Unionised Belco workers have rejected a wage freeze proposed by the company to help cut its costs in 2011.Electricity Supply Trade Union (ESTU) representatives met with management on Monday and turned it down, after members voted against it at a meeting last week.Belco spokeswoman Linda Smith told The Royal Gazette the company respected the decision and had no choice but to abide by it and pay out a previously agreed wage increase.But she warned it might mean other cost-cutting measures, such as job losses, and said nothing had been ruled out.“We are going through the organisation looking at ways to reduce costs,” said Ms Smith last night. “We are going to continue to do that. We have already said it could mean a variety of different things and we’ll be looking at all options.“Nothing is being ruled out in terms of what may need to be done. There was obviously a dollar amount associated with a wage freeze, which is not going to be realised.“That will be incorporated into what we look at in terms of what options we have to reduce costs. That wasn’t the only answer anyhow.”The ESTU, which represents more than 200 hourly-rate workers, was previously involved in a long-running wage dispute with Belco.It is understood the matter was resolved in 2009 after arbitration, when wage increases limited to the rate of inflation for five years were agreed upon.ESTU president Ray Bean has not returned calls or e-mails this week but a source said the union had a meeting with workers about the wage freeze on January 5.“The workers said ‘forget it’,” said the source. “They said ‘we aren’t going to do it’. They went back and met with management on Monday and told management ‘no’.”Belco which has a workforce of about 325 people announced at the end of December it was “experiencing the effects of a weak economy” and had suffered significantly reduced electricity sales in all consumer sectors.It said it had implemented a freeze on salary increases in 2011 “in order to delay immediate workforce redundancies” and had asked unionised employees to accept the same deal.The company said: “Belco is also seeking to increase employee productivity and is reviewing the cost of employee benefits and other expenses to determine further cost-saving measures, including restructuring and possible outsourcing.”