Bay Hotel, Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP charged yesterday.

Mr. Simmons produced as "evidence'' Mr. Erwin Whitter's last pay cheque, which was dated one week before his boss fired him in the heat of an argument.

The hotel's financial controller Mr. Earl Michlin had no explanation for the discrepancy other than it may have been "mistyped''.

"I am accusing you of having decided to fire (Mr. Whitter), having made up the cheque on the 11th, and then finding a reason to fire him (on the 16th),'' Mr. Simmons told Mr. Michlin.

Hotel lawyer Mr. Alan Dunch angrily called the accusation "most objectionable''.

The fiery second day of hearings into the hotel's dispute with the BIU saw Mr.

Dunch make numerous objections to Mr. Simmons' questions and submissions.

And Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board chairman Mr. Michael Mello stopped the hearing several times to speak to Mr. Dunch and Mr. Simmons in private.

Mr. Michlin, testifying out of turn because he has to go away for an operation, told how he fired Mr. Whitter in the middle of a row, which broke out after he had just moved 200 boxes out of a corridor himself because the ex-employee had refused to help.

He said Mr. Whitter's reasons were that he did not have time because he had to move boxes to the pool bar and was finishing work at noon -- he was on a reduced work week. Mr. Michlin said he later found out the pool bar had already been stocked.

During the row, he said Mr. Whitter, an employee of seven years and assistant shop steward, "shoved'' a finger in his face, swore and shouted at him as if to "bait'' him into a physical fight.

Under cross examination, Mr. Michlin admitted Mr. Whitter apologised to him twice. However, he refused to rehire him because of his "insubordination''.

Mr. Michlin further admitted Mr. Whitter's behaviour -- and the number of boxes in the hallway that day -- had been "unusual''.

He added that several complaints had been made in the past about boxes not getting delivered on time. Moving boxes was Mr. Whitter's and one other storeroom employee's job, he said.

Mr. Simmons submitted: "Aggravating working conditions brought on by Grotto Bay management caused Mr. Whitter to act out of character that day.'' Under redirect examination, Mr. Michlin said the other storeroom employee now does Mr. Whitter's job by himself -- and there have been no complaints.

Before leaving the stand yesterday, Grotto Bay chief shop steward Ms Deborah Fox explained why she refused to read the document outlining the hotel's new contract that did not recognise the union.

"A contract is an agreement,'' she said. "We never agreed on that contract so I did not take it.'' The first thing the board is being asked to decide is whether a collective agreement exists between the hotel and the BIU. If it finds one does, it must determine whether the hotel committed any "unfair industrial practices'', whether a "remedy'' should be granted, and whether three hotel employees were unfairly dismissed.

The BIU's position is that a collective agreement -- although expired -- does exist and will continue to until the hotel gives the union three months' notice.

But Mr. Dunch says the BIU has had no standing at the hotel since February, 1991 and the hotel does not need its permission to cease recognising it -- even though the collective agreement states an employer must give three months notice before it can stop recognising the union.

"The union does not like the legal position and rather than try and change it, it apparently simply refuses to recognise it,'' Mr. Dunch has said.

He added the hotel's employees were provided with the new terms and conditions and invited to state any disagreements. However, it "consistently declined the invitation without comment''.