Government's bid to get statistics from employers on the racial breakdown of their workforce has been given strong backing by a top official of the Civil Servants union.

Bermuda Public Services Association general secretary Ed Ball said companies had nothing to fear from the CURE regulations if they were playing fair.

And he said it might expose some international firms who were operating a closed shop for their non-Bermudian friends.

He said: "People come from the private sector because they are being passed over, they are getting a different pay scale from similar workers and they are in fear that if they say something they will be fired.

"This will stop a lot of anomalies -- they need to be addressed. If you are a good employer and you are playing fair there is nothing to worry about -- the record will speak for itself.'' He added: "Some people are going to get egg on their faces. They are not walking the talk.

"A company might say they are multi-racial but it's really not so -- the Bermudians are in the lower echelons -- they are secretaries rather than decision-makers.'' And he attacked doom and gloom merchants who said the new regulations which come on stream this summer could scare away business.

He said: "They are playing the race card. They say it will upset the applecart. But there is a disparity between blacks and whites.'' He described the CURE laws as a common sense approach to identifying a problem and that any Government which hampered business would be rejected at the polls.

He said: "If the CURE code has loopholes in it the Government will fix it.'' DISCRIMINATION DIS