Firefighter tribunal has a message
Wednesday 20th January 2010, 2:30PM GMT.
AS THE tribunal of inquiry into the firefighter dispute grinds on, the picture emerging is increasingly depressing.
Warning signs of recruitment and retention problems within the airport fire service were apparent for years before last May’s closure action and industrial relations were clearly breaking down.
The Public Sector Remuneration Committee had no strategy for resolving it and, according to the account from the men themselves, their treatment at the hands of the committee’s negotiators and politicians was at best questionable and, at worst, unacceptably brutal.
This was recognised by those at the centre of government, with the deputy chief executive recommending that new negotiators or external assistance be brought in to try to end the impasse.
In turn, however, that merely highlighted the intransigence of the PSRC, which was more concerned about maintaining its one size fits all policy of collective bargaining than it was about outcomes: resolving the underlying issue creating the problems in the first place.
Beyond that, the other aspect emerging from the hearing is the difficulty the States has in resolving conflict or preventing impending serious difficulties from developing.
After the PSRC had embarked on its course of action, there was nothing to stop it apart from either declaring a state of emergency or asking 47 members of the States to direct the committee to modify its stance, which would have triggered a particularly difficult debate and done nothing to improve industrial relations.
As it is, the PSRC’s ‘solution’ was to refer the matter to arbitration. With the airport closed on the Tuesday, the earliest a hearing could be arranged was the Thursday or the Friday, implying four days of closure and disruption.
However, the men had already refused to attend, viewing the problem of retention as a management matter and, in reality, a dispute between the PSRC and Public Services.
Neither could the tribunal compel the men to return to work so, as one said after Monday’s inquiry hearing, ‘we could still be out now…’
In sticking to its guns, the PSRC was prepared to see the airport remain shut for an indefinite period and it was only an impromptu meeting with the chief minister that led to a speedy resolution.
The tribunal’s report will not reflect well on government’s ability to handle a crisis.
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Whilst the writer is correct that the PRSC negotiators strategy with difficult cases is to pass the buck to arbitration, it stretches the trith to suggest the PSRC “was prepared to see the airport remain shut for an indefinite period”.
I seem to recall that a tribunal would have been convened within days of the decision to effectively strike.
This decision begs the question as to why a body that could cause mayhem whilst still working within their contract, would take action that would stop their wages, unless they were confident a white knight would appear.
If a tribunal had convened then the settlement could well have been more favourable for the taxpayer than the more recent “settlement that might not be”.
Remember also that the settlement was made on the daft view that the monthly payments totalling £4000, was not remuneration.
The Press seem to be determined to whitewash history. Surely it is not to paint the picture of the editor as a statesman of stature?
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Perhaps the way to go to ensure equality within all states workers is to have one pay spine where all staff are measured against certain criteria i.e responsibility, training, qualifications etc etc.
It is becoming apparent that there is a huge difference in the wages of public sector workers v civil servants. It is OK to slate the firemen and say they are greedy but they are probably earning less than an admin person, and just because planes aren;t falling out of the sky on a regular basis (thank goodness) does not mean that they are not highly trained.
perhaps a list of civil service salaries v manual workers v healthcare workers would be interesting to see?
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Molly
as you rightly point out the airport firemen are well trained and I think these guys are bored out of their minds continually training for something that, thankfully, happens very,very, rarely I reckon boredom is a lot to do with the high staff turnover.
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You could be right Kevin …… but isn’t the high turnover a relatively new thing if the media have things right?
Hopefully the tribunal will be asking the airport firefighters if this is/was a factor although not sure what can be done about it – waiting for an emergency that you hope will never happen is, unfortunately, all part of the job (as with the town fire service).
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