labour relations on Hamilton Docks -- and the decision to step back from threats of an Island-wide strike -- should be welcomed.

Mr. Burgess' tenure as president of the Bermuda Industrial Union has brought with it a steadying of labour relations on the Island.

Under his moderate leadership, the union has successfully negotiated new collective bargaining agreements, which have given members reasonable wage increases while allowing Bermuda companies to continue to be competitive. Most recently, this has occurred in the hotel industry.

This is important after many years in which Bermuda was pricing itself out of the market as a result of its high costs in many areas, including labour.

It sometimes seems that the one area where labour peace has not been constant has been on Hamilton Docks, where wildcat strikes, walkouts and disputes occur with disurbing regularity.

This may be because Mr. Burgess, a one-time hotel manager and a long-time leader of the BIU's hotel division, has been able to take an expert and direct interest in the hotels, while his first vice president, Chris Furbert, a former head of the portworkers division has more responsibility for the docks.

Because Hamilton Docks are virtually Bermuda's only lifeline and a work stoppage of any length can bring the Island to a standstill, dockworkers seem to have been able to make demands and secure working conditions which would be unheard of elsewhere.

This is not to say that dockworkers do not have good reason for being strong trade unionists: stevedores and longshoremen were underpaid and badly treated for decades before the advent of trade unions in the 1950s and 1960s. Nor does it mean that Stevedoring Services is blameless; the company has made mistakes too. It is to be hoped that the appointment of Education Minister and former Bermuda Union of Teachers general secretary Sen. Milton Scott as human relations manager at the docks will now lead to better relations. The review proposed by the union would help too.

For now, the pendulum has swung too far; the docks are falling behind other ports in terms of technology and efficiency while the terms and conditions of employment are expensive. Ultimately these costs will be passed on to the consumers.

The union and the company should be aware of this. Stevedoring Services has enjoyed a monopoly for many years, but there is no real reason why Ship's Wharf (formerly Marginal Wharf) at Southside or Penno's Wharf in St. George's could not be upgraded and become a competing container port with Hamilton.

The workers at the docks should be careful that they are not so protective of their privileges that they end up out of work and their employers out of business.