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Union backing public sector workers as cutbacks loom
THE president of trade union Prospect has pledged its support for members in the Manx public sector as government cutbacks loom.
Catherine Donaldson visited the Island on Monday in the wake of government warnings there could be public sector job losses to cope with a massive loss of income from VAT.
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Ms Donaldson described talks this week between unions representing those workers and Phil Gawne MHK about setting up a cross-union forum as a 'very positive first step forward'.
But she predicted there were 'lots of challenges ahead' and urged the government to make a statement on any job losses as soon as possible so that consultation could begin.
She said: 'Our members here are in shock at the scale of the cuts in government funding and somewhat concerned as to what the announcement is going to be.
'We can prepare as much as possible but until an announcement is made it is difficult to set the wheels in motion.
'If people don't get the facts then rumours spread and that's the last thing we want to happen. The sooner proposals are in the public domain the better.'
She added: 'Prospect has a huge network of professionals with experience of these types of issues and I want to reassure our members in the Island that they have our full support.'
Prospect has more than 1,600 members in the Isle of Man, largely drawn from the public sector and in particular the civil service.
Its Island-based negotiations officer Angela Moffatt said they already faced pay freezes and drastic pension reductions.
She highlighted their plight to Chief Minister Tony Brown in a meeting last week.
She said: 'If the economy picks up, the private sector will see the benefit of that first but not workers in the public sector because there is no fat to add.
'For them, it's a recession within a recession which will last longer and cut deeper.'
Ms Moffatt called for an end to the 'demonisation' of public sector workers, saying they were 'not all pen-pushers.'
Many performed front-line services and those in administration roles freed others to work on the front line, she explained.
She said: 'When we met the Chief Minister, he was emphatic that the last thing he wanted was redundancies and he would do everything he could to avert that.
'The reality is, we need the number of public sector jobs we've got and that's why the government is trying to protect them.
'I wish the demonisation of public sector workers would stop. We are talking about real people with real livelihoods, who might live next door to you.
'We need strong and effective leadership from government to manage expectations and stop panic.
'We need to get sensible and get real. The unions are more than ready to do that because we understand and care about the Island.'
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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YOUR COMMENTS
It seems to be that not so long ago they were moaning about not getting the payrises they wanted!! Just shows you they should have been happy with what they were getting!!!
AW
The more things change the more they stay the same! Read Manx Movements and Memories (I think that's right) by Samuel Norris available from Manx National Heritage. He was a reforming "come-over" MHK who drove great political reform in the Island and stood up to the Manx Mafia of the day. The point is that in those days the Island had no income tax. It was reliant upon sales/turnover tax so that the burden of running the Island fell upon the poorest ie the majority. The Manx Mafia paid no income tax, and presumably no capital taxes, but sales tax, and particularly tax on food and essentials, was very high in comparison if you were working class. Eventually the UK threatened to legislate for Tynwald unless income tax was introduced and which was done in 1918. This was because there was no money in the kitty to subsidise the high cost of wartime flour/bread for the workers! The better off had to be made to pay their share. Norris was at one time jailed by the Manx Mafia but released on orders of Winston Churchill. It seems to me, and I have written of this, that the UK, far from picking up pennies in the form of 100 million, which is nothing in the great scheme of things, is manipulating the political situation so that we have another "Samuel Norris". The Island, now once again dependent on sales tax (VAT etc) and with low direct taxes, will be forced eventually to levy direct taxes either as higher income tax or as charges for public services. Or Both? And sack public sector workers? Once again, the burden falls on the backs of the majority who can least afford it having had such high expectations in the past. The Examiner has already pointed out that if the deficit were corrected it would require income taxes close to those of the UK assuming that route were followed. So it is deja vu. The UK is forcing the Isle of Man to introduce as it were, higher taxation so that the very "Low Tax Area Concept" is slowly ended. Do you recall when, after 9/11 "Twin Towers," the UK for a while would not let the Island benefit from the Troika mutual aviation insurance? There were no flights. Don Gelling CBE was then Chief Minister and he protested to the UK that the Island was being given the run around.....that it was damaging the finance sector etc...The 'planes must be allowed to fly...The "Sir Humphrey" at the UK Treasury barked back that maybe something could be done, "But now you look here! It is about time you got your tax rates up to the same levels as ours!"...I was told this by an "Insider" who listened to the recording of that conversation. Yes. Government Office does record important telephone calls.
BARRIE STEVENS
Avoiding public sector redundancies is all well and good, but at what cost: a reduction in the level of healthcare, education, policing?
MICK, Douglas
Despite what is written and protested about public servants, pretty much everyone knows someone collecting a government salary, but who fails to fulfill the criteria of "worker". In a recession such as this, coupled with the abject failure of Government Financial Policy, we are presented with an opportunity to remove those who choose not to perform in any useful way or provide good value to their organisations. This routing of rot is a common feature of recessions. Prospect should be helping to protect the employment of genuinely valuable workers, whilst not seeking to keep poor performers in jobs, at all costs, particularly to its own credibility. It's time to clean the barnacles off this boat, before it sinks. Permanently.
JC.
I couldn't have put it better myself, JC!!
ALEX
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