Bermuda Industrial Union members have pledged to work overtime for straight time pay for six months as long as they don’t have to pay payroll tax on their additional hours.Workers have also agreed to a pay increase of 1.55 percent, which works out at around $16 a week on the average $1,031 wage, as part of the deal it hopes to make with Government.BIU president Chris Furbert said workers are keen to meet Government half way as they attempt to end their long running wage dispute.Mr Furbert told a press conference yesterday he’s hopeful Government will accept the union’s offer as he stressed how much of a sacrifice it is for them to lose extra overtime.It’s estimated about 1,500 workers will lose overtime if the deal is struck; some of them currently get double pay when they work overtime, others get time-and-a-half.“Whilst we understand overtime is a luxury, people are used to getting it. It becomes a way of life for some people,” said Mr Furbert.But he stressed the need to work with Government, saying: “In order for us to work our way out of this recession, it’s going to take a collective effort.”Premier Paula Cox had turned down the union’s demand for Ministers to lead by example by taking a symbolic pay cut.But Mr Furbert praised Government for granting payroll tax exemptions for hotels, while some businesses have been given temporary exemptions from duty, and the unpopular two percent payroll tax increase was rolled back in this year’s Budget.“Government is doing what it can to make sure the Country remains stable. For the most part, the Government has done an excellent job of doing that.”He said more than 400 of 500 BIU members at a meeting this morning had voted for the motion.In this February’s Budget, Finance Minister Ms Cox said she would trim $10.9 million from Government’s wage bill, taking it to $70.6 million for 2010/11, a drop of 13 percent; though this could come from lowering staff numbers as well as overtime.It’s understood some union members were very reluctant to lose overtime, but one member who was in the meeting told The Royal Gazette: “It’s much better to lose overtime than lose your job. I don’t know why we didn’t just accept that a long time ago.”Another said: “The way things are going right now, I think it’s a pretty good compromise. We can see how it goes for six months, and then review it.“Some people thought we were moving too fast and wanted to think about things for a bit before going to Government with our proposal.“Those who voted for it did so out of frustration at the backwards and forwards of it all. They just wanted to get it over and done with.”Two months ago, Government had offered the union a wage freeze and straight time pay instead of overtime until the end of this year, as it tries to save cash in the economic crisis.