A war of words yesterday broke out over a bid by senior staff at Bermuda's biggest hotel to get full union rights.

Stephen Barker of Princess Hotels said the bid to unionise management at the Southampton Princess could have "catastrophic'' results for the industry.

But Bermuda Industrial Union boss Derrick Burgess hit back at Mr. Barker's "scaremongering'' tactics.

Mr. Barker was speaking exclusively to The Royal Gazette after around 100 managers at the Southampton Princess signalled they wanted collective bargaining under the Bermuda Industrial Union.

But he said: "The critical point is it would be totally inappropriate for a union to represent management and supervisory staff.'' And he added that collective bargaining for management grades could scare off future hotel investors -- or even cripple a marginal operation already here.

Mr. Barker said: "The hotel industry is struggling in a very competitive environment. We compete against luxury mega-resorts with much lower cost structures.'' He added that Mr. Burgess had already said one of his main aims was to increase membership of the BIU.

But he said: "They are being reckless with the future of the industry and the end result will be fewer members, not more.'' And he warned a move towards management collective bargaining would have serious implications, not only for other hotels, but for businesses in general.

Now he has written to Labour and Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness asking him not to take the position that an employer has "an obligation to recognise and engage in collective bargaining with a union as a bargaining agent for the employer's managers and supervisors, especially where the very same union represents employees who are to be supervised by those managers and supervisors''.

But Mr. Barker denied he was union-bashing and said the Princess had a 30-year relationship with the BIU and honoured collective bargaining for blue-collar workers.

And he said managers were welcome to union membership as long as collective bargaining was not forced on the hotel.

But he added: "Experience has demonstrated that the BIU will blindly defend workers when a disciplinary situation develops.

"If management were to unionise, who would be left to defend the interests of the risk-taker,'' he asked.

But Mr. Burgess said: "I can't see how entertaining a worker's right is going to be less attractive to anyone.'' And he added: "There are other unions on this Island which represent bosses and their subordinates -- we wouldn't be the first to do it. There are precedents already in this Country.'' He declined to discuss possible tactics to get Princess chiefs to do a U-turn.

But action short of a strike could include a work-to-rule, involving a ban on overtime.

Mr. Burgess said: "If workers are dissatisfied with terms and conditions, they seek somebody to represent them, like a union.'' He added: "I want the hotels and all the businesses in this Country to thrive. It's important to all of us -- not just to union members, but to everyone.

"What Mr. Barker is saying is not just scaremongering among business and visitors, it's scaremongering among workers in Bermuda. Scare tactics are unnecessary.

"We need a spirit of co-operation for visitors and the Country as a whole. We are social partners and we should work together for the good of the Island.''