Nurses unhappy with their new pay deal are being asked to continue to support the Bermuda Public Service Union.

Changes to the two-year agreement were made on Wednesday by the Bermuda Hospitals Board and the BPSU and included a 3.1 percent pay rise in the first year and a 3.2 percent rise in the second. Overtime caps were also worked out.

In an article that appeared in on Monday, nurses said the agreement was merely ?lip service? and added that the raise did not represent the cost of living.

They also nurses said salary offers overseas were more enticing, adding that nurses in Bermuda were being recruited to work in the US.

But in a bid to clarify the controversy BPSU General Secretary Edward Ball said: ?The issue of salaries and benefits of all nursing staff at both hospitals continues to be a concern that has to be addressed by the tax payer, as it is necessary to be competitive with the United States and Canada.?

Mr. Ball, in a Press release, explained that a negotiating team of six ?very determined, frustrated but very passionate nurses? worked to represent the pay deal for nurses and he said they continued to ?ably represent the plight of nurses locally?.

?At several BPSU meetings the issue of nurses salaries and benefits was raised and at the first ratification meeting of a tentative agreement the membership rejected the package.

?The membership gave instructions to the negotiating team to go back and negotiate what they would consider as an acceptable package.

?Once achieved, the members were notified of another ratification meeting which was cancelled because there wasn?t a quorum. At the subsequent meeting, the negotiating team presented the package which was ratified.?

And Mr. Ball added that the Board would have to question the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance about where money was coming from. It was difficult for the union to negotiate ?double digit? salaries for nurses.

?Additionally, it is important that the nurses not remain fragmented but continue to support the union representation on their behalf.

?Until the matter is resolved we will lose nurses and it is a difficult position to be in as the union continues to advocate on behalf of the nurses and all hospital staff,? Mr. Ball said.