Strike end welcomed
Friday 29th May 2009, 2:30PM BST.
Healthspan and Blue Islands chairman Derek Coates gave his backing yesterday to Chief Minister Lyndon Trott and the Emergency Powers Authority. He criticised deputies for not backing the intervention. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0781096)
DEPUTIES became marginalised yesterday as the business community and islanders rallied behind Chief Minister Lyndon Trott’s decision to intervene in the airport firefighters’ dispute.
Industry bodies – and civil servants – offered their support to Deputy Trott and the other members of the Emergency Powers Authority after it took executive action and brokered a deal with the Airport Fire Service that saw the men return to work.
There was a furious outcry from deputies as Deputy Trott announced the deal to the States late on Wednesday afternoon.
Members yelled ‘disgrace’ as the chief minister confirmed the seven ministers who made up the EPA had decided to remove the Public Sector Remuneration Committee as negotiator in the dispute.
Some deputies said the authority had no power to make such a move while others went as far as to question their confidence in Deputy Trott.
Yesterday the Policy Council refused to explain in detail under what authority the EPA met because it believed a debate would be held on the matter.
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At last someone has grasped the nettle to resolve the dispute.
Things had obviously got bogged down and the firefighters (whatever the rights and wrongs of it) felt that they had to bring things to a head.
The smooth operation of the airport is just too vital to the economic well being of the island for this to be allowed to drag on.
Well done to the Chief Minister.
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They should be considered an essential service and unable to strike. What example has now been set for other emegency and public services. Quick result that we cause long term problems
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I do not think the deputies should feel marginalised at all.
The majority of the Islanders feel as though the situation was handled very badly by the CM and The EPA acted beyond their mandate and gave into the fire fighters as if they were terrorists.
This was weak government, not strong government.
Resulting pay claims from other groups could bring this Island to its knees, so well done.
This is one quick fix that will rebound for a very long time and prove to be a costly mistake, in more ways than one.
And we thought Jersey had problems !
I now realise that ours are a lot worse.
Will the last person to leave Guernsey please turn out the lights.
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I must admit that I’m not Lyndon Trott’s Number One Fan, but on this occasion I’ve got to agree with his strategy, i.e. do what it takes to get the situation back on an even keel, and sort out the finer points when the dust has settled.
Whilst he’s never going to admit to it, if this had been left to Committee A,B and C to sort it out, by the time they’d all finished arguing amongst themselves about who does what, the airport would have been in a total shambles.
There are times when the ships’ captain (or maybe pilot in this case!) has to take command over the crew to steer clear of disaster.
Lets just hope that this crew has read ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’
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what happened was a nonesense, the cm and his small band of chums have run rough shod over the system we have here.they are not the executive who make decisions, the whole states are, these people chair departments they don’t run them.they all have 1 vote the same as the rest, it’s poor governing what they’ve done. also derek coates and the business community do not run for gsy or speak for gsy, just ’cause they are happy dosen;t count for the rest of us.government by a small band of people heavily influenced by the business community and now backed up by a biased local paper. the whole thing has been handled terribly by trott etc. and dave jones barracking people to come up wiuth an alternative is no use, you are the people paid to do that!!be politicians! debating,reasoning and reaching reasoned conclusions, if we have to come up with solutions then quit and save the money wasted on you.
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Nikkers
How has the CM run roughshod over the system? he is chairman of the Emergency powers authority and has a duty to keep pace with unfolding situations, that is the role of that authority. As it turned out they did not have to declare an emergency because the Public Services department members who DO run their department agreed to extend the temporary payment for 12 months to get the airport open immediately, if you consider ending the misery to hundreds of islanders and the rest of the travelling public poor governance then I despair. It is true I have asked others to tell me what they would have done to get the planes flying again, that is not “barracking “ it is simply asking all those who have the answer to let me know what it is and you are right it is our job and because it is the airport is open again.
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Deputy Jones
Perhaps Nikkers is as perplexed as others as to why the due process of law was not followed – a tribunal with a binding
decision.
If the airport is so vital why isn#t there a Plan A Z or whatever to bring in a law outlawing industrial action. This happpens with the police etc.
You might also see why some will feel that the intervention will result in future with any dissastified group saying to, even to the new proposed negotiating body – to “go away” and a situation develops where extra money has to pass for the employees to do their job.
You might also appreciate that the behaviour of the firefighters in making an agreement, breaking it and then being paid extra; is seen by some as not an example of good governance when they are paid more to keep the airport open, even though they are fully staffed.
I appreciate you feel that the airport had to be kept open at all cost. What you must appreciate is that others who disagree have that right, and would have seen a tribunal binding decision as preferable.
One finalpoint is how long would the firefighters have remained on strike and without any income? Unless, as I said before they knew that any strike would be over within hours.
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D Jones
It is true I have asked others to tell me what they would have done to get the planes flying again,
I would have let it stay shut and seen the outcome of the tribunal first. And yes it would have effected me too, but i would have got over it
You say about the damage that would have been done to the island in terms of costs, reputation of guernsey as a holiday destination and of course the upset to the local travellers.
So what do we have now?
“Guernsey Government caves in to blackmail”
Not sure how long it will be to shake of that reputation?.
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Stephen you will have to ask the fireman why they withdrew their fire cover before the tribunal had a chance to convene, those whose job it is to do so, had to deal with the aftermath of that decision by the firemen with the airport closed down and it was their job to get the airport open again immediately. We can all wring our hands and say how terrible it was that the firemen closed the airport in the first place but it is the responsibility of government to sort that out and argue whose fault it was and why it happened once the airport has been re-opened and the Guernsey public are free to go about their business without serious disruption to their lives. How long would they have stayed out? Well you tell me because your guess will be no better than mine, except to say that the firemen themselves said that it was an indefinite closure.
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Stephen you have to ask PSRC why there was no A-Z plan and why there is not a no strike action agreement in place already as they are responsible for pay and conditions, after all they have been in talks with the firemen for 2 years and they are legitimate questions. I think what has to be recognised is that the only thing that mattered to the people of Guernsey was getting the airport re-opened. Everything else can and must be sorted out after that has been achieved.
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Deputy Jones
You say that the firefighters said the strike would be indefinite time.
Well they would say that. They certainly wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag that they believed a whuite knight was wating to rescue them.
Mind you after the breaking of the arbitration promise who would believe the fiirefighters?
What puzzles ne is that a Ploicy Council who were so worried about the possibility of a shutdown at the airport did jack all about it for many months. The same criticism would apply to Public works or whatever it is called these days.
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Two comments on this:
1. Congratulations to Lyndon Trott and the other members of the EPA for having the courage to step in and sort this ridiculous mess out and get the airport open – even if it did mean conceding ground to the firefighters.
2. Never again must the firefighters or anyone else be allowed to hold the island to ransom in this way. A review needs to take place speedily as to what needs to be done going forward to prevent this happening again. Clearly a no strike agreement (enforceable in law) should feature.
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Mark L
Two responses to your two comments.
1 The intervention of Deputy Trott and co has not sorted out the mess. It has extended the mess for another year at a further cost. The basic problem still exists.
2 I agree with your sentiments re outlawing industrial action by groups such as firefighters.
Given what happened last week I just wonder what response the firefighters would give to Deputy Trott et al if they suggest a no strike agreement.
If they threaten an indefinite closure what do you think Deputy Trott and his team would do?
If the answer is to insist on a no strike clause, why din’t they do it last week. Or is the alternative to pay up and dress it up as a strategic masterstroke?
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I would guess from what i have read so far is that the emegency powers committee have no responsibility for negotiating pay and conditions per se – they just paid an interim amount to get the ff back to work. Whoever is now responsible for negotiating should take this into consideration.
I agree that a no strike agreement should be mandatory for all emergency service workers. However, up until last Monday when the ff did go on strike the previous problems were caused by a shortage of staff which meant they could not provide enough ff to meet the rules of the CAA for certain categories of aircraft. That problem will only ever be sorted by a formal on-call system, which i don’t think the airport fire service have at the moment.
Nowhere else are services expected to be covered ‘as a favour’ – they all have on-call agreements where particular staff know that they are on-call over a given period. At the moment the whole of the ff are expected to be available and surely this could easily be sorted out. I was listening to Tony Spruce on the BBC radio Guernsey ‘phone-in yesterday and he kept harking back to the halcyon days when there were no problems. Perhaps he is missing the point: many years ago there were not the number or size of aircraft moving through Guernsey so the ff were not required to work outside of their normal working hours on a regular basis.
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Stephen john well said i totally agree with you.
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I do think that some people are being rather blinkered. The ff could have brought the airport to a standstill 2 years ago on a regular basis purely by refusing to work on their days off as apparently their contracts do not require them to do that. They may well have managed to recruit up to their establishment now, but is that still enough to keep the airport running when they have holidays and training to cover + occasional sickness cover when needed? What they have agreed to (if i understand correctly) is to cover all eventualities for the next year. That is surely worth the money?
I have tried to work it out and reckon that the ff would probably get 4 weeks holiday a year plus 9 BH in lieu of the fact that they cover 7 days a week which is say 6 weeks each x 30. That is 180 weeks a year to be covered which is about 3.5 ff off each week – that is without their refresher training which i think they said was 3 weeks every 3 or 4 years per ff. That is still a lot of shifts to cover depending on whether they now have staff in place to cover them. Unlike a desk bound job where the work just piles up until they get back to work the CAA have firm rules about how many ff have to be on duty to ensure the airport functions. Perhaps i am wrong – if i am then i am sure i will soon be put right!
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yes stephen john i was perplexed at the rules not being followed, thanks for that and making some great comments after.dave jones, despair away, i could care less what you think about what i say.the cm in his pathetic playground commentas to the bailiff has put his flag up, just as he did when he offered barry brehaut out, this sort of man has no place in the states let alone as cm. and bernard flouquet also haS shown himeself lacking as a person able to ‘do ‘ politics.they should both go, how can the states have any authority when it is in the hands of people such as these. i’ll say this for you though dave jones, you do at least come on things like this forum and talk and discuss questions from the public,good for you.
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SJ
They did close the Airport, the PC did not interfere as the PSRC were dealing with the matter and said they were progressing in stages towards a settlement that’s why PC stayed out of it. Your hindsight is always very useful in these sorts of situations.
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Dave Jones
It’s not the lack of hindsight that is the problem. The problem is lack of basic management and risk analysis.These are the responsibility of the States.
After all the problem was known for some time not only by the PSRC but Policy Council and PSD.
Reading the CM’s questions and answers and the emphasis on keeping the airport open would make anyone wonder why the States had not completed a “What if” risk analysis of the consequences.
What we did have was the conribition of the head of HR that the payment to the firefightes was not remuneration. i suppose the next thing is the firefighters asking for the tax to be paid by the taxpayer because it is not remuneration.
What taxpayers expect is good problem planning, good advice and appropriate action.
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nikkers
I thank you for the acknowledgment of my willingness to engage with the public, I think its important for the public to know the views of their Deputies on many issues not just those printed in a manifesto at the beginning of a term.
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Dave Jones
Although I don’t agree with you on this matter, I commend you for having the courage to come her and make your case.
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DJ the airport should never have been shut in the first place. I don’t by into the hang the PSRC routine, the buck does not stop with them, it stops with those above.
The blame is with our States not stepping in and sorting out this mess 18 months ago.
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HH HB
The States were kept informed by the PSRC that everything was under control, nobody interfered as they put it until the airport was shut down for an indefinite period. That took the whole thing to a new level and the EPA did exactly what they are supposed to do and assessed the situation, in the end the employer the PSD decided to extend the temporary arrangement to get the airport OPEN which was more important than anything else in my view.
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Dave Jones
Your precis missses a key point.
The PSD didn’t decide to extend the temporary agreement. There was considerable debate as to whether they or PSRC would negotiate.
This decision rested on the advice of HM Comptroller as to whether PSRC had a mandate to negotiate the temporary agreement. It seems to have been forgotten that the PSRC had a mandate to negotiate the previous temporary agreements.
Last week the Comptroller relied in giving his advice on the view of the Head of HR that the temporary agreement did not involve remuneration and therefore could be negotiated by the PSD.
The letter from the Comptroller makes clear that he regards his iniitial view as questionsable for the simple reason he had, as he admits, not given appropriate weight to the argument that £4000 was not remuneration.
So, the PSD taking over was at best very questionable, and the advice was given without the reflection and consideration the problem deserved.
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I am sorry SJ ,in the end the PSD decided to extend the offer to get the airport open, that is a fact and they did on the advice of HMC on the day.
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dave Jones
Like you I am sorry the shadow EPA members and others including HM Comptroller reled on the advice of Mr Elliott the HR man.
This advice, and the failure of the Comptroller to give proper weight to the contra case and legal cases, meant that the advice on the day from the Comptroller was not to the standard one would expect.
In his letter to deputies, HM Comptroller makes iit obvious that his initial opinion was made without proper consideration. In his words, on reflection he bacame aware of the values of the argument that £4000 is remuneration.
But then most of us could have told PSD that!!!
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Excellent letter from Deputy Spruce in today’s Press.
Mr Spruce provides some needed balance to the letter of the CM, the dvice of HM Comptroller, and the comments from a firefighter.
He seems to have summed up the issues well and without any “spin”.
Well worth the read and sometning to remember.
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