Staff formed a picket line outside Universal Electric in a row over pay.

About 15 workers protested at the firm's Serpentine Road base, claiming management's proposed 3.9 percent wage increase is unacceptable. They say the previous year's rise of 3.3 percent, which they accepted, was 0.5 percent below inflation.

It comes after eight weeks of negotiations between Bermuda Industrial Union and Universal Electric, the last seven of which staff say they have worked in good faith with an expired collective agreement.

Management say yesterday's action took them by surprise and describe the union's demands as insupportable.

Claiming that non-Bermudian employees enjoy more perks, protesters held banners saying: "Money 4 all but us," and: "Same work, same pay."

One told The Royal Gazette: "Cost of living is high right now. Some people are struggling to get by. We guys work hard.

"We haven't had agreement since the end of February. Today, we withdraw our labour."

Another said: "The management said they had nothing for us, but they have plenty of money for guest workers' accommodation."

Responding yesterday afternoon, Universal Electric general manager Ray Beaulne said: "We were shocked and disappointed to arrive at the office this morning to find our unionised workers on strike.

"For the last eight weeks, we have been working on a new collective bargaining agreement for our unionised staff and the tone of discussions has been cordial.

"On Friday, we counter offered with a 3.9 per cent retroactive pay increase for each year over a two-year period and were expecting to receive a response from Bermuda Industrial Union today.

"We haven't received any communication from the union or our unionised employees today so we don't know what their position is, although we assume that our offer has been rejected due to the strike.

"However, we do know that in two instances they were asking for two separate wages for the same position which ultimately would result in what is the equivalent of a 7.3 per cent increase for two categories of workers and a 4.3 per cent pay increase for other unionised employees. This is insupportable when measured against the current rate of inflation."

Responding to the claims of favouring non-Bermudians, Mr. Beaulne said: "In answer to other questions, the company has a history of being very generous with its Bermudian employees-both union and non-unionised, outside of the collective bargaining agreement.

"Universal Electric runs an active apprenticeship programme and we are constantly promoting Bermudians. In 2005 we were awarded the Minister's award by the National Training Board for supporting technical education excellence. Universal Electric's promotions speak for themselves."

He added: "Universal Electric is already a wage leader in the electrical contracting business and we can find no justification for such demands. In the absence of any communication from the BIU or the workers we are unable to deploy staff for the work day tomorrow. Upon receiving a plan that is agreed by management of when the workers intend to resume operations we will move forward with a resolution to this dispute."