members from dictatorial leaders.

American labour relations expert Dr. Leo Troy said such a bill would breathe democracy into the Bermuda Industrial Union.

It would guarantee basic rights -- including freedom of speech, secret ballots, and the nomination and election of officers.

The right to see a union's finances, and to vote secretly on collective bargaining agreements would also be underpinned.

Dr. Troy unveils his idea in an article, The Bermuda Quagmire, which appears in the American right-wing journal, The Government Union Review.

The article, sub-titled A Public Utility System of Labour Relations, rips apart Bermuda's handling of its labour relations, particularly in the hotel industry.

Dr. Troy, a professor of economics at Rutgers University, wades into Government for relying on arbitration.

He says management and unions should solve their problems through collective bargaining without a third party.

But Dr. Troy argues legislation -- in the form of a Bill of Rights -- is needed to "regulate'' the behaviour of unions.

"Such a bill of rights for union members is in order for union members everywhere, including Bermuda,'' he writes.

"As a movement made up of working people who participate in an open society, the union movement in Bermuda, as elsewhere, must itself be open and democratic.

"Indeed since the unions are tied to a political party in Bermuda it behoves them to embrace internal democratic practices.'' Dr. Troy believes BIU leaders probably favour arbitration because they are unable to take a realistic bargaining stance.

And he adds: "The union's procedures are not democratic in practice, since few members participate in basic decisions affecting bargaining, so it is unlikely that the leadership actually worry about a rebuff from the membership.'' Dr. Troy also backs a "decertification procedure'' to allow management to no longer recognise unions.

Elsewhere in his wide-ranging article, Dr. Troy blames Bermuda's labour relations problems on the recession hitting the tourism industry.

"...it has been a general fall-off in demand during the peak season, June to October, which has created the tensions,'' he writes.

Dr. Troy argues tourists, strapped for cash, were steadily put off by an overpriced Bermuda.

"In Bermuda, pricing policy and weak demand are the primary reasons for the decline in tourism.'' Dr. Troy applauds some hotels for offering price concessions to offset huge financial losses.

But he adds: "Whether this will be timely or sufficient to reverse the recent downward trends in tourism and compensate for lost revenues remains to be seen.'' Government's response to the tourism crisis comes in for fierce criticism.

Dr. Troy attacks the decision to make the hotel business an essential industry.

This had turned it, in effect, into a "public utility'' like Bermuda's telephone company and committed Government to preventing interruptions to service.

Dr. Troy calls for Government to stop meddling in labour relations by introducing laws for arbitration.

Arbitration, even legally binding, failed satisfactorily to resolve disputes, he argues.

It cannot be used as a "surrogate for the voluntary actions of the key actors in building harmonious relationships,'' he writes.