With wage ar­rears stretch­ing back near­ly a decade for some work­ers, trade unions are sig­nalling es­ca­la­tion in protest ac­tion as the Gov­ern­ment re­mains silent on when out­stand­ing pub­lic sec­tor salary in­creas­es will be paid.

The Con­trac­tors and Gen­er­al Work­ers Trade Union (CGW­TU) yes­ter­day warned of pos­si­ble in­dus­tri­al ac­tion, as more than 1,000 work­ers at­tached to the San Fer­nan­do City Cor­po­ra­tion have not yet be­gun to get long-out­stand­ing wage in­creas­es.

CGW­TU pres­i­dent Er­mine De Bique-Meade said af­fect­ed work­ers—rang­ing from dai­ly-paid and ca­su­al em­ploy­ees to re­tirees—have re­ceived no pay­ments to date, al­though an agree­ment cov­er­ing 2014–2016 and 2017–2019 was signed on April 24, 2025.