09 February 2007
Deputy Ian Gorst, assistant minister and chairman of the manual workers joint council, says he’s astonished and disappointed at the decision to take industrial action by manual workers who don’t want to move to new workshops later this year.
40 men were told last May that they would in future be asked to work in a different department and in new premises as part of the States drive to cut out unnecessary waste of taxpayer’s money. They were given a full year’s notice of the move but now – nine months later – they say they will refuse to do as they have been asked and take action to enforce it.
Deputy Gorst said: ‘I am disappointed. I believe that everyone in the public service should provide services to the public as efficiently and as cost- effectively as possible. We should be providing those services in the way that the public want them. This means that we must be prepared to adapt and change the way we work, to meet the demands of the people of Jersey. Here we seem to have a small number of employees who think they can say “we’ll carry on working in the way we want to’, without any consideration to the waste of taxpayers money.’
Deputy Gorst went on: ‘In 2004 the States promised that they would work more efficiently and that costs would be cut by £20m a year by 2009. To do this, hundreds of staff have had to change the way they work and very often, to work in different places. I applaud them and what they have achieved. It is unfortunate that a few employees are not prepared to change the way they work, to improve their service and to save the public money.’
The 40 engineers were transferred from the Harbours Department to Transport and Technical Services last May. At the time, they were told that the existing harbour workshops would be closed down and they would be required to move to other States workshops, either next door to their existing workplace at La Collette, or at Bellozanne. The move will bring in an additional income of around £⅓m a year, because the old workshops will be let out to the private sector. In addition, several public sector posts can be cut, because the extra workshop led to unnecessary duplication of work. The men have been assured that any job savings will be achieved by voluntary agreements and that there will be no compulsory redundancies.
John Richardson, TTS chief executive, said: ‘The men will be doing the same job as they always have been – their job descriptions remain the same and they would not be expected to undertake any duties which were not specified in them. From their point of view, they will be working in up-to-date, newly refurbished premises. They will have more opportunity for better training so that they can develop their own specialisations and it will allow better succession planning. It will mean we have a bigger, more adaptable team which is better able to respond in an emergency and give better service to our customers. Perhaps most important of all, it will save significant sums of taxpayer’s money and allow us to deliver a service we can be proud of.’
Mick Pinel, deputy chief executive and head of industrial relations, said: ‘This issue is all about the change programme and people working flexibly to benefit the Island as a whole. Our staff have worked at Bellozanne for years and, while the environment might not be what these men would choose, they should understand that it is something that we in the States have to do, as part of the job of working for Jersey. Their action is very disappointing, especially when you see what reassurances and security have been given.’
gov.je