Bermuda Industrial Union president Chris Furbert yesterday told Cabinet Ministers to take a “symbolic pay cut” after officially rejecting Government's pay proposal.Workers were offered a wage freeze and straight time pay instead of overtime, until the end of 2011, as Government attempts to save cash in the economic crisis.But Mr Furbert yesterday confirmed that request had been turned down unless Ministers, most of whom earn $168,000 or more, take a cut themselves.Both Opposition parties said Ministers should slash their salaries, but Bermuda Democratic Alliance chairman Michael Fahy said the union should also be prepared to take a hit.The Alliance finance spokesman suggested a four-day week to save funds and stave off redundancies.Mr Furbert told a press conference the dispute would be settled if Ministers obliged on a pay cut, but would not be drawn on how much of a reduction the union is demanding.When asked if he thought the row would get worse, Mr Furbert told the media: “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 had spoken with the Government's negotiation team after workers aired their complaints at Thursday morning's heated BIU meeting.He said there was no deadline in place for Government, but it should be resolved soon “because they want it done before the cruise ships come”; bus and ferry operators account for 20 to 25 percent of the BIU Government membership.Mr Furbert said: “Whilst our membership want to help, they want to make sure the help that they give is being appreciated.“I tried to explain to the workers that if you look at the overall situation the salary is their salary; the MPs' salaries have been frozen for three years.“This situation is not a pleasant one but it has to be dealt with. We have to sit down and come to some sort of conclusion so whether or not we stop working for a day, or ten days, or we stop working for three months, we still got to sit down.“So we tried to explain to the workers that this situation needs to be handled in the correct manner and what they are saying is as long as everybody does their part we have no problem doing our share to help. And I think that is a fair assessment to help.”The union boss described the wage freeze and reduction of overtime as a double whammy, saying workers did not like that they would earn less while the price of food, health care and gas all continue to rise.He said other sections of the community need to help out, recalling how MarketPlace offered cheap deals for families when hotel workers had a wage freeze.A United Bermuda Party spokesman said in a statement: “There is a saying, ‘He who feels it knows' and the Government blue collar workers are definitely now feeling the brunt of poor decisions and actions by their superiors.“We must state that the economic woes we face in Bermuda have been caused by bad decisions by Government, decisions which are now causing the workers to feel excruciating economic pain.“The UBP has consistently called on Government to lead by example. But it has been the Government and Cabinet Ministers who have been at the nucleus of most financial waste, mismanagement and unethical behaviour associated with the loss of millions of taxpayer dollars.”The spokesman said Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards had called for Ministers to take a pay cut in his official Reply to the Budget in February.The statement continued: “The Government should not be asking workers to lead the way in cost-cutting without first leading by example.“This is an issue of fairness and leadership. And so we renew our call on the Premier to impose a pay cut for all Government Ministers.“A cut of ten to 15 percent would signal an all-important commitment to shared sacrifice: something that would be viewed positively by the wider community whose support will be needed for further belt-tightening measures.”Mr Fahy said of the union's stance: “It's not an unreasonable request for Government to lead by example and take a pay cut.“It's something that in our view needs to happen. If you are expecting workers to take a pay cut, that's what good leaders should do.”But he continued: “At the same time the union has to accept that it's not an unreasonable offer to have a wage freeze or ban on overtime.“To really put a dent in debt and save the Country from disaster, there probably needs to be some deeper cuts than is being proposed.“Government should be considering four-day weeks, working on a shift rotation. It's terrible that it's come to this, it's an unfortunate position to be in, but this is exactly what the private sector is doing.“Some people in the private sector have not had a pay rise for over two years. In truth, the union is getting a very fair deal.“When you have a budget that's approximately 50 percent salaries, and you have to make significant cuts, it's not rocket science to figure out what has to happen to lower costs. Mismanagement over the last six or seven years has brought us to this point.“The alternative to all of this, if they can't come to an agreement on a wage freeze, is redundancies. No one wants that to happen.”Premier Paula Cox could not be reached last night; her press secretary directed the media to Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess, who did not respond to a request for comment.l What the public think see Page 4lUseful websites: www.gov.bm; www.ubp.bm; www.thealliance.bm