A massive strike by US employees of parcel service UPS has crippled the Bermuda end of the firm and could lead to lay-offs, it was revealed yesterday.

United Parcel Service Island general manager Eddie Lamb said the volume of imports and exports had plummeted by more than 80 per cent since the US strike started on Monday.

And yesterday he declined to rule out lay-offs among the 12-strong staff if the strike continued -- although he stressed that would be a last resort.

Mr. Lamb said: "It's now having some severe ramifications for us locally -- there is literally no work to do for our drivers.

"What we would prefer to do is have people take their vacation time.

Coincidentally, this a time when a lot of people take vacations, anyway.

"I will try my utmost not to have lay-offs, but I would not rule that out. At the end of the day, it's all about costs and running a business.'' And he added that the UPS charter flight -- which flew on the first day of the strike and yesterday -- would probably be suspended today because the lack of volume did not justify the service.

More than 180,000 of the 300,000-plus UPS workers in the US, all members of the powerful Teamsters' Union, downed tools on Monday in a dispute over pay, benefits, the use of sub-contractors and job security.

Mr. Lamb said that rival services on the Island like Federal Express -- as in the US -- were probably enjoying a huge boost in business at UPS's expense.

FedEx Bermuda declined to comment and referred all queries to the firm's press office in Miami.

Company spokesman Anna Sanchez said she had no figures for the Bermudian market.

But she said business in Bermuda was probably on a par with the global figure, which has rocketed since the UPS strike was declared.

FedEx are handling four million packages a day -- up from the norm of about 2.8 million a day.

But Ms Sanchez said: "Our first priority is to existing customers and beyond that we are doing what we can to help new customers.

"We are not opening new accounts at the moment, but we are still trying to handle requests for moving shipments where we can.'' Bermuda's Postmaster General Clevelyn Crichlow, however, reported only slight increases in demand for express services.

He said: "I would expect if this goes on for another week, we are going to get the US Post Office getting part of the spin-off and that will be passed on to us.

"Going out, I would expect a slight increase, but nothing major. Coming in, I would expect more.'' Kevin Smith, operations manager at DHL Worldwide Express also reported a slight increase in business.

He said: "It's not a major increase -it's not that noticeable, but there has been a definite increase.'' UNIONS UNS