A VOTE of no confidence in the prison governor and the currently acting-governor by members of Unite the union is unfortunate, coming so soon after a tribunal established a pay and conditions outcome both sides felt able to hail as victory.

In particular, it is always questionable what any such vote actually achieves.

Staff at Les Nicolles do not appear to be refusing to work with their bosses or to accept direction from them so if there is still a dispute this latest development does not seem to have advanced it – and won’t have improved relationships.

And that is probably the saddest aspect of this matter. Management has the right to manage and the tribunal acknowledged that it could also change terms and conditions, subject to process.

Some of the changes required are to bring working practices there up to date and, management says, to improve conditions for inmates.

In today’s climate, the public sector and all its employees have a duty to the taxpayer to be as efficient as possible and change is now the norm, rather than the exception.

This seems to be a classic situation of trying to manage change and it is not going smoothly. The tribunal recognised the need for partnership working, which is why it recommended collaborative working between staff representatives and prison management to agree the new ways of working.

No one expects the prison employees to be walked all over or for the employer to try to do so. In any event, the tribunal also set up the collaborative working such that any disagreements were to be resolved by a third party.

It would be unfortunate if the union felt it was not making the progress it desired and the votes of no confidence were a reflection of that, since an independent test of fairness has already been built into the change process.

The unions have a valuable role to play in improving the island’s industrial relations and in helping to ensure working arrangements are geared to today’s rapidly altering circumstances.

Both parties need more confidence in each other – not less.