Workers at The Reefs downed tools yesterday in protest of three Bermudians being axed instead of guest workers.Tempers flared as the three maintenance workers were told they were immediately out of jobs at the cash-strapped hotel because their department was “over-sized”.About 15 housekeeping staff refused to clean the hotel and gathered on the property in support of their fired colleagues.It comes as the hotel plans to severely scale back its operations and close its 62 guest rooms, suites and cottages from January to March.The full-time maintenance workers say they feel “used and abused” after they were labelled as “unskilled” only about six months after being taken on.The three men are also angry that they have been giving their marching orders while non-Bermudians continue to work in the maintenance department.Strike action at The Reefs began when the workers learned of their fate at an 8.30am staff meeting yesterday and continued until about 3.30pm.The workers were told their redundancies were effective immediately and offered four-weeks pay in lieu of being given a notice period. However, the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) has advised the three workers not to accept their pay-offs as talks with hotel bosses continue.James Fray, 35, is one of the three maintenance workers who were taken on in April to do “all types of maintenance jobs” around the hotel.He said: “They have told the three of us to go, we've been laid off without any notice.“We didn't know anything about this until we got into the staff meeting. They told us they have to cut costs, but what about our rights? We have been left out in the cold”.Mr Fray added that it “just wasn't fair” as he had been unemployed for about two years prior to gaining employment at The Reefs.He said: “Bermudians are out of work while the expats continue to work.“We are being treated like casual labourers, they have taken advantage of us, we feel like we've been used and abused”.The hotel's maintenance department was made up of 11 people; six guest workers, four Bermudians and one spouse of a Bermudian.BIU president Chris Furbert said the “disruption in service” at The Reefs was a direct result of the three redundancies.He said: “They announced they were making three redundant out of 11 as the maintenance section was overstaffed.“We have some serious challenges with what is happening to these Bermudians as unemployment is already so high.“They have made three Bermudian workers redundant while keeping migrant workers working”.Union bosses were involved in meetings at the hotel on Saturday as staff were told how the hotel's downsizing from January 2 to March 15 would affect them.The hotel, which employs more than 100 staff, is working with the union to come up with “a rotation pay-off” for its nine-week partial closure.Bosses are said to have gone against the advice of their financial advisers to close the resort completely over the winter.Instead the resort's luxury Club Condos and their amenities will remain open. All food and beverage operations will also be suspended, but the spa will stay open.Mr Furbert told a press conference yesterday that he believed the skills of the three maintenance workers could be put to use during renovations rather than bringing in contract workers.He argued that the workers couldn't be labelled “unskilled” especially as one of them had recently done some tiling work at the home of The Reefs owner David Dodwell Senior.Mr Furbert said: “So apparently they did have some skills, but now they don't.“It's quite obvious they will now just have to contract someone else to do the renovation work when these workers could probably do 80-90 percent of it.“The question is have they been used? I guess they were skilled when they needed them but not when they didn't need them”.Mr Furbert said the employment dispute had ended after about seven hours with the room attendants returning to work. But he said hotel bosses were refusing to back down over the three redundancies.Mr Furbert said: “They were offered four weeks pay in lieu of notice. The hotel says it has put these cheques in the mail, but we have told the workers not to accept them”.Mr Furbert added that they were “very concerned” about the situation and would be discussing the matter with Economy Minister Patrice Minors.The strike came as Mr Dodwell Senior and his son David Dodwell Junior were both off-island.Nagma Walker, general manager of The Reefs, issued a press statement saying: “As a part of restructuring and realignment of The Reefs Hotel & Club, three positions in the maintenance department were made redundant.“These decisions are difficult as we value our employees and their contributions. We empathise with them and are working with the Bermuda Industrial Union to assist in finding alternative employment for the three individuals.“During this difficult economic climate, we are doing everything we can to minimise job redundancies while at the same time, maintain our high service standards for our guests”.