Members of the Bermuda Public Services Union rallied in a park yesterday for a meeting on cuts to pay and conditions.

The meeting, in Victoria Park in Hamilton at noon, forced a halt to vehicle examinations at the Transport Control Department.

A spokesman for the transport ministry said work at the centre stopped at 11.45am and resumed after the BPSU meeting had completed.

The BPSU have not responded to requests for comment about the meeting, but a message from the union sent earlier this week advised workers that the gathering was about “the Government’s austerity measures”.

It added: “Please make every effort to attend this important meeting.”

The transport ministry spokesman added that the ferry service ran as scheduled.

The BPSU had discussions with the Government earlier this year over a possible reduction in pay and benefits as the Government managed the financial crisis inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic on an already weak economy.

The BPSU, along with the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Bermuda Union of Teachers, agreed to a cost-saving package from August 1 for most public officials.

The package came into force on September 1 for teachers and principals.

But Armell Thomas, the BPSU president, said last month the union still awaited confirmation that the terms of the agreement had been met.

Government announced on Tuesday that the Bermuda Police Association had agreed to accept pay cuts for a 12-month period.

Those discussions also included an in-principle agreement that will grant the police a 2.5 per cent cost of living increase for the 2017-18 financial year and a 2 per cent increase for 2018-19, which matched agreements reached with other public sector unions.