pay boost.

Hotel bosses and union officials are currently working on a plan to restore pride in the workplace, and to give staff a chance to bolster their salaries with extra cash.

The scheme, currently under design with help of tourism management consultants Monitor Company, is expected to give employees a chance to share in profits.

It has the blessing of Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess, who said he believes it will also give workers the chance to understand more about their jobs.

"I feel good about it,'' he said. "Employees all play their part and what normally happened was that they never got anything, the top bosses got the cream.

"Members will be keen on this extra income.'' The details of the scheme are being worked out by a compensation task force and are expected to be implemented by next February.

Compensation could be worked with a guaranteed starting level including salary, gratuities and benefits, coupled with a performance related bonus.

The bonus could be linked to good service, work rate or other indicators -- and will also help standards improve.

Sonesta vice president/managing director Dennis Tucker, speaking to hoteliers and tourism professionals earlier this week, said the plan would enhance the holiday value per dollar to visitors.

The new compensation package has come to fruition following a new spirit of cooperation and vision from the hospitality industry, which began with Monitor's prompting last March.

Unions, workers, owners and hotel management have come together under the Monitor umbrella with initiatives such as the Hotel 2000 programme and Tourism Competitiveness designed to overhaul the industry.

The aim is to re-establish tourism by improving service and value for money, and by giving staff the skills to achieve the standards -- thus luring Bermudians into hospitality careers.

Mr. Burgess hailed the new beginning after a period of confrontation and mud slinging when the industry started to decline. He had special praise for Monitor.

"We were interested in working with the owners and they have been interested in working with us,'' he said. "It needed somebody to break the ice and get us together.

"Monitor has done a great job with the hotels and BIU, but they couldn't be successful without us.'' He said the days of attaching blame are over and looked forward to working together in the future.