Industrial action has caused “significant disruption” to the operations of Bermuda Gas, the company said.

A spokesman said that the action, which started last month, had gone on longer than anticipated.

He added that as a result, the company had been unable to fulfil customers’ bulk orders or deliver and refill propane cylinders.

The spokesman said: “We hoped the matter would be resolved by now, but unfortunately that is not the case.

“It is unfortunate that our union partner has chosen to impact daily operations of an essential service during the holiday season.

“Although the actions are being framed as a work-to-rule, this action against us is, in effect, a ban on contractual overtime and is evolving exponentially into a go-slow, with sporadic occurrences of full work stoppage, which in our opinion is unlawful and unwarranted.”

The company said salary negotiations had hit a stalemate and that the Bermuda Industrial Union had issued an ultimatum, indicating that if its counter-proposal was not accepted, it would escalate the situation through industrial action.

It said that “facing an impasse and escalation of industrial action”, the company sought the intervention of the Labour Relations Office to move the process to arbitration.

The Bermuda Gas spokesman said that the company was trying to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible.

The spokesman said: “We understand that many families rely on our products to prepare meals and create cherished holiday memories, and we are equally aware of the impact this is having on our commercial clients — including hotels, restaurants and laundromats — who have been experiencing disruptions in their ability to fully serve their customers.

“If these businesses are forced to pause operations, even temporarily, it opens up the possibility of affecting the livelihood of employees who depend on these businesses to operate.”

He added: “It is disappointing to see that we are not able to deliver the level of service we are known for at this time.

“We continue to engage with the union and the Labour Relations Office in hopes of reaching a resolution soon.”