The Voters Rights Association has urged civil servants to stand firm against bullying ministers and take their fight to the courts if necessary.

The pressure group spoke out after Bermuda Public Services Union leader Ed Ball said this week that morale in the public sector was plummeting amid rampant fear and a "malaise of mistrust."

Mr. Ball had said: "The union has definitely received increasing complaints about political interference, bullying and persons' employment contracts being cancelled."

The union has taken on at least five cases in the last six months as complaints have increased.

Yesterday, a statement from the Voters' Rights Association (VRA) said the trend was highly worrying but not new.

Shortly after the Voters' Rights Association (VRA) was formed a year ago it was approached by several civil servants and spouses with allegations of manipulation and pressure tactics from government politicians and their entourage.

VRA co-chairman Geoff Parker Sr said: "From the start of the PLP Government, a significant number of senior civil servants resigned from the civil service, demonstrating that Government's refusal to abide by the constitutional protection of the civil service from political interference, whether partisan or general."

He said civil servants were now being led to believe that political fiats and working practices took precedence over their constitutional independence and individual fundamental rights.

The political independence of the civil service was a fundamental and essential feature of Bermuda's form of government, said Mr. Parker and the protections under the Bermuda Constitution applied to every individual on this island.

"No clause in the Constitution excludes civil servants from having civil rights! It is time for the civil service to stand up for their political independence.

"It is time for individuals to stand up and fight for their rights," he said.

The VRA wrote about the alleged abuse in written submission to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons and also told the three visiting UK MPs about the problem.

And the VRA submitted affidavits referring to the Human Rights Commission case involving Harold Darrell's complaints about ministerial interference and manipulation.

The VRA pointed out the abuse of ministerial power in the case of Canadian construction worker Curtis McLeod was rebuked and overturned when taken to court.

Civil servants fear they might be exposed to a political backlash after the BPSU took a stand, added VRA co-chairman Stuart Hayward.

He said: "As this is a rights issue the VRA encourages the BPSU to explore every avenue, including the courts if necessary, to expose and deter those who are improperly interfering in the work and lives of Bermuda's civil servants."

Government is said to be looking into the complaints.