From John Dix
HOW stupid do our public servants and States Members think we, the long-suffering taxpayers, are?

Once again we have our teachers proclaiming that their proposed strikes are nothing to do with a claim for more pay, but rather an attempt to improve the service to the children in their care.

If this is really true, why don’t they formally withdraw any demand for increases in their salaries for last year? What benefit is it to children to miss days of schooling as the schools are closed due to teachers’ intransigence and self indulgence?

Now we have the news of the proposed two per cent cuts in departmental expenditure. Top of the pile is the withdrawal of free school milk, followed closely by a reduction in the number of police officers and a reduction in advertising to support tourism.

How cynical are our chief officers if they think that any of these are likely to pass a States debate? Oh well we tried, but the States rejected our plans, so what can we be expected to do?
Where are the real reductions in head count which can be achieved by a reduction and streamlining of the back office staff? If they don’t want to do this as it will impact on service delivery, why not propose the Canadian solution.

This was a reduction in salaries across the board in the public services – 15 per cent for salaries over £150k, ten per cent for those over £100k and five per cent for those over £50k, for example. Savings made year on year, and no redundancy costs or reduction in service delivery.

And while they are about it, why are all the adverts for jobs in the States at the current inflated pay scales? With the number of unemployed in the island, I am sure that many people would prefer a job at ten per cent less than the current rates offered, rather than living off their savings or Income Support.

Why don’t market forces apply to States employment policies when they certainly do in the private sector? And for those of you in the unions, this is not an act of class warfare designed to grind down your members, it is just an application of the hard realities of life today when we are paying the price for living beyond our means for too long.

There just doesn’t seem to be any coherence in the application of States policies.

The new ventures starting at Liberty Wharf are generating some welcome new jobs, but is the Regulation of Undertakings Law being applied so that they are only for residents of five or more years?

Are all the off-Island contractors given licences to work over here on major States projects, such as the incinerator, being given a permit on the condition that all of their employees pay ITIS and Social Security contributions on their salaries? If not, why not?