fight took off their gloves.

They traded abuse as yet another hearing into the dispute came to an end.

By tomorrow, the new board judging the battle is expected to have picked a winner.

In one corner is the Bermuda Industrial Union, accused by the hotels of "whining'' and threatening strikes until a board comes up with a ruling it likes.

In the other corner are the Hotel Employers of Bermuda, described by the union as "criminals'' who pocket workers' tips and plot behind the scenes.

The ringside judges are American arbitrator Mr. Arnold Zack, board chairman, former hotel chief Mr. Gordon Asbury and independent Senate President the Hon.

Albert Jackson.

Ensuring a fair fight are non-voting members of the board Ms Debra Fox, Grotto Bay chief shop steward, and Mr. David Dodwell, owner of The Reefs hotel.

All participants are hoping the board's ruling will end the dispute once and for all.

But two previous attempts by the Government Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board have failed to do so.

And both sides have reserved the right to object to the latest hearing. The BIU has questioned whether its scope is too narrow, while the HEB says it should never have been set up.

The board, which sat for almost two days, is considering disputes over a new contract agreement drawn up for the industry.

The main row is whether the HEB has already been ordered to hand over gratuities for 1992 that remain unpaid.

Yesterday, BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons accused hotel owners of "not passing on guest tips to the rightful owners, who are their service employees.

"As long as this illegal activity continues, the BIU is committed to fight for these hotel workers, even if the union has to go to the end of the earth.'' Hotels lawyer Mr. Stephen Shawe argued that in 1991, arbitrator Mr. William Hobgood had accepted the hotels' case that they could be bankrupted by wage rises.

To meet BIU demands for wage rises he had come up with the idea of funding them by increased tips.

This was above board and not immoral, said Mr. Shawe.

"It's not as Otti would have it. You don't take the revenue and put it in a manager's pocket and go to Brazil with it.'' The previous board, the "proper forum'' to decide the dispute, had already come to a decision after a long, detailed hearing.

"You are surely not an appeals court,'' Mr. Shawe told Mr.

Zack.

"You should never have been appointed in our view.

"The Government should have had enough guts to say `that's enough', but they didn't, so we're forced here again.'' The new board should not "reward the union's whining and threats'' by deciding "what was black yesterday is white today'', he said.

Mr. Simmons hit back by saying the previous board supported his case.

The idea of funding wage rises by tips had not been Mr. Hobgood's, he said. It had been dreamt up by HEB representatives.

He said it was upsetting that the dispute had gone on for a "ridiculous'' amount of time.

It was up to Mr. Zack and his colleagues to "do the right thing'', he said.