a strike last night, the two sides could not even agree on how full the hotel was.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman said he would likely order back any Elbow Beach workers who walk off the job.

BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP said the workers yesterday re-affirmed their decision to stage a three-day strike as soon as the Paget hotel's occupancy hit 70 percent.

But he lambasted The Royal Gazette for reporting the magic number would be reached today. "The rumours...were untrue,'' Mr. Simmons said yesterday.

"There is no 70 percent occupancy tomorrow.

"The workers at Elbow Beach will decide when to take strike action, and not The Royal Gazette .'' But Elbow Beach managing director Mr. John Jefferis insisted the hotel would be 71.8 percent full today.

"He just wants to keep threatening these strikes, and not actually have one,'' Mr. Jefferis said of Mr. Simmons. "These are Mafia-like tactics.'' Told of Mr. Jefferis' comments, Mr. Simmons insisted the hotel would only be 67.1 percent full today. "He's the one who is apparently asking for a strike,'' he said.

The dispute arose after hotel management announced it was breaking ties with the BIU and replacing the existing collective agreement with a new deal that provides for a 10.3 percent wage increase, improved benefits, profit sharing, and a worker-management committee to settle disputes.

Mr. Pearman, meanwhile, said yesterday the law allows him to "apprehend a strike'' and order workers back while referring the matter again to the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board. That is what he would do if Elbow Beach reported a disruption and would likely do if there was a strike and the hotel reported no disruption, he said.

Mr. Pearman has already ordered a hearing on the Elbow Beach dispute, but a date has not been announced.

Elbow Beach would be ordered to take the workers back while the dispute was sent to the board, but management would not be ordered to reinstate the old collective agreement, he said.

"That's what the dispute is about,'' he said of the contract. Those comments angered Mr. Simmons.

"How can he not order them and order us?'' he asked. "The Minister apparently doesn't have the guts to exercise his own authority to have those employers reinstate that lawful agreement.'' About 50 workers left the meeting yesterday at the BIU hall, to which workers from Grotto Bay Beach Hotel, where management has also broken with the union, were also invited.

About 275 workers are employed at Elbow Beach in the peak season.

He said the Elbow Beach workers who attended were unanimous in supporting a strike. "Those who were working and unable to make the meeting have given a commitment, so far as the group here has reported, that the strike is in order.'' Mr. Jefferis said management has a plan in place "that will ensure that the guests are well looked after''. Many Bermudians have contacted the hotel and offered to work during a strike, but "I don't think that will be necessary'', he said.

Mr. Simmons said the BIU has its own contingency plans. "Any guests that are there during a strike are risking the worst possible service they can possibly get,'' he said.

At Elbow Beach, meanwhile, workers polled by The Royal Gazette yesterday were divided in their support for a strike.

One woman said she would definitely support the action. "I've been in the union for 32 years, and I see no reason to back away from it,'' she said.

"It's hard not having a union, feeling you have no-one to support you.'' But a male worker said he would definitely cross any picket line. "I can't afford not to be working,'' he said, adding he remained sceptical about management's offer. "It may sound like sugar in the beginning, but it may turn out to taste like salt.'' Another woman said she was undecided and reluctant to strike, but: "If everybody else goes on strike, I guess I'll have to go on strike, too.''