BERMUDA-LABOUR-Workers tight-lipped over new contract

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Many people including tourists were left stranded Tuesday after unionised government staff downed tools to attend a meeting to discuss a new employment contract, disrupting bus and ferry service for several hours. The workers gathered at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, for the meeting which was called by Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) president Chris Furbert. Media reports suggested that, in order to cut its huge wage bill, government has proposed a reduction in working hours and staff have been asked to take one day off, unpaid, each month.