SOME years have elapsed since the last strike threat hit this community. The teaching unions, in particular, which used to be among the most vociferous, have been remarkably quiet.

One thing, at least, has changed in the intervening years: Jersey does now have legislation regulating trade unions in the form of the Employment Relations Law, adopted by the States in 2007. So thankfully it is now legal to belong to a union and industrial action has finally been recognised in Jersey law.

Clearly both the teachers and the Fire Service now believe that they have good grounds for some kind of industrial action. At the time of writing, the teaching fraternity has made a number of proposals which have been rejected, with differences of opinion over whether it will be possible to continue talks.

There are a couple of general factors which concern me. One is that in a recession, all the odds are stacked with the employer. When there are cuts to be made it is the employee who is worrying about whether they will have a job at the end of the week, whereas the employer knows full well that there is a pool of qualified people out there seeking work.

The temptation, in times of recession, is for employers to look for cost savings where the spending is greatest. And as every employer knows, the major cost is the payment of staff. But cutting staff means that if the same amount of work is to be produced, the staff who are kept on will need to work harder to achieve the same goals.

A recession also means that employers are not going to be handing out financial rewards for good service. But if the employee feels unhappy about the increased workload for no extra pay, he or she can be shown the door.

The unrest we are seeing at the present time may or may not be a direct result of these additional pressures. But the fact that both the Fire Service and the teachers are paid for by the public sector – and the fact that the management of that sector is certainly seeing a threat of budget cuts – reflects the economic climate in which these discussions are taking place.

One thing is certain: if employees feel sufficiently aggrieved, they should have the right to take some practical action, if necessary. Otherwise we will be looking at a return to the dark ages before employment rights existed.

In Jersey, to be truthful, there is precious little legislation even now to protect workers, and there is still no redundancy law. That is an ongoing and shameful gap which should have been filled long ago.

This green and concreted land
ONE of the delights of renting an allotment owned by the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society is that you become a member of an organisation that has been around for the best part of 175 years.

As well as entry to the various shows organised throughout the year and so forth, it also entitles members to receive a copy of the annual journal which, to people who are by and large not involved in the agricultural industry, is a bit of a novelty.

In truth, when this year’s copy plopped through my letterbox last week I was tempted to put it aside, on one of those ‘when I have time to read’ piles. Although I love the Jersey cow dearly, I’m afraid the recent upheavals over semen imports have somewhat passed me by – although I do believe that we will have to get used to seeing some rather odd-looking genetic mixes in Island fields ere long.

There was one article in the journal, though, which caught my eye, as it relates to the ‘new’ Island Plan. What struck me in particular about the comments by RJAHS chief executive James Godfrey can be summarised in one sentence: ‘Those wanting to see continued building development across the Island are gathering their forces for an onslaught of lobbying to amend the plan and remove any emphasis on preservation’.

He adds that currently there is ‘an absence of detailed information on the land bank in the Island’. I find this extraordinary, for an Island nine miles by five. He does say, however, that the Agricultural Census shows a 30 per cent decline in farmed land since 1970. He also maintains that if the Island wants a viable agricultural sector, there has to be a sufficient bank of land available so that people can work it.

The Island Plan consultation having concluded on Wednesday of this week, there is now no further opportunity for members of the public to put forward their concerns.

It will be shameful if apathy has managed to get the better of us, leaving the powers that be to assume that the majority don’t care about what might happen to the fields that not only provide us with the best in horticultural and dairy produce, but also make the Island such a wonderful environment in which to live, work – and spend the Bank Holiday weekend.