The Mayor of Hamilton has accused the Bermuda Industrial Union of entering onto Corporation property without permission and intimidating workers before a vote on union recognition.

The ballot, last month, saw workers vote by a total of 39 to 37 in favour of the BIU being able to represent them. However, the Mayor revealed yesterday that an appeal has been lodged with the Ministry of Labour over the way the vote was conducted. If the Minister finds in favour of the Corporation, the result of the poll could be thrown out.

?We have no problem if the majority of workers want to be represented by a union, but there?s a process and guidelines that must be followed and that process is carried out by the Ministry of Labour. The union doesn?t have the right to go around on our property unannounced and intimidate our men, who deserve their privacy,? said Mayor Lawson Mapp.

?The BIU went around without permission before the vote and you cannot come onto our property without permission.

?We are appealing to the Ministry and if the Minister puts it to arbitration and feels, having reviewed all the evidence, that the process was not followed, he could order another ballot.

The Mayor?s claims were refuted by the president of the BIU, Derrick Burgess, who said: ?I?m not sure if they did speak to Corporation members but it?s not against the law. We didn?t go around and bully anyone.

?The vote was taken in accordance with the law and the result speaks for itself.?

He also made an allegation of his own about the way that the Corporation acted before the ballot. ?During the period in which we put the application in and the vote was scheduled to take place, the Corporation management did some unethical things that they shouldn?t do,? he said.

?Despite the fact that we won the vote, they offered the men more money when they knew the vote was imminent. That?s unethical and could be viewed as coercion ? trying to persuade them not to vote for the union.?

The BIU issued a Press release earlier this week ahead of a membership meeting to discuss a number of grievances against the Ministry, which said: ?Because of an error on the part of the Labour Relations Department, the Corporation of Hamilton is refusing to recognise the Bermuda Industrial Union as the sole bargaining agent for their industrial workers.?

Mr. Burgess yesterday declined to elaborate on this ?error?, other than saying that the appeal made by the Corporation was made on the basis of what he understood to be incorrect information supplied to it by the Ministry.

Robert Horton, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, declined to comment on the specifics of what Mr. Mapp had alleged.

However, he said: ?The lawyer to the Corporation has challenged the outcome of the ballot. That appeal was received by the Minister early last week and he is seeking legal advice on it.

?The Attorney General?s chambers could state that the process was completely correct and reject the assertion of the Corporation of Hamilton or conversely it could say that the Corporation are correct and then the process would have to start again.?