Employers' groups met this week to begin drawing up their response to Government following the defeat in the Senate on Monday of the CURE racial monitoring regulations.

The key employers' groups met in Hamilton on Tuesday to begin working on a comprehensive policy paper, outlining their fears about the current plans and offering solutions.

Independent Senators sided with the Opposition United Bermuda Party to defeat the proposals by six votes to five because they did not believe business leaders had been given enough time for consultation.

The Bermuda Employers' Council said it was given the final draft of the regulations eight days before they were passed in the House of Assembly.

The group was surprised by the draft which it felt went further than expected to include details about employee bonuses and salaries on a racial basis, and monitoring of transfers of staff.

Government now has two options. Development, Opportunity and Government Services Minister Terry Lister, who introduced the legislation in the House of Assembly, can amend the regulations and bring them back to the House.

If he chooses to keep the proposals intact, they will become law automatically in a year.

Government and Mr. Lister have kept silent about their next move. Mr. Lister has not returned telephone calls to The Royal Gazette all week.

The International Companies Division of the Chamber of Commerce met employers' group representatives, including the Bermuda International Business Association and Bermuda Employers' Council, on Tuesday.

International Companies Division vice-chairman Harry Wilken said yesterday: "Following the action by the Senate last Monday to decline to have the CURE regulations implemented so -- as was reported in The Royal Gazette -- `to allow more time for consultation with employers,' representatives of the ICD met other employer organisations and have now commenced to work together to produce a comprehensive response to be submitted in due course to the Minister concerned and which will take considerable time and effort.'' The Commission for Unity and Racial Equality regulations require companies with ten or more employees to give a breakdown of their staff in terms of race.

The reporting regulations also require bosses to list salaries, bonuses, promotions, and dismissals on racial terms.

Shadow Development, Opportunity and Government Services Minister Allan Marshall has called on Government to "go back to the drawing board'' and hold "meaningful'' consultations with businesses.

The UBP supports CURE, but feels the current regulations are cumbersome and invasive.

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