23 January 2007
Civil Servants accept 2.4 % payment, TGWU and linked groups reject it
but withdraw strike threat and agree to talk
Union officials representing Jersey’s 2,000 thousand civil servants have accepted an interim 2.4 per cent back dated payment offered to all public sector workers made by the States Employment Board last week.
The news has been welcomed by the chairman of the Employment Board, Chief Minister Senator Frank Walker: “I’m pleased that a reasonable proportion of our workforce has accepted the offer of an interim payment of the overdue 2006 pay offer. As we made clear right from the start, the payment was intended to be a goodwill gesture at a difficult time of year after more than eight months of waiting and is more than deserved.”
Meanwhile, union officials representing the Transport and General Workers’ Union and other affiliated public sector staff groups (manual workers, fire officers, ambulance paramedics and nurses) have rejected the interim payment and these staff members will not receive their back-dated pay next month.
The States Employment Board, the public sector employer, has agreed that it will not make the interim payment to these members of staff, in return for a TGWU commitment to call off the threat of strike action, withdraw this week’s plans to ballot members on industrial action, and return to talks as a matter of urgency.
Senator Walker said: “If, as the TGWU officials have indicated, manual workers, nurses, ambulance paramedics and fire fighters would rather not accept this payment, that is their choice and we withdraw the offer completely – the payment will not be made. It is a shame for those members of staff who are not members of a union and who wanted to accept the payment – but the unions are clear that the majority of employees they represent have expressed their view. The only difference is that now until negotiations are complete this money will remain in the States bank account rather than in the pockets of our staff in these groups."
Senator Walker added: “Union negotiators have voiced concern about our assertion that, if higher pay awards are agreed, the cost will have to be met from budgets which have been agreed to fund the work and the staff costs of each department. Even giving one per cent extra would squeeze those budgets and impact on staff numbers and services. There is no more money in the pot and negotiations must be concluded against that background. This is not a threat, it is a fact.”
The increase of 2.4 per cent will not be withdrawn so it is the minimum increase staff will receive from June 2006. And, if the final award is higher, all staff in the public sector will receive the higher increase backdated to June 2006.
ENDS
Note to editors:
For more information, contact Senator Walker (t. 440401) or Chief Executive Bill Ogley (t. 440401), or Deputy Chief Executive Mick Pinel (t. 440002).
gov.je