LEADERS of the union Unite are today looking increasingly marginalised as it emerged that they have turned down a near-RPI settlement and the States negotiating body expressed its concerns about its conduct and the on-going threat of strike action.
Islanders, who have sympathy for the public service employees because of the difficult and vital job they do, will have just one consideration in mind: that whatever pay award is made, it is fair.
Fairness, however, is two-edged because it is islanders as taxpayers who will fund it. And the informal offer understood to be close to 4.9% plus additional benefits that has been refused seems reasonable, particularly given the current economic difficulties and restricted States revenues.
As the Public Sector Remuneration Committee put it, ‘the union demand being made by Unite clearly indicates a level of increased reward that the committee believes is unjustified at this time’.
Now that the matter has been referred to an industrial tribunal, Unite has an opportunity to demonstrate the validity of its case in public and to an expert and independent chairman supported by union and employer representatives. Any concerns that the staff side might have had about the conduct of the PSRC and its willingness or otherwise to negotiate can be tested at that time.
One of the benefits of the island’s labour relations legislation is that otherwise prolonged disputes can be resolved by binding and compulsory arbitration. This means that whether it is employer or employee who is being unreasonably intractable, the matter can be brought to a close without the need for damaging industrial action.
And that is the situation now faced by Unite.
Islanders who want the 1,000 manual workers to receive a long-overdue pay rise will wish them well in mounting a compelling case that lifts the PSRC ‘official’ offer of 3% to something more realistic. But even the most supportive will struggle to see what can be gained at this stage by closing the ports, disrupting transport for locals and visitors and preventing hospital patients from having operations.
The fight should move from the workplace to in front of the tribunal.
Rejecting strike action now would actually earn Unite public respect.