‘Obsessed with austerity’

The austerity-obsessed Jersey government won’t be allowed to slash the wages of its workers, Unite said today (October 31).

The modernisation programme of States of Jersey Government, the island’s largest employer, envisages that its workforce, such as teaching assistants, gardeners, road sweepers and nurses, could be faced with a pay freeze for the next three years and following that a reduction in pay of up £2,500 per year.

Unite regional secretary for the south west (embracing the Channel Islands) Peter Hughes is flying to Jersey tomorrow (November 1) to put down a strong marker that Unite won’t tolerate swingeing cuts to its 2,500 members’ incomes, when he meets senior shop stewards tomorrow.

“The States’ government is obsessed with austerity, although this is not really an issue on prosperous Jersey, which is underpinned by international financial services and legal services,” Hughes said.

“We believe that Jersey’s government is using ‘austerity’ as a smokescreen to implement further cuts to its workforce’s pay and terms and conditions.

“It is our members who provide the bedrock services that the public rely on, such as health and education,” he added.

“Unite is recommending that the members reject the government’s offer, which will also have detrimental effects to pensions and collective bargaining arrangements.

“If the government persists in this flawed policy, we will be giving serious consideration to taking industrial action to defend our members’ living standards.”