air traffic controllers and some other Airport workers.

In February, Bermudian candidates for the air traffic control jobs with Serco Aviation Services Inc. were dismayed to learn they would only be paid $30,000 in their first year and $32,000 in their second year. The salaries rise to $45,000 by year five.

Serco, the Canadian company Bermuda has hired to run air operations for the next five years, promised to review the salaries.

Bermuda and its contractor Serco take over air operations from the US Navy on June 1.

Serco president Mr. Ed Montgomery said if the pay had to be increased, Serco would absorb the extra payments out of its fixed price contract of $4.4 million a year for five years.

Now, a committee that will likely be chaired by assistant Cabinet Secretary Mr. John Drinkwater will look into the salaries issue, Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons told The Royal Gazette .

Serco, Government Personnel Services, and the Bases Transition Office would all be represented on the committee, he said.

The committee would be having "an ongoing look to see that we're competitive in the salary area and that the salary is well-matched to the requirements of the job,'' Dr. Gibbons said.

There were "a couple'' of job areas where "there were questions raised'' about the salary, he said.

There were no concerns among Serco's fire/crash/rescue workers, who had salaries "almost identical'' to those paid by the Bermuda Fire Service.

Mr. Montgomery has said, and Dr. Gibbons reiterated, that Serco was surprised at the calibre of job candidates it received. In some cases, Serco only expected candidates with secondary education. Instead, they got candidates with post-secondary schooling and higher salary expectations.

Officials have said the salaries also reflected the fact Bermuda's Airport was not busy, relative to many others. And visual control from the tower, as opposed to instrument control over a greater distance, was all that was required.

Dr. Gibbons said the Airport jobs were "not civil service jobs'', and "some people have made the mistake of saying they should be equivalent to a certain civil service level''.

But, "we're going to have a look at it'', he said. "There were enough concerns expressed by some of the candidates that we felt it was only right.'' Air controllers in Jamaica walked off the job on Thursday, shutting down the country's two international airports for a full day.

The 47 controllers were protesting delays in finalising plans to reorganise the civil aviation department. That was part of a negotiated settlement with the controllers union which ended a similar strike two years ago.