boost the hotel industry.

Opposition Senator Terry Lister said Government and hoteliers had formed a team.

It was a "nonsense'' for the Bermuda Industrial Union not to be included.

Sen. Lister accepted the hotels were facing problems after being hit by the recession.

But the team to solve their problems should include the BIU, Sen. Lister told the Senate during the motion to adjourn debate.

Sen. Lister expressed concern over the tips dispute which had plagued the industry.

Hotel workers claimed management owed them 1992 gratuities.

The dispute -- and the threat of industrial action -- was a cloud on the tourism horizon, said Sen. Lister.

The problem was bigger than the BIU or hoteliers. A common approach was needed.

Government Senate leader Gerald Simons agreed with Sen. Lister on the importance of the hotel industry to Bermuda's economy.

But he defended Government's role in helping to boost the industry.

He said Government had repeatedly encouraged meetings between the BIU and hoteliers to solve their differences.