should behave toward each other.

The code, already used by most other Western countries, is one idea on the desk of Labour Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman as he continues revamping the Island's labour laws.

Mr. Pearman was reluctant to talk about other possibilities.

But the head of the Bermuda Industrial Union made it clear yesterday his union wanted no new labour legislation, while the head of the Employers' Council said a series of new measures are needed.

Reform got under way last Friday when MPs passed an emergency Trade Disputes Act designed to solve conflicts like the Bermuda Forwarders/BIU battle.

Next Thursday, Mr. Pearman is scheduled to meet the Labour Advisory Council, on which employers and union officials both sit, to see if any improvements are needed to the new Act.

Then they will set a timetable for shaking up the Country's labour legislation.

"We'll be looking at what is going to be needed in legislation in the future,'' Mr. Pearman said. "We recognise that a lot of what we have worked with in the past has been on a voluntary basis and is no longer serving the real needs of the parties or the Country.

"Over the next year we will be reviewing legislation, not only as it relates to union agreements and worker-employer bodies, but also as it relates to what an employee can expect and what an employer can expect.

"Within 12 months we hope to come back and be ready to go before the House and the public with definitive proposals for revised labour legislation.'' Mr. Pearman was reluctant to discuss in detail the sort of measures he has in mind.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP said his union's view is that no new labour legislation is needed at all.

"The BIU's position has always been made very clear to Government, that all legislation before the Essential Industries Act was adequate, and we needed no further legislation.

"We have always favoured a voluntary system for dispute settlement. We never favoured enforcible contracts.

"We think industrial relations is parallel to human relations, and if it stands a chance, all people in it have got to be acting humanely, fairly and justly.

"But the moment one side or the other seeks to exploit the other... then of course the system breaks down.'' Bermuda Employers Council president Mr. Michael Lohan said recent events have made it clear that a system of clear-cut processes for resolving labour disputes established by law is needed.

The first measure would be secret ballots in the workplace for all strikes and other industrial action.

The council wants the introduction of "final offer binding arbitration'' for the resolution of contract disputes. When two sides could not agree on a contract after a set period, they would make their final offers to an arbitrator.

The arbitrator would chose one or other of the final offers, rather than strike a compromise. That would ensure that both sides remain reasonable in their demands, Mr. Lohan said.

Compulsory expedited arbitration would be used to handle disputes that arose during the life of a collective agreement, he said.

At present, an unresolved grievance can be referred to Government's Labour Relations Officer "and that's as far as you can go.'' But if the Labour Relations Officer can't solve the problem, he said, the Labour Minister should be able to refer it to a local arbitrator for a binding decision.

Finally, the Employers' Council has called for "compulsory binding arbitration in the national interest''.

In effect, Mr. Lohan said, this is what the House enacted on Friday. But if all the other steps were in place, he said: "It would only be used in very extreme circumstances -- once in a blue moon.'' The fate of 15 Bermuda Industrial Union members who were arrested while picketing at the airport a week ago remains unclear.

Police spokesman P.c. Gary Venning said Police are preparing a file to be forwarded to the Attorney General's office.

But he said the men, including union construction division organiser Mr.

Kenyetta Young, have not been officially charged. And he could not say when the Police file is expected to be completed.

The men were arrested out of a group of about 30 people picketing at the airport's entrance on June 29 in support of 15 former unionised Bermuda Forwarders workers who the union claims were dismissed unfairly.

At the time of their arrests, Police spokesman Sgt. John Dale said they were arrested for "obstruction offences in connection with picketing''. He said he did not know why only 15 of the pickets were arrested.

Each of the men was released on $350 bail and ordered to appear at Hamilton Police station at various times during the two weeks after their arrests.

Mr. Simmons said yesterday that the BIU is still working on behalf of two workers who were punished for taking part in last week's walkouts.

He said one maid at the Palm Reef Hotel was originally dismissed for walking out, but later had her punishment changed to a 10-day suspension. And a Bermuda Bakery driver was dismissed for walking out, he said.