Union warns of ‘winter of discontent’
Tuesday 27th October 2009, 2:59PM GMT.
Mr Corbel addressing a Royal Square demonstration of States workers against the pay freeze last Tuesday
ISLANDERS have been warned that they face a bleak ‘winter of discontent’.
The warning was issued by the chairman of the group that represents public sector workers.
Nick Corbel, of the Unite union, made the comment in response to Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur saying that he was ‘open to mediation’ and willing to negotiate a two-year deal with any public sector pay group.
The Island’s 6,700 public sector workers face a pay freeze for 2009/10 after the States last week rejected a move to reinstate the equivalent of a two per cent pay increase into budgets.
Mr Corbel said it was likely that later this week shop stewards representing the 1,500 States and parish manual workers will agree to a ballot of their members for industrial action.
Unions and staff associations that represent thousands of workers, including nurses, paramedics, civil servants, prison staff and teachers, are due to meet the States Employment Board later this week.
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‘A winter of discontent’ my goodness me, I shall add that the list of all previous winters of discontent due to incompetence.
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Oh wake up you silly priveliged people, no one is getting a pay rise and the rest of us don’t have secure, pensionable jobs like you and if made redundant we won’t get any money.
I’m recovering from an operation and I’m not getting paid for being off sick by my employer, try working in the real world.
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I think that they will find little support from the ordinary man and woman on the street for this approach. The alternative to no pay rise is the loss of jobs which I am sure would be just as unpalatable. I agree that states members have not helped by awarding themselves a pay rise which in my view they should give back and feel the pain with the rest of us. Holding the Island to ransom and disruptring the private sector which is on its kneesin any case will not help
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Wake up Mr Corbel, job cuts, reducing expenditure and no pay rises are what your members should be asking for, or, do they really prefer higher taxes, a longer working life and increasing their own job insecurity?
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could be a winter of discontent for most , as we have switched the heating on again.
quite true tricky(3)the states should practice what they preach, many of the general public may look at this goverment in a different light.
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Mr. Corbel needs to get real. This is not the time to throw his toys out of his pram. The unions need to exercise constraint until the good times return. Industrial action will just make things worse and his members will find find little support from islanders.
They say all good things come to those that wait, that’s what his members need to do.
There are many people whose income has been reduced and in some cases vanished altogether. Most States’ employees jobs are currently secure, but if Comrade Corbel gets his way that might change.
Your employers can’t pay you what they haven’t got – wait until there is more money in the coffers and then make your claims….hopefully then you’ll be rewarded for your patience.
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Maybe Comrade Corbel knows something that others don’t? Namely that there is strength in numbers. United you stand and you have a good chance of winning your argument. Divided you get nothing.
Just look how quickly the Guernsey Airport Fire Service sorted out their grievences. I am sure others will have noticed what happened there.
I blame the government for not getting a grip with run away prices over here. Limit inflation and it limits wages. Let inflation spiral upwards and wages will follow. Wages only follow inflation so tackle the cause and the effects will be minimised. Or you could do nothing and see what happens. Maybe a winter of discontent?
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aw! bless these poor souls, perhaps striking is just their way of expressing their local origins. Personally speaking perhaps Jersey needs a dose of the 1970′s. Lilliput land never had it so good.
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winter of discontent alright. who,s daft idea was it to put the clocks back? stroll on summer again…………. if we ever get one again that is!
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Do you lot out there really appreciate what damage /grief this group can do to YOU.
I doubt they will strike, that would mean they would get no wages and would have to crumple at a resistance to their demands in a week or so (especially now booze and fags are going up).
What will happen is a “work to rule” every job will have to be inspected and risk assessed before start, a journey to the stores because an item of PPE was found to be out of date after a half hour journey to the work site, and of coarse the other 6 workers had to wait on this individual because they were not a “full team”. And all the time they are playing this game “WE” are still paying them wages, they can keep this up for months.
And when the streets are overflowing with soiled nappies and used condoms floating up from the sewers we will give in and reinstate their right to responsibly negotiate their wages.
THEN we will be paying them overtime rates to do the jobs that had piled up due to their withdrawal of goodwill.
Why not allow that now ? It does not automatically mean they will get a rise.
At the moment we enjoy good will between employers and workers.
Is it really worth going through all this when all they are asking is the right to negotiate ?A basic right anyway I would have thought.
Don’t mention lock out, who is going to do the job then, not the baby oiled pink handed cast offs from the finance industry, anyway we would only have to sack them and reinstate the original workers, with “back pay” of course when they bring out the big guns and shut down the hospital airport docks etc.
I don’t like giving in to blackmail either, but as is often quoted here, LETS GET REAL, don’t start a fight if its 90 to 10 that your going to lose, and lose big time.
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So people (including States workers) – you’ve just had the onerous tax announcements from the Treasury Minister who fought to cap States salaries. Do you want him to amend the duty increase to cater for reckless behaviour promoted by the Unions…? Answers on a post card.
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I am sick of finance and others knocking these people for their right to negotiate, as for the lucrative pensions these people have, most are on half final salary which for a lot equates to 7,000 – 10,000 pa! These are not the people at the top earning 70k. If people think it is so cushy in the states employment why don’t you leave your office and become one!!
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Winter is always quite discontenting I prefer Spring.
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