The Public Services Association’s (PSA's) rejection of the Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO's) latest proposal on outstanding wage arrears was predictable.
Public servants who waited years for salary negotiations to be settled were never likely to embrace a package involving non-cash benefits when cash payments had long been expected.
But if emotion and expectation are driving this debate, reality must also be allowed into the room.
The Government, through CPO Dr Daryl Dindial, has made clear that its position is constrained by economics.
Dindial has repeatedly argued that the State simply cannot absorb the full cost of the arrears in cash without placing further strain on an already burdened Treasury.
Whether workers agree with that position or not, it is at least a candid acknowledgement of the country’s fiscal circumstances.
The Government cannot spend money it does not have, especially with a long line of other public-sector unions watching this deadlock in anticipation of their own promised funds.
That disconnect between promise and affordability is not unique to this administration, but it is one that successive governments have failed to confront decisively.
Too often, wage settlements are negotiated as though economic realities will somehow sort themselves out later. Eventually, later arrives.
The PSA now finds itself in a politically uncomfortable position, whether it admits so publicly or not.
The union has been broadly supportive of the current administration and, at times, among its strongest defenders in organised labour.
That obviously creates an unavoidable perception problem.
Applying maximum industrial pressure to a government to which it has aligned itself may be politically awkward, while appearing too accommodating risks angering members who expect their union to fight uncompromisingly for what was negotiated.
Workers paying dues are unlikely to be persuaded by political sensitivities if they believe their entitlements are being diluted.
The PSA leadership must therefore decide whether preserving a cordial relationship with Government carries greater weight than pursuing the full demands of its membership.
That may sound harsh, but it is the reality of the position in which the union now finds itself.
In rejecting the CPO’s proposal, the union insists that public servants should receive what they are owed in cash.
That position can be understood, because workers are not responsible for Government's cash flow problems, nor should they be expected to casually surrender negotiated entitlements after years of delay.
Yet, if the very Government is now saying the money cannot be found, then expectations may have to be reassessed.
If the PSA believes the Government can and should find the money, then it has available to it the same tools every major union has used before - mobilisation and industrial pressure, within the confines of the State of Emergency regulations.
However, discussions are still ongoing, which suggests that common ground may yet be found, even though Dindial has been clear that the latest offer is final.
It means that at their next round of discussions, the ball will be in the PSA’s court.
It must decide whether to accept that the economic circumstances of the country have altered what is realistically achievable or hold the line and escalate pressure.
We look to see what will be the union's ultimate position.
