Pay rise talks for civil servants continue as the Government and the unions discuss the issue.

The negotiations, which started on Friday, continued yesterday between the Government, the Bermuda Industrial Union, the Bermuda Public Services Union and the Bermuda Union of Teachers.

A government spokeswoman said a series of proposals and counter proposals were exchanged for the 2024-25 fiscal year and an unspecified period thereafter.

During the exchanges, the BPSU and the BIU requested to meet their membership and the spokeswoman said the Government, through the head of the public service, approved employees to attend union meetings.

She said no agreements were reached because the union membership was considering proposals.

The spokeswoman said that between last October and November, the Government had been engaging in “interest-based bargaining” with all its union partners over a pay agreement that recognised that public-sector pay had not kept up with the rate of inflation.

“Therefore, these negotiations commenced well before the General Election announcement,” she added.

She added: “And to provide background to ensure accuracy, in line with the recommendations of the Sage Commission, the public-sector negotiating teams consist of private-sector chairs and high-level technical officers who are not members of the unions they are assigned to negotiate with.

“That said, the wages and salaries provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations is joint with all union partners.”

A request for comment has been sent to the unions.

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