bus workers and garbage collectors yesterday brought back unsettling memories of 1981.

While the situation has not yet reached the extremes of the general strike in that year, we now run the risk of driving visitors away at a time whe we can least afford it.

With the Island's tourism industry in a far weaker state than 11 years ago, we fear that any incidents, no matter how minor, will have a deeper and longer impact on the industry.

Times have changed and tourists no longer have to come to Bermuda. If they hear even a hint of trouble, they will go elsewhere.

Should they come to Bermuda and find their visits hampered by cancellation of the buses, the ferry strike, or by the unpleasant experience of having to cross a picket line at the airport -- or by having to carry their baggage through the line -- then the odds are good that they will never return and they will also tell their friends never to visit.

It is this which we fear most. As in 1981, the union's actions on behalf of one group of employees are going to hurt far more Bermudians, few of whom have any involvement in the dispute.

At a time whe the hotel industry is already struggling, reductions in visitors will inevitably lead to lay-offs and redundancies at a time when most workers are only just back on the job.

Indeed, the union's lemming-like approach to the tourism industry has never been more evident.

Just as the tourist season was starting to show signs of recovery after one of the most dismal off-seasons in memory, the BIU's leadership does not seem bothered by the prospect of making its many members in the hotels suffer even more by risking further damage to the industry.

One would have thought that the union's chances of gaining any benefits for its members from the essential industry disputes resolution board in August have just been reduced.

We have to recognise the efforts of Government, the Progressive Labour Party and others to achieve a compromise in this dispute, but we wonder how realistic a hope that is.

The deafening silence of the Island's 40 Members of Parliament yesterday on this dispute also indicates that they have agreed to take the "softly-softly'' approach already adopted by the Government.

Presumably they felt any discussion of the issue would worsen the situation and plunge the Island into an even deeper crisis.

If that is so, it is an indictment on all of them. If they are unable to discuss the current dispute in a rational way or even come up with some possible solutions, they are failing in their duty to represent the people.

Once again, we call on the union to seek a settlement of its dispute in the courts, and not on the streets.