Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has signed labor agreements covering Department of Public Works employees and public-health physicians, but the two agreements are at different stages and should not be treated as equally final.
The three-year collective-bargaining agreement with Our Virgin Islands Labor Union covers DPW cashiers, accountants, plumbers and other represented employees from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2029. Government House says the agreement itself was signed August 26 and is now in effect.
The physician package is a tentative five-year wage agreement with the Seafarers International Union covering October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2031. Government House says the wage terms address a bargaining unit that had not negotiated a new wage agreement since 2005, but remaining contract provisions must be completed and the full agreement signed before the negotiated terms become final.
The official release does not publish the salary tables, estimated total cost or funding source for either agreement. Those details remain necessary to measure the effect on recruitment, retention, agency budgets and public services.
Government House and the Office of Collective Bargaining should publish the signed DPW agreement, the physician wage tables, projected annual costs, funding sources and the final physician contract when completed.
Source published October 29, 2026; official release does not display a publication time. Read the original reporting or release for the complete record.
Open original source