AS GUERNSEY struggles to pick up the pieces of yesterday’s damaging unofficial strike action by States manual employees, one thing at least was clear: the strength of feeling by staff about the way they are being treated by their employer.
A sub-RPI pay offer of just 3% at a time when the latest cost of living figure has actually risen by 5.5% was never going to play well with a group which is among the lowest paid and which enjoys strong union representation.
And although the actual RPI figure any settlement will be based on is less – because the negotiations use the last September quarter – staff inevitably look at conditions today, not when historic data is published.
And that makes the current dispute all the more troubling.
Letting it drag on so long and then railroading the union side into possible compulsory arbitration were not good tactics.
The actions of the States itself have directly contributed to at least part of the increase in the cost of living by freezing personal tax allowances and raising the duty on fuel, rates, cigarettes and alcoholic drink. Combined with huge increases in energy prices and the rise in the cost of food, weekly budgets are stretched.
The longer the negotiations have dragged on, the worse the financial pressure has become for families. The latest RPI figure was the last straw and it prompted a number of unions, not just Unite, to express their concerns.
Now, the Public Sector Remuneration Committee’s failure to draw this to a close months ago looks like an opportunity missed.
It may not have been entirely to blame, of course. As the industrial disputes officer said last week, ‘extensive’ attempts by him to meet Unite have failed ‘for a variety of reasons’.
Islanders can read between the lines too and in taking on a public sector pay restraint policy and a brand new States negotiating body, the union side is well aware of the benefits of delay.
What is certain, however, is that this is no longer simply a PSRC matter but a coordinated challenge to a key plank of government policy.
How it is handled will be a defining moment for the new States and its relationship with taxpayers.
Dispute is a real test for new States
AS GUERNSEY struggles to pick up the pieces of yesterday’s damaging unofficial strike action by States manual employees, one thing at least was clear: the strength of feeling by staff about the way they are being treated by their employer.
A sub-RPI pay offer of just 3% at a time when the latest cost of living figure has actually risen by 5.5% was never going to play well with a group which is among the lowest paid and which enjoys strong union representation.
And although the actual RPI figure any settlement will be based on is less – because the negotiations use the last September quarter – staff inevitably look at conditions today, not when historic data is published.
And that makes the current dispute all the more troubling.
Letting it drag on so long and then railroading the union side into possible compulsory arbitration were not good tactics.
The actions of the States itself have directly contributed to at least part of the increase in the cost of living by freezing personal tax allowances and raising the duty on fuel, rates, cigarettes and alcoholic drink. Combined with huge increases in energy prices and the rise in the cost of food, weekly budgets are stretched.
The longer the negotiations have dragged on, the worse the financial pressure has become for families. The latest RPI figure was the last straw and it prompted a number of unions, not just Unite, to express their concerns.
Now, the Public Sector Remuneration Committee’s failure to draw this to a close months ago looks like an opportunity missed.
It may not have been entirely to blame, of course. As the industrial disputes officer said last week, ‘extensive’ attempts by him to meet Unite have failed ‘for a variety of reasons’.
Islanders can read between the lines too and in taking on a public sector pay restraint policy and a brand new States negotiating body, the union side is well aware of the benefits of delay.
What is certain, however, is that this is no longer simply a PSRC matter but a coordinated challenge to a key plank of government policy.
How it is handled will be a defining moment for the new States and its relationship with taxpayers.
Article posted on 22nd July, 2008 - 3.01pm