as they try to solve the on-going dispute over the crewing of a tug.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess and Marine and Ports director Ron Ross are to speak to staff at Dockyard on Thursday, in a bid to finally end the dispute that has rumbled on for over a year.

Both parties met yesterday with arbitrator Barry Meade and it is hoped that an agreement can be thrashed out by the end of the week.

The dispute surrounds Faithful pilot Kenneth Todd, who it was decided would retain his vessel after a recent walk-out by workers over his reinstatement, after a confrontation over a year ago.

Binding arbitration was believed to have settled the dispute, which also involved grievances from his crew, who were re-assigned to other duties.

Part of the deal agreed by the BIU was that another five-man crew would volunteer for Faithful .

But not enough men came forward and both sides had to return to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Faithful is not working and Mr. Todd is on holiday.

Yesterday, Ron Ross said he was hopeful the Dockyard meeting would resolve the issue and find a crew.

He said the meeting yesterday was amicable and said he was optimistic that the situation could be settled before a final arbitration session, in three weeks time.

Workers could be assigned to Faithful under an existing agreement, he added.

BIU president Derrick Burgess said the preliminary meeting was designed to see if an agreement was possible, and they had time to meet again to finalise the issue before another arbitration session was arranged.

"The meeting was very positive.'' TRANSPORTATION TRA GOVERNMENT GVT