An agreement has been signed in Solomon Islands to settle a long-running pay dispute between the government and the Public Employees Union.
The deal provides for a 2.5 percent salary increase for 2003 that will be paid once parliament has passed the 2004 supplementary appropriation bill.
A cost of living adjustment of 8 percent for 2002 and 2003 will be paid next year.
The agreement comes after a trade disputes panel ruling and after repeated strike threats last year and despite advice by the Regional Assistance Mission that pay rises are unaffordable.
The head of the Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions, Tony Kagovai, has welcomed the deal.
"As far as the trade union movement is concerned we welcome the trade dispute panel's award. It's more or less a cost of living adjustment and a long outstanding case. Public servants have not had a pay increase in nine years."
