Hotel employees yesterday demanded that they receive all the gratuities given to the hotels -- including the percentage granted to employers.

However, the hotels, represented by lawyer Mr. Stephen Shawe, argued that the gratuity -- $1 per guest -- paid to the hotels was required to enable them to increase their revenues.

During the fifth day of hearings between the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Hotel Employers of Bermuda union, BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons said employees wanted to eliminate the award given in the last contract between the HEB and the BIU.

And they are also asking that all gratuities be paid retroactive to February 25 the day after the agreement expired.

"Gratuities are equal to wages in terms of importance and they are more important to anything in these particular hearings,'' Mr. Simmons said.

"The union feels that there has been a breach in both of the awards. The collective bargaining agreement states that the distribution of gratuities shall be fair to the various persons entitled to participate which includes the bellmen, housekeeping, dining room waiters and other guest service workers in general.

"Any gratuities charged to the guests must be given to the employees and retroactive gratuities should be paid.'' Mr. Shawe reminded Mr. Simmons that the "overage'' collected by some of the hotels is used by the hotels as revenue.

But an annoyed Mr. Simmons said that hotels were continuing to make three times more from employees doing service. "If that is not exploitation I don't know what is. We are not going to stand for it any longer, employers are taking gratuities and putting it in their pockets.'' Mr. Shawe informed Mr. Simmons the Sonesta Beach Hotel had an increase in gratuities to be paid to the employees in light of the fact that they had been closed for four to five months.

The BIU also argued about the recognition clause which prevents certain hotel workers from joining the union.

Mr. Simmons said that anyone had the right to join the union and not having that right would be a "direct contradiction to people's freedom of association and expression. And those items are enshrined in Bermuda's Constitution''.

But Mr. Shawe stated that there was nothing unlawful about excluding persons, such as executive workers and managers from the collective bargaining agreement.

However, Mr. Simmons added: "When we get to the point of people's rights being denied, we have to fight tooth and nail, and if this was agreed to before it was something wrong to be agreed with.'' On the issue of the Hospital Insurance Plan, Mr. Simmons said the union was asking employers to share the premium for major medical with employees 50-50.

He added that the employers always charged employees more.

However, Mr. Shawe said that some of the hotels did split the costs 50-50, which also included employees and their spouses.

The union also stated that if an employee was approached about working on a public holiday a week before, and fails to work on that day he should only be given a verbal "talking to'' instead of having his holiday pay taken away.