an American labour relations expert.

Dr. Troy attacked Government for relying on arbitration to restore industrial peace, particularly in the hotel industry.

It was important for market forces principally to dictate pay levels, he argued.

"Collective bargaining has atrophied. It is not dead, but moving in that direction.'' Dr. Troy also fiercely criticised the Bermuda Industrial Union and management.

He called for secret postal ballots for electing union officers, and strikes.

And management should be more forceful in wage negotiations, state their positions more clearly, and improve communications with the workforce, Dr.

Troy said.

Yesterday, however, Mr. Dixon took issue with some of the professor's arguments.

Since 1984 just seven wage negotiations had gone to either mediation, arbitration, or a board of inquiry, he said.

Among those involved were the hospitals, Government employees, Stevedoring Services, and Bermuda Telephone Company.

"All these have been settled,'' said Mr. Dixon.

Currently, hotel contract talks were before the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board, he added.

And negotiations involving the Police had been referred recently to mediation.

Mr. Dixon went on to explain the different stages of negotiation.

Mediation involved a third party, usually Govermnent's labour relations officer, bringing two sides together; arbitration, a panel delivering a final decision, accepted by both sides as binding; and a board of inquiry, an investigation into a dispute, with usually non-binding recommendations.

"The majority of issues are resolved through collective bargaining, and usually before or around the expiry of an agreement.

"I would disagree collective bargaining has atrophied.'' Mr. Dixon went on: "What has to be remembered, however, when two parties are far apart and industrial action takes place, Bermuda is a small Country and reliant on tourism. Any disruption can have an effect very quickly, and it's far better to go to arbitration.

"It is different in the United States. What happens in California, for instance, may not affect Massachusetts.'' Mr. Dixon said the Bermuda Employers' Ccouncil (BEC) was, however, pressing for improvements on the industrial front.

These included "final offer arbitration'' -- something suggested by Dr. Troy as a step forward -- which involved a third party plumping for either management's offer or the union's pay demand, with no compromise.

Expedited arbitration, setting a clear time frame for negotiations, and secret workplace ballots for strikes were two other council proposals.

"I don't agree with postal ballots. I think they can be carried out more effectively at the workplace,'' said Mr. Dixon.

Mr. Dixon said the BEC supported compulsory arbitration with legally enforceable rulings only when the "national interest'' was at stake.

He added: "Overall I'm still extremely optimistic about industrial relations.

"With the commitment by all the parties I'm sure we will find methods of being able to settle differences, and reaching understandings.''