Members of the Bermuda Public Services Union last night agreed three-to-one to accept a 1.25 percent pay increase for civil servants closing months of often contentious negotiations with Government.“We had 485 people vote, and 75 percent of them voted for it,” said BPSU president Kevin Grant, calling the secret ballot an informed and democratic decision.He said he was satisfied that Government was making “every effort not to have redundancies” in spite of challenges to make cutbacks.“What the people have said is we have members who are committed and dedicated to making sure this country gets back on track. At the end of the day, people will be taking home less. Essentially, they have made a commitment to do more with less.”The votes were cast between 9am and 7pm yesterday at the Union’s headquarters on Cedar Avenue, and by 8.30pm the Union was ready to call the result.“This is the democratic process in operation,” Mr Grant said. “Our members have made an informed decision in favour. For me, I’m looking forward now to engaging in more meetings with the Premier, to get the tripartite between Government, the Union and the private sector working to get Bermuda back on track.”Yesterday’s secret ballot ended a long stalemate between Government and civil servants over whether or not to accept a wage increase that is less than the rising cost of living.In January, BPSU members deferred making a decision when they were told that jobs would have to be cut from temporary staff.Last month, 600 Union members marched on Cabinet, calling on Ministers to set an example by taking pay cuts of their own.They asked for a pledge from Government not to cut jobs, and to help struggling families with price controls demands which were rebuffed by Premier Paula Cox, who said Government was in no position to make guarantees.Ms Cox later offered to cut her own salary by an unspecified amount. Earlier this week, Mr Grant said the offer meant little unless Ministers followed suit.Last night, Mr Grant said: “I guess in these times our members realise that we have to work together. They know prices are high. Some prices increase by the day. There is no guarantee from Government that there won’t be redundancies. We tried to get a guarantee that if we accepted a wage freeze that there would be no redundancies. But let me say this about Government: they are making every effort not to have redundancies. So far, there have not been any. Right now there have been challenges for department heads to trim the fat in other ways.”Mr Grant said the next round would be arranging to come back to the negotiating table with Government.“I’m looking to bring some closure to this issue,” he said. “We will simply take it from there.”The salary increase has been accepted, effective from October 1, 2010.Useful web link: www.bpsu.bm.