make more or less under the new system of voluntary tipping.

But interviews with 12 tipped workers at the hotel showed they fear they will lose, and want the old mandatory gratuity system brought back. And they said the settlement board decision supporting them must be enforced.

Earlier this week, the new Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board ordered Grotto Bay to bring back the system of 15 percent mandatory gratuities it abolished on January 1, restore the lower pay scale for tipped workers, resume deducting union dues from pay cheques, and restore all other former conditions of employment.

There is no clear provision for enforcing the board's awards, and the Bermuda Industrial Union has not announced its next move.

Acrimony continued yesterday when Grotto Bay general manager Mr. George Robinson would not let the BIU meet with unionised employees after their regular monthly staff meeting.

In interviews later, some of the hotel's 45 tipped workers said they are making less under the new system. One waiter said that, including tips, he was taking home about $350 a week now compared to about $500 a week last summer.

But some said they are making about the same amount, and all agreed it was hard to accurately compare.

Some said voluntary tipping probably averaged about 15 percent in the dining room with some paying more and others -- especially English visitors -- paying considerably less or nothing at all. Other workers put the average at 10 percent.

Some staff said tips used to make up at least two-thirds of their earnings, but now they do not know what to expect.

Business is still slow, which means there are fewer guests paying tips -- but possibly higher tips because staff have time to pay more attention to the guests they have.

Workers generally said they did not trust figures offered by the hotel's general manager, Mr. George Robinson, who said they are making considerably more under the new system.

Mr. Robinson yesterday said a study of the earnings of every tipped employee in January and February showed an average hourly earning of $11.64 -- including tips that guests signed for, but not tips paid in cash. Under the old mandatory gratuity system, he said, they would have made $8.42 in pay and tips.

Bellmen made $11.26 compared to $8.32, he said, dining room captains made $14.08 instead of $10.65, waiters and waitresses made $10.10 instead of $7.45, and housekeeping staff averaged $12.67 instead of $8.95.

One dining room worker, who like others spoke on the condition that his name not be used, said management made a serious mistake by introducing the new system without discussion or debate with workers.

Mr. Robinson "came and said: `This is the way it is.' It's like a dictatorship. It becomes a fight, a struggle,'' he said.

"It's not about this 15 percent. That's not really the issue. The issue is about respect.'' With both hotel management and union leaders firm in their positions, he said, there seemed no way out "except to put them in the stocks down in St.

George's and throw tomatoes at them''.

One possible solution, he said, was for the union to agree to a carefully monitored experiment with the new system, with its future discussed at the end of the season.

In return, he suggested, management would agree to recognise the union again, resume deducting union dues, and adhere to other parts of the old contract.

But generally, the workers said they feel powerless to act. They dare not strike because of the poor economy and because they fear the hotel's owners will convert the property into condominiums -- something they said Mr.

Robinson threatened during a staff meeting last October.

One dining room worker said the threat seemed real. The design and location of Grotto Bay seemed ideal for quick conversion to condominiums, he said: "They would be the best-selling condominiums in Bermuda right away.'' One Grotto Bay shop steward said workers wanted to strike when the mandatory tipping was abolished on January 1, but BIU officials had strongly warned them it was too risky.

"The moment we go on strike they will close the doors,'' another worker said.

"Government will give them permission to turn it into condos. The only thing we can do down here is hope that everything works out.'' Several workers were of the conviction that the hotel management and Government are in cahoots, and noted that some United Bermuda Party officials and MPs are among the owners.

"I feel the UBP -- they know what is happening,'' one worker said, who said he believed that the changes were discussed by the directors -- and the Government -- before they were implemented.

For some workers, this feeling was reinforced by the fact Government has done nothing publicly to condemn Grotto Bay for ignoring the settlement board's award.

Government created the board, one dining room worker noted, and it held hearings and ruled in favour of the BIU and the hotel workers. But nothing has happened as a result of the board's award.

"It looks like it was unnecessary action,'' she said. "If it was so necessary, what exactly is it for? Why can't they do something about it? Now it's just a stalemate.'' "It's a trying time,'' said another dining room worker. "Most people have a wait-and-see type position. This has only been three months and its so slow.

But before the new management, we used to close for three months in the winter.

"Hopefully things will work out where everybody is happy -- not just at Grotto Bay but in the industry as a whole. I want to see the industry come back.''