Strikes loom for holiday weekend
Friday 8th August 2008, 11:30AM BST.
Pic of Ron Le Cras. (0615155)
FURTHER strike action looks increasingly likely after talks again broke down over public sector pay.
One States employee group said a strike over the August bank holiday weekend was being discussed, with men possibly walking out on the Friday until the following Tuesday.
Unite’s regional industrial organiser Ron Le Cras would not confirm or deny that yesterday, but gave a strong indication that a resolution was needed before the weekend.
‘What I’ve said all along is that while we’re talking, we don’t want industrial action and that position remains the same,’ he said.
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Amazing talks in deadlock, due to no money available. Where’s the Deputy in charge. On a jolly the other side of the world in Malaysia. I wonder how many people have gone, how long for, and how much is it costing us Islanders?
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As well as affecting many other vital services have the PSRC stopped to consider what would happen with the urgent sewage pipe repairs if the public services department elected to strike again due to talks in deadlock?
Its about time they started to treat the lower paid manual workers with a little more respect and made them a decent offer,obviously they are too stupid to see that the island would grind to a halt in a couple of days let alone weeks if industrial action was to be taken again.
We’ve elected these people to look after the islands best interests, what a pathetic attempt they are making!
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Strikes arent the answer
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I wish someone would stick up to these strikers… None of us work for fun & everyone wants more money – If I went on strike because I wasnt happy with my payrise, then when I finally did go back to work I would be given my cards & sent on my way… I know manual workers provide a vital service, but they also get a good pension, sick pay & health cover – something most other manual workers don’t get…
Innocent people suffer because of these strikes – its not our fault so why should they make Joe public suffer?? Get on with it & letsw face it – if you are not happy then you have 12 whole months until your next pay rise to find another better paid job…
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Getting truly fed up with this threat of industrial action. The unions might get the support of some, but with behaviour like this -it will fade quickly. So many people will be moving in (and out) of the island for holidays that weekend, what sort of impression do these people think that they are making of Guernsey. Choosing a bank holiday is outragous. How many Guernsey people are going to have plans and committments sabotaged, and some of these people could lose hundreds of pounds in travel / alternative arrangement costs? Go ahead, wreck what is left of the tourist industry why don’t you. Cause hundreds of people travel misery and unbudgeted expense.
I know it is tough out there, but States workers are not the only ones finding things hard this year. If you need more money, then try working WITH the States (or get a second job, like alot of other people have to do) instead of messing up the plans of other people who have done no harm to the States workers. Don’t listen to the Guernsey equivalent of Arthur Scargill, look at what happened to him after all. The people a strike would affect are taxpayers too – who pay your wages, and are being squeezed hard enough already with all the extra tax and states insurance. Strike threats are just setting up a confrontational position and does not mean any more money is suddenly is going to instantly waft into treasury coffers. Yes, it is difficult, but striking and holding a community to ransom is a slippery slope. Ask Arthur Scargill.
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If Unite’s members take strike action over the bank holiday weekend it will be a further nail in the Guernsey tourism coffin – and by choosing that particular weekend Mr Le Cras will bear sole responsibility for it. Strike action represents failure. Very few unions these days achieve better settlements by lurching back into the disruptive tactics of the 1970s in the UK. Invariably it leads to a downsizing of the workforce. Get real, Mr Le Cras.
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Typical of the sort of attitude some states manual worker takes, it’s my right to a pay rise. Well listen up guys, there are many people in many other industries in this Island who have had far less than cost of living over the years and do you see them holding the innocent to ransom over their pay? What if it was your bank on strike and you couldn’t get your money out to buy your weekly shop? You’d soon see how silly that was wouldn’t you? Some people possibly even in your own sector will have scrimped and saved to enjoy a family break over the bank holiday. You will not achieve anything by affecting these people other than total resentment and determination to ensure you pay for it in the long run. I hope you will be happy to compensate these people it they suffer financial dismay and possible family breakups as a result of your threats. Think again, you will only be damaging your own future, and as has already been said, if you don’t like what you’re getting paid, find a new job. Someone will fill your boots don’t you worry.
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With regard to Deputy Brehauts TV appearance the other night, I thought a ‘negotiation’ was to try and strike a deal between two parties – in order to negotiate one group has to put forward offers for the other group to discuss – the States have failed to do this, in the three weeks since the industrial action took place the Public Services Renumeration Committee are still only offering 3% (well below RPI) is it any wonder that the manual workers are running out of patience??
I doubt very much that anyone would want to strike again as it cost them a days pay last time which most could not afford to lose, but it may have to be done to make a point – the States are obviously not listening, public service employees are expected to help fund the finance industry through zero ten (as we all are) but they are already in a worse financial position than most due to their low wages in comparison to the private sector.
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All you folk digging at the workers need to look hard at actually what you are complaining about. You are denying the right of the poorest paid to have any representation or leverage in salary negotiations.
If you feel you are hard done by, join a Union. They represent your views in a clear and ordered manner so that the mob does not rule.
Those of you who blame R Le Cras obviously have no notion in the mechanics of Unions. They are properly democratic, with the pros and cons of all industrial action agonised over. They are more affected than you are.
This is their livelihoods. They give their entire working life into running the island, they are the cogs and the nuts and the bolts.
The very fact that hard working people in Guernsey feel the need to disrupt their neighbours is a ver serious indication into the state of affairs. The Union leaders are not the ones you should be appalled at, it’s the way the Island’s finances have been squandered, and the fact that the States have been cutting these essential people’s wages year on year without much complaint.
If you feel you are poorly paid stand up to your employer. If you are unable, seek advise. There are unions there to help you get your point across.
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We are at the start of a world recession, everyone is feeling it and tough decisions have to be made, to give a blanket pay rise over RPI is just going to add to the problem,
Give the lowest 10% a decent pay rise 2-3% above RPI, then RPI rise for the next 50% and the top 40% should be grateful they have a decent paid job and should accept below RPI.
every time these set % pay rises are made it just widens the gap between the lowest and highest paid.
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I am in two minds about the threat of strike action – especially over a bank holiday for reasons mentioned above.
However, we are talking about the poorest paid workers here i presume – not all public sector workers. Part of the problem is that people they work alongside who are civil servants rather than manual workers are earning heaps more – yet have the same employer! What the States needs is someone with true negotiating skills – obviously the PSRC are made up of amateurs (i.e. politicians who have recently been voted into the job). Do they have trained negotiators on their staff??? People need to be paid a decent wage and contrary to what W H Bonney states above they do not get health cover. Yes, they get sick pay (as do most other workers apart from self-employed) and the generalisation that everyone gets a good pension is debatable – if their final salary was poor their pension will reflect that and it also depends how long they have been in the job. It is a myth that everyone is going to retire with a very nice ‘golden egg’.
As for cutting staff – that has been done already. Some have left to become self employed (trained carpenters, electricians, mechanics etc) and the States is already in a helluva mess. It sounds to me like they are at the end of their tether and feel they have no choice. Do we want to go down the road of the Uk when a lot of things were privatised or tendered out? Standards have gone downhill in the UK i.e. hospital cleaning which has resulted in outbreaks of such things as superbugs. Do we want that in an island which is essentially wealthy. Treasury need to work out a way of sharing the spoils of wealth which the finance sector is enjoying as a result of zero 10. There is an increasing gap between the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have nots’.
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I think that it is obvious that the States are gearing up for cheap private work rather then shouldering the responsibility of maintaining society. It won’t be long before the public is held over a bigger barrel, after all the Unions want the best for everyone, it is not in their interest to disaffect the public, contrary to tabloid style reporting.
I reiterate, we are constantly being told that Guernsey is ‘weathering the storm’, that Guernsey is ‘at the forefront in Financial services’, that its Funds under administration ‘is a runaway success highlighting the depth of talent that we possess in an increasingly competitive market’, and yet we can’t get it together to appease the lowest paid, who have sat on wage reductions for years, who have not dared oppose the concencus and are now realising the futility of their generosity.
This is not a game. This is real life. This States is not only a pathetic reminder of the paucity of imagination and good governance that we expected from the last, but a damning endictment on our society.
If industrial action happens, it is not because of greed, so easily batted about in reference to the Union power of the 70s in the UK (how could you possibly compare, does no one read history, are we all so badly educated?), it is because ordinary people are fed up to the back teeth with hearing about ‘Guernsey’s international presence’ and Trott’s dalliances with pugilism, and Flouquet’s sorry retro-wisdom, and the PHA so shoddily run, and sewage dumped on top of tourists, and schools not being built when promised, and a pathetic attempt at mental health provision (notably mental health issues arise more in a system that promotes wealth disparity), and a whole other raft of fundamental failures in regards of maintaining a happy populace.
We live in a society run by self interested incompetents that do not give the public an outlet (fair elections – Trott, Flouquet, Jones – all the big talkers – got a ribbing even in their own parishes), and worse still give the public only ammunition to have a pop.
There has been no honeymoon period because it is the same rotten core.
At least Jones is honest and appears to defend Island interests, the others are proven to be incompetent. (Zero Ten, Mr Trott, and its accompanying spin has been a disaster to your public standing. After your dismal actions in the Frossard House boxing emporium, you should have had the decency to stand down and let someone who knows how to talk to people have a chance). Roll on the likes of the excellent Deputy Fallaize, who balance out the hard nosed Guernsey conservatism with pragmatic approaches to getting the best out of the system.
The public awaits positivity.
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Hear,Hear Lawrence, I couldn’t agree more – I’m no politician but as I see it the States of recent times have managed to achieve massive overspends through bad management of major projects, they’ve put all the islands eggs in one basket(finance)and now expect everyone to foot the bill for their expensive mistakes – including their own poorly paid manual workers!
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Ah well, sounds like this time the union will be telling managers when they are planning to strike. This will give those managers and politicians time to get their overalls on and start working on the bin lorries, sweeping the streets, cleaning the public toilets, working in the hospital laundry, kitchens etc and then perhaps they will realise what a raw deal these workers get!
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I think all of this media hype about strikes over the bank holiday weekend is just that HYPE probably put out by the psrc to cause bad feeling towards the manual workers, who I must say all do a damn fine job of keeping our island tidy and running as it should.
Imagine if just the road cleaners went on strike over the bank holiday weekend what a mess town would be and lets be honest who really wants to do that job.
The states have also agreed that people on supplementary benefit will get a 5.5% increase this September which to be honest beggers belief when they can’t(sorry I mean won’t) even offer states employees more than 3% and these people actually work for a living.
I don’t think striking is the answer to this problem but if they states refuse to negotiate with the unions what other option do they have, someone suggested they quit there job and get another one, ok fine if everyone did that then the island would be in an even bigger mess than it is now because who wants to work for the states now!
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As I stated above I dont believe the Island can afford an across the board over inflation rise, I do however support paying a larger % rise the lower paid and low % rise to the high earners.
It seems that public opinion only feels sorry for the low paid workers so just give them a beter deal.
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That sounds quite complicated Ken. Perhaps percentage pay rises should be replaced by a sum of money which all receive: e.g. £100 a month – based on the cost of living ‘shopping basket’.
Whilst £100 a month is probably chicken feed to the high earners it is a very handsome sum to the lowest paid. More to the point it would be indicative of the rising cost of living at the time.
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One of the problems the PSRC has is the next people on the bandwagon will be the higher paid civil servants. 5% of £300 is £15 a week -However 5% of a civil servant on £50k is a heck of a lot more.
They will want to “maintain the differential” and if PSRC gives in here it will cost the island millions.
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Doesn,t anybody think the way Unite and the PSRC have behaved re the pay talks, the secrecy, the media release snippets of so called offers which where turned down ( the near RPI offer ). What is the truth? what was offered? and why if near RPI was it turned down. The public only get told what each party wants to tell us and as for striking, you never see the nurses strike we have to settle for rubbish UK level RPI pay rises so the manual workers should bite the States hand off if they do get offered anything between 4 – 5%.
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W.H.Bonney,
Just to put you right on a couple of points States manual workers get NO health insurance, NO bonuses, NO Christmas meal, NO tips, NO cheap loans/mortgages, just a COMPULSORY pension scheme that costs each employee a minimum of 6.5% of their weekly wage and much lower pay than most of the private sector, so maybe they are not such a superb ‘company’ to work for??
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Jackie,
I hear exactly what you’re saying regarding ‘maintaining the differential’ between the manual workers and civil servants but maybe its time that differential was lowered, both civil servants and manual workers are equally important to the running of the island, its not very fair that those earning a very low salary should suffer because of States members concerns at having to give the higher earning civil servants an equal percentage.
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