The Bermuda Industrial Union has rejected a Government pay proposal that would freeze workers’ wages.President Chris Furbert said today the wage freeze coupled with a reduction in overtime pay came as a “double whammy” to workers, who have asked Ministers to take a “symbolic pay cut”.Ministers presently earn $168,000 a year.Mr Furbert said he believes the pay dispute would be settled if Ministers took a pay cut, but would not be drawn on how much of a cut the union was asking for.When asked if he thought the dispute would escalate, he said: “No I don’t think it is going to escalate, we all just need to get around the same table.“The workers are willing to do their part, but they want to see Government doing its part too.“I think a pay cut would do it.”Mr Furbert said he spoke with the Government’s negotiation team yesterday, but would not divulge any details about the meeting. He added that there was no deadline in place for the Government, but he believed it would be resolved soon “because they want it done before the cruise ships come”.He also said all BIU workers would be getting the full one percent back in payroll tax.Last fiscal year Government increased the payroll tax from 14 percent to 16 percent, an increase of two percentage points or 12.5 percent. They increased the employee and employer contribution by one percentage point each.This year they rolled back that increase, however they did not return to the pre-2010 levels. Instead they reduced the employee’s portion by half a percentage point and the employers’ portion by 1.5 percent.Yesterday BIU workers attended a meeting and Mr Furbert presented the Government’s proposal; a wage freeze for 2011 and straight time instead of overtime when workers work after hours until December 2011.Workers told this newspaper they didn’t mind taking home less money, as long as their leaders were too.