Minister Usher: It’s Not If But How the 8.5% Salary Adjustment Will Be Rolled Out

Minister of Public Service Henry Charles Usher says the government is still waiting on a formal response from public sector unions, despite Friday’s preliminary strong rejection of the proposed 4% salary increase.

“I would prefer to see what their formal response is to us,” Usher stated. The Joint Union Negotiating Team (JUNT), representing the BNTU, PSU, and APSSM, called the offer “insulting” and “a step backwards.”

Usher explained that the government’s proposal included an adjustment that would begin with a 4% increase on 1 October 2025, with an additional 4.5% to be considered over the following two fiscal years. “Government has never said that it was a situation that they would not get the 8.5%. It’s just that we want to know how it can be properly implemented,” Usher said.

He supports the unions’ right to express dissatisfaction but urged continued dialogue. “What is critical is that we find that mutual ground; we have that discussion… to find that ability to agree,” he said.

The goal, Usher says, is to find a formula that allows the government to fairly pay public servants and teachers while balancing the administration’s goals.

“If we can find that formula, looking at cost of living adjustment, looking at the CPI, at the inflation, but also on the opposite side, looking at the productivity, looking at performance targets and goals that we want to achieve in the public service, educational goals and targets that we want to achieve in our education system, that to me is more important, to find that ability to agree on that,” he said.