- A States Deputy has warned that there could be strikes in the public sector over a planned pay freeze
- Teachers’ union NUT has already warned that its members were unhappy over the move
- Planned pay freeze is part of States plan to tackle looming deficit
- Should public workers take strike action? Take part in our poll below?
STRIKES within the public sector could happen unless the Council of Ministers changes the way it plans to plug the predicted financial shortfall, a States backbencher has warned.
St Helier Deputy Sam Mézec believes that strike action is likely following the announcement that public sector pay will be frozen for 2015.
The States Employment Board announced the pay freeze for public sector workers last week following the revelation that the Island is facing a £125 million financial shortfall by 2019. Ministers said that £60 million of that will have to be found in staff savings.
The move has angered trade unions who have said that workers are paying the price for government failures and Deputy Mézec has said that while he does not want to see public sector strikes, they were certainly a possibility.
He added: ‘The government will try to avert strike action but what has happened so far does not bode well and if there are strikes then it would be the fault of the Council of Ministers not those striking.
‘It is so arrogant of the States Employment Board that they can expect to impose these sanctions and not have any response from the workers. Those people that will be affected do need to stand up against it.’
The St Helier Deputy also claimed that the current strategy to deal with the financial shortfall is ‘fundamentally flawed’ and will do little to plug the financial blackhole.
He added: ‘It is all out austerity – the plan for deficit reduction is based on the measure the UK implemented which did not work. They are following failed economic ideas.’
Several trade unions are set for a series of meetings with the workforce this week to discuss the pay freeze.
