Bermuda Public Services Union wants assurances Government will help workers through the economic crisis if they accept tough pay terms.New president Kevin Grant yesterday called a meeting with members after saying he was frustrated at Government’s failure to give concrete answers during their negotiations.Mr Grant told The Royal Gazette an offer of a 1.25 percent wage increase remains on the table, but workers won’t accept it unless Government can help introduce measures such as a freeze on food prices.The leader said they also wanted guarantees there won’t be redundancies later this summer.He did not rule out a protest, but said the union first wants a get-together on the economy between itself, Government and other stakeholders such as retailers.“Maybe the workers would even consider a wage freeze, but they have to give us some guarantees first,” said Mr Grant after the meeting at New Testament Church of God in Dundonald Street.“We are weighing up the option of what we want to do. We know things are bad but my members feel that they are bending over backwards. They want to know why they are the ones who always have to make a sacrifice.“If the 1.25 percent rise happens, that’s nothing really because the cost of so many things are going up.”Mr Grant said in other countries price freezes have been put in place to soften the blow when workers take wage freezes.“If I’m going to be taking a pay freeze, fine, but prices need to freeze too. That would benefit everybody. We have sent a letter that encourages all stakeholders to discuss the economy.“And if they take a pay freeze, maybe Government can guarantee there will be no redundancies.”Bermuda Industrial Union has been calling for Ministers to take a symbolic pay cut; Premier Paula Cox has repeatedly failed to respond when asked for a response on that matter.Mr Grant said: “We did discuss that issue at length, but we are being a little more realistic about the situation.”Former president Armell Thomas had praised Ms Cox’s willingness to communicate in the first few months of her term as Premier, saying this would help keep relations smooth.But Mr Grant said he had struggled to get information from Government since members didn’t accept the 1.25 percent pay rise at a meeting in January.At that time, the BPSU wanted to wait to see the Budget before deciding over the offer.Mr Grant said yesterday: “We had told members we will get back to them. But there has been some time since the Budget and right now we are still trying to get some clear indication as to what Government’s mandate is.“A couple of people may have thought I was being a little hasty calling this meeting, but I had to get back to the membership to tell them what was happening.“We are trying to be proactive. We definitely want to partner with Government. BPSU is not trying to be adversarial. We want to ensure public services on the Island are maintained. We just want to know what our partner is thinking about right now.”Useful websites: www.bpsu.bm, www.gov.bm