Union boss Armell Thomas last night called for Premier Ewart Brown to "do the right thing" and avoid last Friday's historic demonstration being repeated later this summer.

The Bermuda Public Services Union president will join other union leaders for a crunch meeting with the Premier at Cabinet on Wednesday to discuss the row which culminated in thousands of angry Police officers, teachers and civil servants marching on Parliament. It was the first time ever officers from Bermuda Police Association had walked on Parliament, and they were joined by members of their sister unions enraged about their own disputes with Government.

Yesterday, Mr. Thomas said his head was still hurting following Friday's scenes, but as a man who represents the workers he did not regret taking action.

He said previous efforts to pin down Dr. Brown for a meeting over the BPSU's pay demands had proved fruitless while the Premier further infuriated Friday's protesters by failing to show his face until most of them had left the House of Assembly's grounds.

Wednesday will be his chance to start rebuilding Government's relationship with labour, which Mr. Thomas last week described as being at its worst point in up to 30 years.

Mr. Thomas told The Royal Gazette: "If he's going to remain as the Premier, it's important that we try to get an amicable relationship going. Not just himself, but his Cabinet Ministers.

"The workers have spoken loud and clear. We are not asking for the bank account, just asking for a few things to change."

Asked whether repeat demonstrations were on the cards if Government did not back down from rejecting a binding arbitration award, Mr. Thomas replied: "It's up to the membership. I can be sure the message was loud and clear on Friday, very loud and clear.

"If I were in the Government's shoes, I wouldn't want that to happen again. I would want to do the right thing. As with any relationship that's gone sour, we have to make sure we can restore the trust and whatnot."

Frustration among BPSU members began to boil over in February when their attempts to force a meeting with Dr. Brown and Finance Minister Paula Cox were unsuccessful.

They were unhappy at being offered a four percent pay increase, subtracting one percent for pensions. Members, many of whom claim they have to work an additional job to make ends meet, wanted 5.1 percent to take into account cost of living.

Mr. Thomas said: "Normally when I call the Premier, it's not an issue. I don't know what went wrong this time.

"I called him on his cell phone and he said: 'No problem, call my secretary.' Next thing, I was phoned not by Ewart but by someone else who said he does not want to meet with me.

"He's definitely listened to somebody. That's why I was hurt: I know the guy is normally accessible."

On Friday, Labour Minister David Burch was left to confront the angry masses alone, with union leaders accusing Dr. Brown of a lack of respect and some protesters reportedly vowing to egg him the next time.

Dr. Brown's Press Secretary Glenn Jones said his boss was tied up reading a Ministerial statement.

"I would have liked to have seen him," said Mr. Thomas. "He didn't have to say any words — Burch would have been fine — but that would have related to me that he was reacting.

"I'm not a politician, I don't know the protocol, but if seeing and hearing all those people, I'm sure it wouldn't have hurt to adjourn for 20 minutes."

Mr. Thomas said he had received mainly positive feedback since the march, but added: "The negative sticks at the back of your mind. It's Sunday afternoon and my head's still hurting. But we have to do what we have to do.

"I know the partnership with the Government can easily be mended together. Hopefully on Wednesday, we meet with the rest of the associations and the Premier at the Cabinet office and do that."