Unite regional industrial organiser Ron Le Cras at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital this morning with some of its non-medical staff. (Picture by John O’Neill, 0608659)
STATES manual employees staged a walkout this morning leaving parts of Guernsey at a virtual standstill. States Works staff, non-medical personnel at the PEH, airport, Dairy, and harbours all protested at the 3% pay increase offer they have received.
The harbour was shut as staff, including ro-ro ramp operators and crane drivers, joined the strike and the airport was closed for just over 30 minutes because fire crews would not offer cover.
That delayed the arrival of today’s mail and national newspapers. Mont Cuet and the Dairy were also closed and about 40 hospital employees walked out.
However, the hospital remained open because a contingency plan was in place to provide adequate cover.
Workers are frustrated by the Public Sector Remuneration Committee’s failure to come to an agreement with union representatives and are angry that the committee referred the matter to the industrial disputes officer without making further efforts to resolve the issue.
Ron Le Cras, Unite’s regional industrial organiser, criticised the PSRC for making no attempts to prevent the strike action.
‘This could have all been avoided,’ he said.
‘If they had wanted to stop this action they could have done. They could have offered us a fair pay rise instead of the derogatory offer that they have so far put forward.
‘The 3% offer is an insult. States members did not get 3% so why should these workers?’
The Guernsey Press reported on Saturday that the strike was due to take place and Mr Le Cras said the PSRC could have made attempts to meet union officials at any point over the weekend.
‘This has been referred to the industrial disputes officer, but it has not been accepted yet,’ he said.
‘So nothing stops the two parties from getting together at any time to discuss the difficulties.
‘The PSRC has not even contacted us today to ask if we wanted to talk and that is very disappointing.’
Mr Le Cras said he was not sure how the long the airport would remain open for.
‘Closing the airport was a political statement by the public sector workers to show what could happen if this went on for any period of time,’ he said.
The pay deal should have been settled in January and public service employees are asking for a rise equivalent to September’s RPI figure of 4.9% plus 3%.
States’ policy is to retain expenditure at RPI or below.
Rubbish was not collected from St Peter Port, cesspits were not emptied and roads were not cleaned as States Works employees refused to carry out their duties. The department employs around 230 people, including road cleaners, workers at the tip, traffic light maintenance staff and sewage cart drivers.
One 60-year-old States Works employee said the situation was the worst he had encountered in nearly 20 years at the company.
‘I’m very supportive of this action because we are all on low pay and the only way we can make our wages up is by overtime,’ he said. ‘It’s a dog’s life.’
He said workers had disagreed with previous pay offers but the dispute had never gone this far before.
‘We have had offers that we did not want before but we have never been on strike,’ he said. ‘This is the worst it’s been in all my time working here.’
- Follow the day’s developments here.
Article posted on 21st July, 2008 - 2.35pm
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53 Article Comments
This is an outrageous abuse of position. If you strike you should get the sack - where is the States’ backbone here?
All the donkeys say they don’t want to be like the UK, yet are coming out in sympathy with their peers on the mainland.
If you want to send the wrong message out to tourists, businessmen traveling through not to mention those of us that live here then keep the rubbish piled up in the sunshine, no newspapers etc.
Presumably the right message to send in Brians eyes would be: “Us donkeys don’t stand up for our rights, so all you rich mainlanders can keep coming here and shafting us.” Wise up mate, the strike has nothing to do with sympathy for the UK and everything to do with hard-working people with famillies trying to maintain a decent sandard of living.”
Sorry to disappoint you but
“where is the States’ backbone here?”
Manual workers are the States backbone.
If I don’t work I don’t get paid. If I refuse to come to work I would get the sack - doesn’t sound unreasonable to me. I am not a mainlander but am born and bred here.
The only people being shafted by a strike such as this are local people who have rubbish piling up and suffer at the hands of selfish striking workers. If they don’t like the job and the conditions being offered then walk - it’s not as if there is a shortage of work here.
this was meant to be the start of our holiday, and now we are stranded in france with our trailer tent in Guernsey. The hotel costs hit us hard and this will certainly mean we will not return again. Talk about biting the hand that feeds.
Any claims for extra pay can only be funded by either cutting States services or increasing taxes which impacts on everyone…not just the States workers.
So lets assume that the States workers get more than 3%, and as a result services decline and taxes increase…then the States workers fall behind again, strike, get more than is budgetted and the whole cycle of service cuts and tax rises starts all over again.
The States doesn’t appear to have anything to barter with…they don’t make “profit” so they can’t share it with their employees, they can’t save money by rationailsing headcount without falling foul of the union and they can only find extra money for pay claims by saving it elsewhere which again has the union hopping mad about unbearable workloads for the staff…maybe States workers should “sell back” some of their benefits in order to fund the pay rise, like their various allowances, final salary pensions, sick pay, holiday entitlement, overtime rates or shift allowances etc etc? Savings made here could easily fund an additional basic pay increase.
good on you all its about we stood up to the states everthing goes But not our wages
We here we go again everything up wages down less to go around fight thats what we say
Being in the tourist business we have had to keep our rates in line or below inflation to remain competitive, especially with rising travel costs, For 2009 we shall be keeping our rates the same as this years even with increased electricity and energy costs. So our income next year is bound to fall. We can not strike but have to tighten our belts that bit more.
So must every body in this Island including States Manual Workers.
Sorry I do not have any sympathy, times are harder for all.
Some of these workers do the most horrid jobs that none of us would like to do but get paid a pittance to do so? So who’s going to do these horrible jobs if they were all sacked?
Brian James says they should just get another job but it’s not as easy as that, what about the workers who are coming up to retirement age, who would lose pension benefit if they left now? What about those who cannot do anything else or retrain? If all those strikers left there would not be enough jobs for all of them and who would fill their empty positions?
There are vacancies in a lot of the States Departments already and it’s because people go for interviews and turn them down because they are so low paid.
My point before is that no one should be allowed to strike and to try to hold their employer (or in this case the Island) to ransom in order to back up their case. This is a regressive move and harks back to the back old days of 70s UK.
I am afraid I have no sympathy for anyone with their final salary pension scheme and ‘job for life’ mentality. Those days are well and truly over in the private sector and the same should be true of the public sector. they should be accountable in the same way and made to pay their way in terms of the services they deliver.
If that means that the cost of the services goes up to the end user, then so be it. Striking is never the answer and the practice and those who promote it should be outlawed.
I’d like to suggest a solution. Give the strikers whatever they demand, however unreasonable, and reduce the number of employees proportionately so that the wages bill stays the same. Most States departments are overmanned and this is not only known to but, in some departments, actively tolerated by management. I feel pretty sure there would be very little loss in public services if the workforce in almost all States departments was cut by 10%.
I love it when the private sector comes out all defensive. “Oh we can’t strike” and all that.
Get a union and force the bosses to increase your pay. The private sector has run amok in Guernsey, as it has in the UK, and the proper jobs done by caring the public sector are the first to be hit by ever expanding private sector profits that raise inflation. The States should come in a regulate the private sector salaries, no bonuses, no favours for the wealthy.
People are not slaves, and their bosses are not masters. We should be working to keep the island functioning, and affording due respect to those that do the graft.
I don’t imagine that many of these comments come from people earning less than £300 a week. The problem in Guernsey is that rich people are not taxed enough. A non sliding income tax regime (because the accountants find it too taxing!) is bound to provide income disparity in the public sector as inflation is fuelled by the wealthy not the poor.
The workers only strike because their union cannot negotiate successfully. These workers pay their union so it’s them that are to blame.
If the government introduced a fairer income tax structure, and emplotyed accountants that could handle it we wouldn’t be in this situation at all.
Once again Brian has managed to undermine his own argument with his petty prejudices. The right to withhold labour is a basic human right and is only outlawed in totalitarian regimes. It seems Brian would prefer we lived under such a regime. He then appears to advocate that rather than pay the workers a fair wage we sack them and replace them with ‘more expensive’ contractors. Why do you hate workers so much?
I agree with John, though you can’t blame the Unions. They are negotiating with a brick wall.
A progressive tax regime whereby the strongest put the most effort in, as in any family or community, would free up more cash, and ease social tension.
i dont earn 300 a week john lee i dont even earn 200 its us that suffer how do we cope you know nothing its the lower paid that suffer most we still have to pay the same as high earners
To address earlier comments the reason that striking is not unlawfull is that it is a basic human right in all but totalitarian regimes and thankfully a right that we still have in Guernsey. Having said that Guernsey is hardly a bastion of left-wing militancy and the fact that strikes rarely occur here it is obvious to most that the workers have not made the decision to strike lightly. Good luck to them 3% is derisory.
I agree with Neil: The manual workers ARE the States backbone and their salaries have been falling behind for years. We are already seeing many of the younger employees leaving for the private sector and vacancies left empty or being filled by guest workers on short term contracts. We no longer have enough skilled tradesmen i.e. plumbers, sparky’s, etc to cope with the work - outsourcing is much more expensive and the same men they used to employ are now coming to do the work but are being paid 3 times as much…… and laughing all the way to the bank!
The Public Sector appears to have fewer and fewer Guernsey people with the future of the Bailiwick at its best interest. It is being run by licence holders (earning more than locals as their salaries are supplemented by allowances to pay for rent/travelling etc) who arguably have no interest in the future of the island unless they are given a 15 year licence and can stay. The cost of advertising and interviewing alone must be astronomical. Not everything can be measured in financial terms - continuity and work/life balance is important too and the most important thing is to believe that you are a valued member of staff. This rarely happens now.
The island has gone mad and the low paid are being sacrificed on the alter of the Finance Sector.
Very interesting comments, no one should receive less than the Cost of Living rise, but to expect more than that is irresponsible in the present climate, yes it is frustrating dealing with paymasters who are intransigent in their approach, but strikes only affected decent peole who are trying to go about their business and those families who have saved hard for a holiday, yes carry on with your strike action, but don’t expect public sympathy, when the tourists don’t return and the Banks consider their position.
Deborah, sorry your holiday has been affected, but don’t for one minute think it is a case of “biting the hand that feeds”. Regrettably, tourism is no longer important to the island of Guernsey, it is only the Finance Industry that is important here these days.
This strike action is regrettable but understandable. It sadly demonstrates the significant uneasy relationship between the “haves” and the “have nots” in Guernsey society.
Guernsey is a wealthy island but it can only function effectively if the burden of taxation is collected and distributed fairly.
If this fine balance cannot be negotiated and achieved the economic and social infrastructure will continue to deteriorate.
Unfortunately the quality of everyone’s life will be poorer for it.
Challenging times, Guernsey so get around that table and talk!
I think a lot of the people who have posted have not taken into consideration that most Public Sector workers belong to a Union and their advice has been to strike. As RPI has again increased from 4.8% to 5.5% how is the offer of 3% reasonable? This is in effect a pay cut, not an increase and with everything else increasing in price why shouldn’t the wages?
Also, has anybody thought about not paying Deputies for their so called ‘work’ as this would save quite a lot of money each year?
It seems most of the against the strike comments are coming from the haves, it should be born in mind that those at the higher end of the payscale will have an R.P.I. increase in excess of £5,000 a year including some Civil Servants. They seem desperate to maintain their own class structure. Thats where inflation is coming from, not the lower end. We are all part of a team maintaining this Islands infrastructure. R.P.I. increases are not cost of living increases for those on the lower end of the payscale.
Brian James, I can only assume you work in a private sector job probably a bank or other financial institution. You work a 40 hour week anything above that is paid at time and a half unless you are management, in which case you earn alot more than most of the people who quite rightfully went on strike yesterday. After recently applying for a job at the airport fire service there wages are very poor for the type of work they do, I am 100 sure that if i told you to do their job for their wages you would tell me where to go and look for other employment (which you suggested they do), thats great. Have you considered the impact of that if they all work out???? no is the answer, the airport would not be open for god knows how long until staff were brought in (by boat) to Guernsey.
And as for the other members who went on strike, i have an idea, why dont you go and do their job on their wages before you open your mouth, and if you cant afford to live on their wages how do you expect them to?? I am 25 and have 4 jobs, i cant even think about moving out of my parents home cos i cant afford a mortgage, wot do you suggest I do, get another couple of jobs and work myself to the grave? and I work in the private sector, all members that went on strike have my full support and I hope they come to some agreement.
I should like to ask Brian James who he thinks the States would employ to take on these manual work jobs if all of the current workers were sacked for going on strike yesterday?
Perhaps Aurigny and Flybe should consider baning the striking firemen from flying with them in the future.
Well wheres my pay rise?
everyone else hasnt got one and there cost of living has also gone up.
surely if the states workers get one, everyone should get one.
In response to gsygrl, if you are working for a private establishment you need to ask for a pay rise if you haven’t received one.
Scott, perhaps if you were able to write a letter using appropriate grammatical construction you would have achieved a position which would have facilitated an improvement in your lot in life?
It is a fact of life that unskilled and semi-skilled jobs will be filled by those who cannot find rewarding employment in the private sector. Ask yourself what prevents you from filling a position currently held by a licence holder?
There is a stark reality here - the public purse is not bottomless, if you will not work for the wage offered, there will be many from outside the island who will. This strike action is badly timed in the present financial circumstance this island finds itself in.
RPI, and no more.
The likes of Brian James is all thats wrong in Guernsey today. yes striking is very seventies, but to expect every low paid worker to fall behind year after year is very Victorian. Maybe he would be quite happy for all staff to be sacked and sign on the dole at least then they would receive R P I yearly increases. Then Guernsey could import outside labour from some fourth world country and pay them pittance
Peter, My grammatical construction on here and how I construct my letters on here bear no relevance to my employment. The fact that someone of my age needs more than one job is common, it is also worth pointing out that my basic salary is over £20,000 a year but you may be unaware that that a mortgage is still no where near achievable on that wage or if i include the income from my other employment, which I would point out is a job that very very few people want to do. From your letter I would assume you are middle aged and have your own house with possibly a wife or family so you have joint income to pay for a mortgage, if you even have one outstanding. Why do you think so many young people leave this island? I can almost guarantee that you earn more than manual workers and you receive pay rises, health benefits and bonuses every year which means you earn a lot more than manual workers. You should ask yourself why there are so many jobs in the “unskilled” sector and why people who are unable to get jobs in the private sector do not take them, could it possibly be because they want a decent wage and decent standard of life?
And yes I agree that people from outside the island would be happy to fill these jobs but where do you suggest they stay? shall we start building more houses out of states money when in turn they could instead give that money to the people who they already employ?
Your argument really is not valid in that sense because you are saying the public purse is not bottomless yet you suggest we bring more outside workers in and house them which would cost more than offering the present staff a pay rise which they are more than entitled to. If you feel striking is the wrong option, why don’t you go and work down there because at the end of the day Peter if it wasn’t for these workers what sort of state do you think the island would be in? I am sure we could attract hundreds of tourists with rubbish littering the streets, cesspits overflowing, no flights or boats. I think all too often the jobs of these people are taken for granted and nobody considers what would actually happen if they didn’t do the hard work they do, yesterday was just a very small taster of how things would be.
Mr James, I may be wrong but from your comments I’m guessing you possibly work in the finance sector and earn considerably more money than even the better paid States manual workers.
If this is the case I would expect you to be intelligent enough to realise that in the current economic situation it is a real struggle to make ends meet at the lower end of a manual workers pay scale.
Maybe you are right and a strike is not the correct action to take but sometimes this is the only way to get the powers that be to take any notice.
Unfortunately there are many people (especially working in the finance sector)that are out of touch with reality due to the obscene amounts of money they are earning and the benefits they enjoy, its high time these people were asked to contribute more to the States coffers which in turn might allow the lower paid the luxury of an RPI payrise, why should we suffer to safeguard their high salaries whilst struggling to survive ourselves?
I have to agree with some of the points raised by Brian James, what should be happening is that the union should be fighting for the lower paid earners rather than all manual workers, there are some manual workers with wages that would make some people in the finance industry look like low earners,
Peter
Yes, the strike and especially the 17.5% demand are probably badly timed, and indeed, the public purse is limited.
However, your personal attack on Scott and his work situation seems equally inappropriate.
I agree, Mick. Guernsey will be like Monaco in five years time. A tiny fraction of locals, and all jobs going to foreign nationals. Meanwhile the wealthy will be splashing around enjoying all of the things Guernsey people take for granted and who thought they would never lose.
It’s happening everywhere where governments want to appease wealth rather than the working person.
Did you know in the US, the top 300,000 earners make as much as the bottom 150 million?
Scale that down, give us time to catch up, and that’s what it will be like (if it isn’t already). Yes, very wrong.
Thankyou to all that have supported yesterdays action.
I was one of the workers who went on strike yesterday and i want to point out a few facts to set the record straight.
First of all the public sector have not in recent years recieved an rpi pay rise, its allways below.
Secondly, the reason we are asking for the rpi plus 3% is to allow for further inflation rises. The talks for this rise started in september 2007, so basicly, we one month short of a year and all the states are offerying is 3% and are not even trying to meet half way.
Just for Brian Jame’s information, NO ONE who went on strike got paid, we new that at the time but still felt strongly for our cause. So when you said ” Dont turn up for work dont get paid” thats just what happened!
I do a job in the public sector that would (and has) make people vomit in a big way, and i dont meen sewage cart driving either, I meen having to literally get my hands and arms into it, and we have had people take up employment with us but have lasted only weeks. When you get home and bath or shower, you can still smell it, and SOME people wonder why we want more money. If we didn’t do these jobs All of the island would become a health hazard within days, not weeks.
So Thanks again to all of you who support us, and to the people who don’t then perhaps this message will help you realise our situation. We do not want to hurt and pset the public or tourists, but we must not be walked over by the states anymore, who earn a lot more than any of us manual workers do, but don’t get thier hands dirty, but still want the island to function correctly.
My point was never to single out the public sector - they have done that themselves. My point was that no one in the private sector could strike and get away with it; the company would be uncompetitive and would go out of business.
As we have seen across the UK in recent years, all public services are having to pay for themselves; this may be unfortunate but it is a hard fact of life. It is well known that there are far too many civil servants in Guernsey - they enjoy what the private sector would describe as a cushy job with final salary pensions and other perks - this have to be taken into account when determining the overall rate of pay of these people.
Striking should be outlawed as it is always other people who feel the brunt. Guernsey was like a third world country on Monday and the effects lasted well into yesterday - if that is the sort of place you want to live then so be it. I would much rather they put up the price of services such as rubbish collection to a realistic amount and paid people who were not able to strike a fair price for doing the work.
It’s nothing against the people themselves - government paid for services do not work - just look at the NHS.
I work closely with the Airport Fire Service,to the defence of the Airport Firemen the fact that they have been reported as asking for a 17.5% rise does not tell the full story, they are in negotiation as a result of having to carry out additional duties/cover to what is within their existing contracts of employment.
To Mr James
I am a civil servant and I can assure you that I do not have a cushy job. I guarantee that at least once a week I will be at work until 8.00 and I don’t get paid past 6.00. I am not on a huge wage but I value my job and the Department that I work for. I have a HUGE mortgage as I didn’t want to give up work when I fell pregnant and move into a States House.
What other perks do Civil Servants have other than their pension which they contribute to every month? We don’t get health insurance, bonuses etc all we get each month is our monthly wage.
Quite right, Jess. Most attackers of the public sector get their information from well known bigotted media sources. They know nothing of the realities.
Firstly let me say that I have never before felt as strongly about a subject as that of the current manual workers strike action. Although I work in the finance industry, I have first hand experience of the constant struggle that a states manual worker endures both physically and financially. The person in question is constantly expected to perform duties that contravene Health and Safety regulations, has been injured in the course of their work and has now been left with a permanent disability and consistently works extemely long hours (up to 17 hours per day) and all this for less money than a 16 year old school leaver would earn entering the finance industry!!!!! For years their cost of living pay rise has fallen way short of the RPI, and I have calculated that since starting working for the States they have taken a 7.25% pay cut! I do not, and neither would they want anyone to feel sorry for them, however, surely it is their right to expect a fair and decent wage for the work that they carry out. It is impossible for this person to save any money, for what the majority of private sector workers like myself, would take for granted, such as a night out in town or a take-away meal. All I am suggesting is that next time you are walking through St Peter Port, or taking the kids to the park or visiting one of the island historic sights, spare a thought for the hard working manual workers that clean the streets, pick up your litter and generally maintain the island and allow us all enjoy Guernsey. Remember emphathy, NOT apathy.
So We’ve learnt, Brian, that you despise civilservants, manual workers and now the NHS. But you’ve yet to tell us what (no doubt) ‘highly beneficial to the community’ job it is you do. Or shall we just guess…?
Brian states that ‘no one in the private sector could strike and get away with it as they would all go out of business’. Of course, if we are talking about the finance sector surely that is exactly what they did - albeit in a very subtle way. They intimated that if the island did not go down the zero tax route like other juristictions they would leave the island!
Who is holding who to ransom here?
It’s quite striking that in this forum there would appear to be a fair amount of support for the strikers - good to see that compassion and a belief in ‘fair play’ is still alive and kicking in Guernsey.
It was quite strange then, that in the press yesterday a whole section was devoted to this forum and yet the postings chosen appeared to show that teh opposite is true, and there was me thinking that the GEP was fair and balanced in it’s reporting.
Merlin
I don’t think it was subtle. I thought it was disgraceful propaganda. On the run up of to the election I sat through a meeting where they showed graphs of earnings against spending and it all looked rosy. Look how beneficial we are! Well, yes, there is no doubting that vast growth has happened over the last few decades. But the never answered question was how was it benefiting the Guernsey person. They went on about subsilliary industry, granted, but how many non local firms are doing the jobs? They went on about disposable income and the thriving condumerism, but short of benefiting the UK chains, and some restaurants, how is that helping the average? It is not, under the current tax regime, the majority of the benefit is shooting straight to the top earners. Some to the middle, but they are affected worse by tax positions, and the poor, they get hot on all sides. Rising inflation is not a direct cause of low and public sector wage increases, it is a cause of too much money at the top. Just because the majority want a decent pay rise (which amounts to peanuts compared to the bonuses paid this year), they are to be held ransom for a phoney economic structure based around the whims of the rich.
Judging by my experience, there is no one more acerbic or cynical of humanity than those whose fortunes are threatened.
I work in the finance industry and I support those that went on strike to make their point, as they are underpaid.
There are two concerns that I have however:
1) The way the states payroll works means that everyone gets a rise of x%. The majority deserve it, but there are also those that probably don’t pull their weight. The public payroll system needs to change so that those that work hard are rewarded higher and those that don’t, aren’t. This was highlighted in a report which is available on the Gov.gg site.
2) Getting into a payroll / RPI spiral, however this should not detract from the public sector earning a fair wage.
For the sake of completeness here I do not work in the finance industry. I work for myself and employ no one. Every day I risk my money in my business and only have myself to answer to.
The finance industry has been the saviour of Guernsey. I grew up here in the 70s and as far as I can remember it was an awful place. It has been dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world and whether it likes it or not that it where it has to stay in order to compete for its survival.
This is all the point I have been trying to make all along - I have no personal view on civil servants, manual workers or the NHS, rather they are all subject to criticism for the same reasons - they are funded by public money and this rarely works any more, unless the tax take is sufficient to provide for this.
Brian you said: “If I don’t work I don’t get paid. If I refuse to come to work I would get the sack.”
As a self-employed man, can I ask you then what you would do if you were badly treated, given unsafe working conditions or not paid what you asked for on a job. You would withdraw your labour, am I right?
To be honest it doesn’t work like that. I choose the work I do and on what basis - that is the perk of being self employed. The converse of this is that I never know how much work I might get or how much I will earn.
An employed person, by definition, does not have the same ability to refuse their labour. If they were to do so, then they would face the consequences - in return they are paid regularly and do not necessarily have to worry about the underlying business that employs them.
Brian,
You didn’t answer the question “what you would do” from Soulbol which was a shame because I was looking forward to your answer, doesn’t sound too stable a business unless of course its one of those that we may need not very often but in an emergency, in which case you probably work short hours and charge a huge hourly rate to compensate.
Judging by the way you answered that question you sound like a spin doctor.
My first question to you is what happens when your costs go up, do you pass on each individual one as it happens, do the whole lot at the end of the year, or absorb them all and take a cut in profits?
Do you have any rise in your charges plastered all over the media as headlines?
Have you worked for yourself ever since you left school and if not how was your experience of working for someone else?
You don’t say if you employ anybody but please read your reply about the employed person again and ask yourself, would I like to work for someone with that attitude?
I think a few points need to be said regarding the recent industrial action as i worked as a states employee for 6 years.
1/ Not only are the workers not getting an RPI pay offer you have to realise that RPI is not a rise in wages at all it is just keeping you at the same level as you are at the moment. Anything above rpi is an increase. I know from experiance that RPI is the most that has been offered for a very long time.
2/ The workers are not only having a terrible offer they are also having to pay extras to cover zero 10 as we all have to and thus are being penalised twice for actually being states employees.
3/ Another point on earnings that needs to be said and what the general public will not realise is that overtime in all departments has been cut right back reducing earning potential again. personally my earnings dropped 28% in 1 year which is 1 reason i left. However although overtime has been cut there is still the same amount of work to be done and i know that some departments are recruiting Sub Contractors at double the Employees wages to carry out these extra tasks but there money does not come out of the wages budget and is hidden in general revenue.
4/ Did you know a cleaner at the hospital for example with a wife and 2 kids earns less for a 40 hour week than if he was on the dole.
Basically the point i am making is this;
Please do not think this strike action is purely over this claim. It is a build up over a number of years of workers being treated sub standardly and they are telling you enough is enough. Good luck to them.
Re: Strike
All this talk of Lies, deceit, inflexibility, propaganda, threats of violence, spin, misinformation, and verbal abuse in the media. Why can’t the States behave in a dignified manner like Unite and the manual workers over this pay claim?