22 February 2007
The Chief Minister’s Department has again tried to resolve the long running discussions involving a group of States engineers who don’t want to move to new workshops later this year.
The newly refurbished workshops will be complete and ready to receive the engineers in a few months’ time. The move has been arranged because it will save substantial sums of taxpayers’ money and put an end to wasteful duplication of work. The existing workshop will cease to exist and the building in which it sits will instead be let out to the private sector, bringing in an expected third of a million pounds each year. But so far, the group of 40 men has said they don’t want to move.
The men, represented by the Transport and General Workers’ Union, told their employers last week that the dispute was about contracts of employment. They say that they were unhappy about new contracts which have been drawn up which say they must be prepared to work in any States premises.
Contracts for some employees had to be revised, as the contracts stipulated they worked in Harbours Work workshop. This will clearly soon be impossible, as the Harbour Works workshops will cease to exist.
To break the impasse, the Chief Minister’s Department has proposed a new way forward. Assistant Minister Deputy Ian Gorst said: "This is about working more efficiently and saving tax payers money. If the men sign statements agreeing to move their place of work and accepting that they can be asked to work anywhere on States premises, then we are prepared to withdraw the contracts."
Deputy Gorst has already made it clear that he believes that the engineers, like hundreds of other civil servants and manual workers, who have had to change their place of work because of the public service change programme, should be prepared to move to new premises to help the States provide a better service to the community.
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Note to Editors
Fore more information, contact Deputy Ian Gorst on 720403 or Mick Pinel, Deputy Chief Executive on 440444
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