Manual workers demand pay hike
Wednesday 16th April 2008, 2:30PM BST.
Manual workers, including sewage cart drivers, arrive at Beau Sejour at 7.30 this morning. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0564367)
STRIKE action could be taken by public service workers over pay.
Nearly 1,000 manual workers, ranging from waste collectors to school caretakers, are considering what action to take if the States refuses to negotiate on its offer of a 3% increase.
More than 150 of them met Unite union leaders at Beau Sejour this morning to discuss how to move forward after three months of negotiations. They are asking the States for an increase based on September’s RPI figure of 4.9%, plus a further 3%. Unite member and harbour shop steward Richard De La Mare said the figure needed to be put in context.
He said that although it might seem high to some, it was important to remember that the workers received a very poor wage and were struggling to meet the demand of other rises in the cost of living.
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And so on the same day that glossy brochures come out trumpeting the success of the Guernsey Business, the poorest workers suffer a below RPI wage increase.
So all the GIBA graphs showing how well we are doing because of Finance add up to this? States house dwellers having to pay more in real terms for their rent, standards of living fall for the lowest paid, and all the while those essential jobs need doing, not to mention how poor the minimum wage is here; how are these people being defended politically?
This will get worse as public expenditure is squeezed to allow the finance bosses bigger bonuses.
And still we bury our head in the sand about food and fuel price increases.
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Bravo, Sir, you demonstrate a breath-taking lack of comprehension, matched only by your lack of proposed solutions.
May I suggest that you try local politics, you could be the next a ‘Man of the People’.
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