The "climbdown'' by the Hon. Irving Pearman was unethical and disrespectful to workers, said Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons.

He was speaking at the start of yet another hearing into the hotel industry's long-running row over a new contract agreement.

This is the third time Government's Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board has taken a stab at solving the dispute.

The BIU had threatened a strike if the hearing was not called.

The HEB is attending under protest, saying the dispute has already been settled by previous hearings.

Its lawyer, Mr. Stephen Shawe, accused the union of intimidating Government.

He said labour law had not intended "interminable hearings on the same subject until the one that has the right to scream the loudest and threaten to strike is pacified''.

Mr. Simmons objected to the way the hearing's job had been defined by Government.

He said Mr. Pearman had caved in after complaints from the HEB about the board's terms of reference.

Originally, the board was told to settle any dispute relating to the "enforcement'' of its decision.

After the HEB protested, the terms of reference were amended. The amendment just mentions two outstanding disputes.

One is whether the board has already ordered the HEB to hand over gratuities for 1992 that remain unpaid.

The other is whether HEB members have wrongly refused to sign the new agreement.

The union is reserving its right to challenge the terms of reference of the hearing. It says the board should be allowed to look at gratuity increases following on from 1992.

It also questions the impartiality of board member Mr. Gordon Asbury, a former hotelier.

The HEB is reserving its right to protest the hearing's findings, and whether it should have been held at all. It says it may go to court.

Mr. Simmons told the board that all gratuity increases collected by hotels from February, 1992, onwards should be paid with seven percent interest.

All 18 HEB members should follow tradition and sign the agreement laid down by the previous board, he said.

The 13 smaller HEB hotels have objected to signing the agreement. They argue that under new labour law, this would bind them to the union forever.

Mr. Shawe said the 13 had been complying with the agreement but were not required to sign it.

HEB members had been following previous rulings by keeping the disputed tips.

They had no other money to pay wage increases, he said.