Another general membership emergency meeting will be held at the Bermuda Industrial Union at 8am today as the dispute with KFC Bermuda Limited rages on.This after KFC hit back in the latest round of the war of words on the dispute over the cancellation of the company’s collective bargaining agreement for unionised workers.But the dispute took on a new turn when Economy Minister Patrice Minors issued a statement that said Government plans to block KFC’s bid to secure a judicial review in the Supreme Court.“Government today commenced Court proceedings seeking an Order to prevent Kentucky Fried Chicken (Bermuda) Ltd. from any or all actions designed to interfere with or defeat the integrity of the Arbitration process,” said Ms Minors.“Last week I formally requested that both parties act in good faith and both desist from taking any further action pending the decision of the arbitrators for the sake of good industrial relations and in accordance with the spirit of the legislation.“I defined further action as — changes to employment contracts, changes to terms and conditions of employment, boycotts and other forms of industrial action. It is a matter of public record that on the same day, the BIU moved quickly to put an end to its boycott,” she said.“Meanwhile, KFC management advised Labour Relations Officers, via written communication, that for various reasons, and ‘as a matter of practicality’ the company ‘cannot accommodate the Minister’s request to refrain from implementing changes to employment contracts’.”Ms Minors concluded: “KFC’s actions serve to undermine the arbitration process and notwithstanding the company’s need to operate efficiently it is important that the Government take the necessary steps to preserve the integrity of the process.“It is imperative that both management and the Union work with us in the furtherance of an atmosphere of mutual cooperation, confidence and respect for this process. Our aim is to ensure an amicable settlement of this dispute,” she said.BIU President Chris Furbert said: “The reason for the urgent General Membership Meeting 8.00am is because the BIU’s attempts on behalf of the KFC workers to resolve the dispute with the management of KFC concerning their terms and conditions of employment have broken down.“The BIU has, in good faith, abided by the law, submitted to arbitration and lifted its boycott in accordance with the request of the Minister of Economy Trade and Industry. Meanwhile, the jobs, and terms and conditions of employment of the KFC workers are under daily attack,” said Mr Furbert.Prior to his statement, KFC issued a statement of their own to “publicly clarify” KFC’s position “which has been inaccurately represented by the BIU and the Bermuda Trade Union Congress (BTUC)”.The BTUC issued a statement this week in support of the BIU that criticised the fast food company’s plan to seek a judicial review against the order by Economy Minister Patrice Minors to send the dispute to arbitration.“Clearly it appears that KFC is not willing to enter into the arbitration process,” said a BTUC spokesman. The BTUC also took issue with KFC’s plans to rename the company and sign up present staff by June 1 without input by the BIU.The union spokesman warned that if KFC is successful in court other employers will follow suit.KFC Director Jason Benevides said: “If the courts ultimately compel arbitration, then KFC will participate as necessary and he denied that KFC plans to change its name.“However, it has established a subsidiary named KFC Operations Limited (KFCO) which will assume operation of the KFC restaurant. The BIU was advised of this new subsidiary months ago and that any new collective agreement would need to be with the operating subsidiary,” said Mr Benevides.“KFC has no intent to introduce a strategy to ‘terminate an existing collective bargaining agreement’ as the BTUC claims. Such a strategy would be unnecessary since the collective agreement ended almost six months ago,” he said.“If the BTUC is concerned about the consequences of a court deciding in KFC’s favour then they should encourage the BIU to negotiate with KFC to reach an agreement and eliminate the need for further arbitration or court proceedings,” he added.But Mr Furbert said: “The BIU has, in good faith, abided by the law, submitted to arbitration and lifted its boycott in accordance with the request of the Minister of Economy Trade and Industry.Due to the general membership meeting today this will be the second time in a week that public transportation services have been disrupted by a union meeting; bus operators met on Tuesday.A transportation spokesman confirmed the bus and ferry services will operate in the morning prior to the BIU meeting.