protest lack of union recognition.

Clearly hot and frustrated, about 90 percent of the unionised employees at the Tynes Bay incinerator site at North Shore, Devonshire, told The Royal Gazette they were fed up with working conditions there, including below union scale wages.

And while the striking workers said they could not afford to lose any pay, they vowed to strike until they received "honest answers and respect'' from management.

Spokesman for a group of some 30 workers standing outside of the project, carpenter Mr. Richard Bailey, said workers have been asking for union recognition since early April.

But, he said, their requests have been ignored by Mr. Tage Hanegaard, acting manager of E. Pihl & Son -- the Denmark Construction giant which with local Gringley Construction Company Ltd. won the bid to build the $64 million incinerator.

Mr. Bailey said some of the "unfair'' practices at the job site included: Workers, from mechanics to heavy equipment labourers, receiving wages below the old union-negotiated rate; Employees hurt on the site receiving half pay for six weeks; and Loss of benefits due to the company refusing to pay its share of pension and insurance contributions.

He said when workers again approached Mr. Hanegaard shortly after noon yesterday about these matters, he told them he "does not care'' and he recently joined the Employers Council to protect his interests.

Workers decided to stop work around 2.30 p.m. yesterday after an unsatisfactory meeting with Bermuda Industrial Union's construction division head Mr. Kenyetta Young and Labour Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman.

"We found out this morning at the meeting he (Mr. Hanegaard) has even been lying to Government,'' Mr. Bailey said. "We feel like we're just being jerked off.

"If he's going to come in my Country and lie to my Minister, what chance do I stand. I think Mr. Pearman should act immediately.'' Mr. Bailey said the men downed their tools yesterday despite the union's request that they wait for E. Pihl to comply with their requests.

"We will continue to strike until we shut work down or are recognised as a union,'' he stressed, adding that the men will begin picketing at the site at around 7 a.m. today.

Activity at the site continued with a skeleton crew yesterday, but the amount of productivity was unclear.

Neither Mr. Hanegaard nor any spokesperson for Gringley Construction could be reached for comment yesterday.

Acting Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Michael Winfield plans to meet with the contractors today.

But he said "it is a disagreement between the contractors and the employees and something the client, Government, should not be directly involved in at the moment''.

Sen. Winfield said he had asked Works and Engineering Permanent Secretary Mr.

Stanley Oliver to get involved in the matter so he (Sen. Winfield) can be "fully briefed'' on the situation.

Mr. Pearman, who met with the workers twice yesterday, said his Ministry has been working with parties involved "to get union recognition'' at the incinerator site.

He confirmed Mr. Bailey's charges that employees were being paid below old union rates and the company was not paying its share of insurance and pension contributions.

He also said he heard Mr. Young implore the men not to withdraw their labour on two occasions.

Mr. Pearman said the matter has been discussed with the company, the Employers Council and Works and Engineering. A representative from his Ministry will be at the meeting between Mr. Winfield and the contractors today.