A strike by unionised workers at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel could drag on, even though the dispute has been referred to arbitration.

And the industrial action could escalate today when staff at the flagship resort’s sister hotel, the Fairmont Southampton, vote on what action to take.

Dozens of Hamilton Princess staff downed tools yesterday morning in protest after ten staff were made redundant two weeks ago. The Bermuda Industrial Union claims the walkout was prompted by management’s failure to follow “normal process”.

The staff, including three bar porters and two in-room dining captains, were given just two days notice before being released on January 24.

Yesterday, a Labour Ministry spokesman said the matter had been referred to a disputes panel at the weekend, adding that “since the matter has been referred, both parties should withdraw any action until the arbitration process has concluded”.

But BIU president Chris Furbert has insisted the union would not take part in any arbitration process until the sacked staff have been reinstated — something which he claims management is refusing to do. He added that staff were prepared to remain on strike “for as long as it takes” and that, should any strikers face disciplinary action, he would “encourage the entire BIU membership to support the workers at Fairmont Hamilton Princess”.

Last night Mr Furbert called for a Special General Council meeting to be held at the BIU headquarters today at 9am.

Yesterday’s walkout came after staff from both Fairmont resorts met to discuss the impasse. Hamilton Princess staff emerged from their behind-closed-doors meeting one-and-a-half hours later and marched straight to BIU offices.

Some workers told The Royal Gazette they were not taking industrial action and intended to return to work after “a show of solidarity and support” for their sacked colleagues.

“This isn’t a strike, we’re just going for a walk,” one employee said.

But after arriving at the union offices, the staff met with Mr Furbert who later confirmed that his members were “off the job”.

At a press conference held shortly after consulting with the workers, Mr Furbert said: “I can tell you that the decision that has been made by the Southampton Princess (sic) staff is that they are giving management 24 hours notice to come to their senses in relation to this matter because it hasn’t been handled correctly.

“The Hamilton Princess staff have decided that as of today they are off the job and they are not going back on the job until this matter is resolved.”

The union claims management has broken the collective bargaining agreement by failing to consult with staff before they were axed. The BIU is also concerned that bar staff are now being asked to take on the duties of the redundant bar porters.

Asked what management needed to do to resolve the dispute, Mr Furbert said that normal procedures should have been followed when the hotel issued the redundancies.

“I have been involved in the union for the past 40-odd years and over the years that I have been around the negotiating table, particularly in the last 25 years, I have never seen a redundancy done like this, where you can give somebody two days’ notice. The normal process doesn’t happen like that. We give notice.”

Mr Furbert revealed the hotel had considered laying off bar porters in 2011, but that action was averted after the union stepped in.

“In 2011 they [management] decided they were going to leave well enough alone because they honestly thought the bar porters weren’t being productive, but the bar tenders, and the bar porters, proved otherwise. The management team in 2011 extended the courtesy of having a conversation with the BIU before that redundancy took place. This time around they’ve done something completely different, so all we want is for them to go ahead and follow the normal process that they should have followed from the very start, and we can sit down and have that conversation.

“As I said to the management team on Friday, you may end up with the same result you know, nobody’s saying you won’t, you may, but as I said to the general manager, right now you’ve made these bar porters redundant — who’s going to do their work? You’re automatically assuming that the bar tenders are going to do their work, but you haven’t had that conversation with the BIU, as the collective bargaining agent, to make sure that’s going to be covered.”

According to Mr Furbert, the hotel warned last September that there could be staff changes while sections of the hotel were shut down for renovations.

“The general manager last September was telling us this was going to happen,” he said.

“So he gave us ample notice that the hotel was going to downsize from 400 rooms to 224 rooms and that there would be some layoffs, and those sorts of things. He never mentioned once about any redundancies — never.”

In a statement yesterday afternoon a Labour and Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said that Minister Fahy “continues to monitor the current impasse”.

“As such the Minister advised that under Section 5 of the Labour Relations Act 1975, and in the interest of seeking a resolution, he referred the dispute to a dispute panel on Saturday February 1, 2014, with each party being invited to appoint their assessors by February 3, 2014,” the spokesman said.

“It is expected that since the matter has been referred, both parties should withdraw any action until the arbitration process has concluded.”

Sen Fahy described the situation as “unfortunate”.

“However, I am renewing my call to both groups and asking them to ensure that business operates as normal as possible until this matter has been satisfactorily resolved,” he said.

“It remains my sincere hope that the parties can rectify this matter for the benefit of all involved.”

But Mr Furbert argued the union will refuse to take part in the arbitration process until the sacked staff have been reinstated.

“I don’t want anybody, whether it’s the Government or the employer, hiding behind the arbitration process, because once this matter’s going to be referred to arbitration then everything should revert to normal — what it was before everything was taken apart,” the union leader said.

“So whatever happened up until January 24, 2014, needs to be put back in place — then we have an arbitration process that’s going to take place. For whatever reason the hotel is saying that’s not going to happen so the BIU has said that we will not participate in any arbitration unless things have returned back to normal first and then we’ll participate in the arbitration process.”

Last night a spokesman for the Fairmont Hamilton Princess said management would not be commenting on the dispute.