Airport firefighters’ spokesmen Aaron Bailey, left, and Paul Ozanne, foreground, with left to right, Andre Mayor, Ben Mauger, Grant Chalmers, Mick Cherry, Gareth Williams, Ben Wallace and Matt Glass. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0609153)
AIRPORT firefighters defended themselves yesterday in the wake of criticism directed at them for their part in Monday’s strike action.
Spokesmen for the fire crew said it was only the willingness of firefighters on a daily basis to cover shifts on their days off that was keeping the airport open, such is the extent of staff shortages within the department.
And the firefighters heavily criticised the Public Sector Remuneration Committee for releasing details to the media of their 17.5% demand because that figure had been withdrawn by the workers last week.
Union officials met the PSRC yesterday to try to take the dispute forward after approximately 1,000 States workers staged a walkout in protest at the 3% pay increase offered by government.
Airport firefighters told the Guernsey Press yesterday that the PSRC had been told they would accept whatever was agreed with other States public service workers involved in the dispute.
Aaron Bailey and Paul Ozanne, who are responsible for managing the rota for the airport crew, claimed the committee had released the out-of-date 17.5% figure to infuriate the public.
‘That figure was our original request but, after negotiations, we would have accepted 4.9% RPI plus 5.1% for a change in the shift rota. That would have guaranteed the airport had continuous staff cover 24 hours a day, which is something we do not have now,’ Mr Bailey said.
‘But two weeks ago we decided that we would now accept the same pay offer as the other public service workers, which is obviously less than we had originally asked for.
‘The PSRC are trying to make us look bad by releasing that [17.5%] figure, when they know full well that it was retracted.’
There are currently 28 firefighters employed at the airport – there should be 30 – and they are split into three shift teams.
Eight have to be on duty at any time and Mr Ozanne said that staff constantly had to be called in during their scheduled days off to provide cover so that the airport could remain open.
‘If you take this week for example, every day three members of staff will have to give up their own time to come in and cover a shortfall of staff.
‘That’s the way it has been for the last 18 months,’ he said. ‘We have no individual obligation to provide cover for a shortage of staff, college attendances for new recruits, or maternity leave.
The pair apologised to the public for the disruption caused by the two separate strikes – one early morning, one late afternoon – at the airport on Monday.
Mr Bailey said they had tried to cause as little disruption as possible while showing support for their other striking colleagues.
‘The walkout could have lasted all day, as it had with other workers, but we are very mindful of the responsibility we have,’ he said.
‘We would not have done anything that would have had devastating consequences.
‘It was just a statement to show how important our role is in keeping the airport running.’
* Airport director Colin Le Ray could not be contacted yesterday for comment.
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9 Article Comments
Typical media cock up creates furore out of nothing - reading this, the firemen clearly don’t get paid enough given how important they are to island transport links.
I was under the impression they would be getting £30-35k at least - £27k for a fireman is not enough to keep people in a job long term.
Pay more, make better use of expensive training and people might stay in the job.
The PSRC should be ashamed of themselves - obviously trying to blow things out of proportion by sending Minister Trott an incorrect e-mail.
I agree with Dan - the training is expensive and ongoing (someone told me they have to requalify every 3 years via training courses in the UK). Now we do know their salary it is obvious that they are not highly paid. They are not the lowest but for their responsibility it is low, especially as Jersey are paying £10,000 more. I think that their decision to ally themselves to other public sector workers was a sensible one as it is obvious the island cannot afford 17.5% in one go. If the service could recruit the number of staff needed to ensure all the shifts were covered then the overtime bill would come down too, and staff would know that their days off were guaranteed. I wonder how they compare with other emergency services i.e. police and ambulance service? Are they poorly paid too?
Unofficial walkouts without warning will gain no friends and cause major disruption so I will not support you or anyone holding our island to ransom this way. The pay is not right and never will be unless you privatise and abolish the union. Why are other skilled workers e.g. Electricians, plumbers etc earning more than fireman when they used to be also classed as low earners? Why are bank workers not in unions? Guernsey does not need unions
I thought it was despicable of the States to release pay demands that were inaccurate. People believe what they read in the paper. They are bound to get het up about ‘17.5%’. This was a calcualted move to discredit a struggling sector of the community.
Who was responsible?
It shows the utter contempt that the States have for the low paid.
Dan,
reading the articles in the press, it sounds more like the PSRC’s failure to inform everyone that the demand was retracted rather than the media “Cocking up”
All firemen are highly trained professionals who when required do a very dangerous job. Any position in the private sector requiring the same level of expertise and responsibility would be highly paid.
Unfortunately for the firemen they are employed by the island govement who want them on the cheap. They want the firemen to behave responsibly by not going on strike but shirk their responsibility by not paying the men what they are worth.
If it costs £20K to train someone and many have been leaving then if the States are able to reduce the rate of attrition then additional funds can be found through reducing training costs. Perhaps this saving could be distributed as a bonus payment linked to staying in the job. This could be paid on top of any other increase they negotiate.
There are plenty of people getting good wages who work for states departments that do not do enought work to justify there job let alone their salary.
It’s about time a complete review of the public sector was done, I can’t believe that the employment cap was withdrawn when there people who have no work to do in their own departments who could be moved to other departments to fill gaps.
Mike: IF what you say is true then surely that is exactly what the senior civil servants in charge of departments should be doing? It is fine to say that there should be a blanket review of the public sector but who on earth is going to do that and how much is it going to cost the taxpayer? No doubt more jobs for the boys ………… and turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
What are scrutiny doing? Is this not within their remit?