Ron Le Cras.
A TRADES UNION leader has defended Chief Minister Lyndon Trott for meeting him in secret.
Unite regional industrial organiser Ron Le Cras said Deputy Trott had got together with him in an effort to stop the strikes of a fortnight ago.
Deputy Trott had been concerned that the island could be brought to a virtual standstill. ‘It wasn’t about the negotiations. He wanted to know the facts about the difficulties at the time,’ said Mr Le Cras.
The meeting is understood to have triggered a fierce confrontation between Deputy Trott and Public-Sector Remuneration Committee member Deputy Barry Brehaut in a corridor at Frossard House.
That led to Deputy Brehaut making a formal complaint against the chief minister over his conduct which he later withdrew after Deputy Trott had apologised.
Deputy Trott and Mr Le Cras met on the Saturday morning 48 hours before a public-sector workers’ strike caused chaos, with transport disrupted and bin sacks left lying in doorways.
‘He asked me if the strike could be delayed,’ said Mr Le Cras.
‘I said the Public Sector Remuneration Committee could always put a sensible offer to us tomorrow [the Sunday], but we heard nothing.’
The PSRC had not known that the meeting was taking place but Mr Le Cras said Deputy Trott had been within his rights to get involved.
‘If a similar situation prevailed in the UK, Gordon Brown would not have hesitated to do the same,’ he said.
Mr Le Cras said he had not been aware that the PSRC would be in attendance when he met the Policy Council the following week.
‘That meeting was arranged for a different reason as the unions were concerned that the latest RPI figure, which had just been announced at 5.5%, was so high,’ he said.
Article posted on 5th August, 2008 - 1.00pm
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