The comments from Constable Richard Buchanan, the deputy chairman of the States Employment Board, came as hundreds of civil servants walked out in protest over years of below-inflation pay deals earlier this month.
Speaking about politicians’ pay, Mr Buchanan said: ‘All I can say, in a serious way, is that this is a problem the States have. If it wants to attract people with real ability, and I don’t necessarily include me in that category, from the finance industry, then it has to realise those people are worth a certain amount of money.’
He added: ‘It’s a lot more work than I expected. If I’m being honest, at the height of my career when I was 40-odd I was working 15-hour days, seven days a week. I didn’t appreciate when I got to the age of 63 I’d be doing the same thing.’
States Members are paid £46,600 per year. The average full-time worker in Jersey earns £38,480 annually.
Bob King, negotiation officer for the Prospect union, said: ‘I’m not surprised. He’s made a lot of comments on the TV or in the media. He’s talked about intense negotiations but he’s never been in them. And there are no negotiations going on with the civil service at all. There’s no conversation going on. I have only had one conversation with the guy, at my request, to say the whole thing is going to hell in a hand cart and here’s your chance to sort it out, and there was much hand-wringing from them.’
Mr King added that while he did not begrudge a pay rise for politicians, there was a more pressing priority: ‘I guess the question is who contributes more to Jersey? Is it teaching assistants, those in path labs, nurses, teachers etc, or those in the State Assembly? I vote for the prior ones. It would certainly be the case that if he deserves a pay rise public servants certainly do.’
With the prospect of longer and more frequent walk-outs looming, Mr King wants Jersey’s government to return to the negotiating table.
He said: ‘I don’t think workers will be surprised by his comments as they’re disgusted by the antics of some in the States Assembly. We want to engage in negotiations with the employer. We want to speak to somebody to sort this pay dispute out. But nobody wants to talk.’
In unprompted comments about politicians’ pay, Mr Buchanan told the JEP: ‘If the States wants to attract a certain level of talent into the Assembly, then it has to realise that talent comes at a cost. If you don’t pay at the right level you’ll always struggle to find the right people. I don’t know what the solution is, but if I was working full-time I’d be earning a lot more than I’m earning at the moment.’
He added: ‘Most of us have worked hard all our lives and are actually looking forward to retirement and having a rest. All the skills I ever acquired in my business career have been used in the last six months. I don’t think I’ve arrived in my comfort zone. It’s a challenge. I shall probably give up at the end of four years, exhausted and worn out.’
