Last week, the States Employment Board made a ‘final offer’ of a one per cent pay increase covering both 2015 and 2016, claiming that it was ‘not possible’ to make a higher award because spending limits had already been set by the States Assembly.
Under the offer, staff would effectively still have their 2015 pay frozen but would receive a one per cent rise for this year.
But Prospect, the union which represents Jersey’s civil service, issued ballot papers this week to its 1,000-strong membership over whether to accept last year’s pay freeze and will decide whether to take further action once the results are known, claiming that the 2015 offer should come under the budget of the previous States expenditure plan – the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2013-2015 – when higher spending limits were approved, so the pay freeze should not apply.
