Water lay-offs plea for help
Wednesday 11th November 2009, 3:00PM GMT.
The Chief Minister has been asked to intervene in possible job losses
CHIEF Minister Terry Le Sueur has been urged to intervene to stop Jersey Water making 20 workers redundant.
The States control more than 70 per cent of the shares in the company, which last week warned staff that jobs were at risk. It is thought that the company plans to privatise one of its departments.
But now the Island’s biggest trade union has urged the Chief Minister to officially intervene to ensure fair treatment for its members, who face redundancy and the prospect of ‘a dismal Christmas’.
The union has protested that there is no justification for the lay-offs as the company increased its profits by 14 per cent to more than £4 million last year.
And the Unite union is angry that the company is privatising some civil engineering functions ‘to maintain shareholder dividend’.
Unite official Nick Corbel said that as the taxpayer controls more than 70 per cent
of the business, it was appropriate that the Chief Minister should intervene.
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Well he never listened to 16,000 people who voiced concerns over the introduction of GST. So I would imagine no sleep will lost whatsoever over this one. Situation normal . . .
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Why intervene at Jersey Water but not at the banks? or anywhere else that people are losing their jobs, at least they will get redundancy, that’s more than I got.
I agree that it’s wrong to make people redundant if the business is making money but that decision is up to the business, it’s not a criminal offence is it.
There seems to be a view that states jobs or companies part owned by the states should be ring fenced and immune to the recession affecting the rest of us.
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Poor folks if they have to rely on this bloke for any help.
Thats as much use as a paper umbrella! I guess they feel there drowning knowing what help there is in this place!
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Shame we weren’t given the same support when 17 of us were ‘let go’ by Ogier,that the Waterworks seem to be getting, where were our politicians then!!
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Is it more important than Jersey heritage ?
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All companies are free to outsource work for the benefit of company profit, that’s the way of the world and it’s not going to be any different for Jersey Wetstuff is it?
If there’s work to be done then someone will have to be employed to do it, so there may be some replacement job opportunities – although I suspect that will mean cheap imported labour and the JW workers will cost the States more in Income Support and lost tax revenue than they’re trying to save.
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Way of the world. Yes and look at the way it’s going…would you call it good….?the powers that be want people to be accepting,submissive,and compliant …so they end up saying “Oh well,what can you do…it’s just the way it is….well the hell with that we can resist and change and start living for the good of the people not a bunch of faceless and rapacious sharks.
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what about the 80 at telecoms
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It would be nice to think that the laws of the island gave a level playing field to those now looking for jobs
IT DOES NOT !
It looks as though most of the redundancies are going to be manual type labour “privatising some civil engineering functions” These type of people would be ideal to retrain as heavy goods drivers, a well paid interesting job, necessary to keep the island running.
Here’s where the level playing field slopes.
A local company needs a heavy goods driver.
A local person with a car licence needs to train and pass a DLVA test in a medium goods vehicle, they then must wait 12 months before they can train and pass a test for heavy goods and become qualified to fill the job vacancy.12 months and 2 lots training and 2 tests.
A person of whatever nationality living in Poland with a car licence is told of the vacancy by a friend. he then takes and passes his heavy goods test without having the mandatory 12 months driving a medium goods vehicle. This Polish licence is then exchanged for a Jersey heavy goods licence and they can immediately apply for the job.1 training and 1 test.
No laws have been broken, all is legal and above board.
This unbalance affects all locals not just the Jersey born.
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No.4 – the future
What has heritage got to do with people losing jobs? Wasted comment in my opinion!
No.8 – PJG
Totally agree!
No.2 – Keith
Why not the banks? Because the banks aren’t an established Jersey Company!?
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No.4 – the future
What relevance does Jersey Heritage have to jobs in Jersey? Also, aren’t Jersey Heritage being cleared of all debts? Wasted opinion in my view!
Of course I agree that Heritage is important, but keeping a couple of buildings isn’t going to help people keep their jobs!
No.8 – PJG
Totally Agree!!
No.2 – Keith
What about the banks? Wouldn’t saving people’s jobs from a well established Jersey Company that provides you with water to quench your thirst and to keep you clean be more important!?
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Redundancy is an unfortunate inevitablity of the capitalistic world but it is frequently a good thing for the long term benefit of us all. Inefficiencies serve nobody over time, so to blindly maintain worker numbers in any industry is short sighted at best (blind at worst!).
In any case, why should any of us effectively subsidise their continuing employment if they are not really needed. I thought this article was quite irritating when I saw it in the JEP as I read nothing in the article to support why anyone should rally against the redundancies, let alone the Chief Minister!
Of course it is a shame for those affected and their families, and the timing is poor ahead of Christmas, but as mentioned, at least they have redundancy to see them through and it’s certainly a lot easier to get good work here than most parts of the Western world right now.
It’s just a shame that more States departments or subsidiaries couldn’t shed a few more ‘unneeded’ positions, as it is surely costing us all a ridiculous amount individually in taxes (and higher water bills) to maintain the bloated civil service as it is.
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Mistershifter #1
Oh but the States do pay attention. They paid attention to the public outcry for competition in the telecommunications market. They then listened to the outcry not to sell JT and it’s employees to the competition. Now we have 80 people being made redundant at JT. Who are you going to blame for that?
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Jif (10) in reply to Keith (2)
No! Water workers are not more important than people who work in banks! What a stupid comment to make.
I work for a bank where redundancies are currently being made – some will be redundant before Christmas and the rest will be shortly after Christmas. Most are not sure whether it will be them or not!!
Regardless of whether they work for the much loathed finance industry or not, their feelings, jobs and situations are just as important to them if not to you!!
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It is difficult situation for those 20, but they will receive good redundancy package from Jersey Water.
Most workers elsewhere will not receive a penny. It is unfair to help them, because today there is 80 going at JT, how many tomorrow?
If States will help them, it should help in future in every redundancy case.
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Chris Posted Most workers elsewhere will not receive a penny.
And why would that be then? I have to blame the states for failing to implement proper employment legislation.
The states at least are helping these people as they are their employers and are acting in a responsible manner and aren’t just chucking them out on the streets with nothing.
As the private sector is run by other employers it is these employers who are responsible to pay for redundancy and not the states.
What people should remember is that no one’s job is safe and that they could be replaced by someone else prepared to work for less. This is one of the joys of capitalism. Most will agree with it until they are on the receiving end.
Some however don’t agree with it on principle and don’t need to sample redundancy to know this.
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We at Jersey Water are Highly trained and are not standing by doing nothing the reason for the redundancies at Jersey Water are purely fiscally driven and you the customer will see little or no savings. On the other hand the share holders will see a rise in their dividend
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Re “at least they have redundancy to see them through and it’s certainly a lot easier to get good work here than most parts of the Western world right now.”
It’s easy for you to be blasé about the situation since you are not affected. I happen to know one of the workers very well. He is not due any significant redundancy pay as he has only been working there about a year. He has a wife, young child, and a large mortgage, and few prospects of getting another job.
This would never have been allowed to happen in Europe because these people are not being made redundant – their jobs still exist, the management just wants to outsource them in order to increase their profits.
Under European legislation, you have to firstly prove that there is no longer a requirement for these workers (which there obviously is) and if you do prove that, you have to then try to find them work elsewhere in your organization. Only when you have done that, and failed, can you start discussing redundancy with the Workers Council and the Union. Aren’t Jersey employers lucky that Jersey is not signed up to any of that legislation?
The way these workers have been sacked is an outrage and shows absolutely no social conscience. The way their Union and work colleagues have allowed it to happen without industrial action is also a betrayal.
It was done without any consultation, either with the men themselves or their Union, and demonstrates the contempt in which they are held by the employers and shareholders.
We all know how free-market Capitalism works, thankyou. At its worst, it makes people rich by playing fast and loose, trampling on the lives, of workers anywhere round the globe. It also bring us wonderful things like the ‘credit crunch’. Why do you speak of unrestrained Capitalism as if it is some good in itself? I thought that language died with Reaganism and Thatcherism.
As J K Galbraith said, ‘Liberality for the wolves is death for the lambs.’
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It’s not “a shame” to be made redundant,it’s devastating.Especially when the company involved made over four million profit and the directors have looked after themselves very nicely(thank you Roy Travert.com for your info}In a climate where families are already under huge financial pressure this is an outrageous decision,not based on sound financial judgement but based on greed alone.
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State jobs are for life, so I was told.
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No.14 – Diane
The difference is there are more companies that are finance/trust based than there are manual labour.
So it will be easier for bankers to get jobs than it would for a road digger or truck driver (seeing as these are the main individuals that have been made redundant!)
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Re “This is one of the joys of capitalism.”
Really? Jersey Water is a monopoly with no competitors. Its customers have no choice but to use water and no choice where they get it from.
It is a social utility that could never be allowed to fail, however dire its finances, because people must have water. Even if the States didn’t own seventy percent of it, they would still be the lender of last resort and would pick up the bill.
Given that, you can hardly say this is free-market capitalism at work.
Even if they feel the need to lower their overheads, there were lots of other options especially as this change is not urgent. The management had time to make other efficiencies – lower wages across the board, reduce the number of managers, etc. Every avenue could have been tried.
But to call everyone into a room and sack twenty men with four weeks notice is just savage, especially given the current economic conditions.
Given that Jersey Water is handed their business on a plate, the least they could do is act with social responsibility in return.
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Well said Florence. As another of the ‘Ogier 17′, the so called ‘support’ that they said they were given was non-existent. I hope the poor folk at Jersey Water are treated better than we were. At least they are getting some warning of whats coming, unlike us. Mind you, when one tedious door closes, another bigger and better door usually opens. It did in my case, and I for one am glad to be out of that place.
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States workers believe that they are owed a job for life, that they are special, and deserve to be treated as special. WELL WAKE UP YOU AND SMELL THE COFFEE – WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!
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Look on the bright side, if the jobs were actual working jobs there will be 20 vacancies with another company in the private sector, the only real loss would be you would probably have to buy your own slippers etc.
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pjg(9) i agree., cheap labour by the back door.
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Mrs. Bead. Are you saying that because the private sector is a cut throat business it means that this is the right way to run a business?
I don’t blame anyone for wanting a proper job with decent conditions. Is it a good idea to work for someone who is prepared to stab you in the back when it suits them?
If this is your idea of the real world then it is **** isn’t it?
The weak and trusting are at a disadvantage, in my opinion, as it is easy to take advantage of someone who is too trusting or is in a weak position.
Capitalism rewards the exploitation of others in my honest opinion, and it seems to be getting worse.
If I was in charge I would take back the 25% remaining shares into public ownership. I don’t think it is right that a private individual or company should be making money from a necessity of life.
I must ask the valid question why give the directors a big rise in the severest recession since the Great Depression? This to me seems very wrong.
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Re “WAKE UP YOU AND SMELL THE COFFEE”
Coffee just doesn’t appear in its natural state – someone has to make it. And what you call the ‘real world’ has also been constructed according to a set of principles, working inside the parameters of a given economy at a certain period of history. Things could be arranged differently.
You might be correct that some States workers thought that their jobs were for life but that is not the point. The point is that these layoffs are not redundancies because the work is still required. Even if they were, there is a civilised way to manage redundancies, which hasn’t been followed in this case.
(Adrian, my last post meant to support you, not knock you, as it appeared to do.)
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