CICSA backs expat jobs

| 01/09/2009

(CNS): The vice president of the Cayman Islands Civil Service Association says that he and the rest of the membership are behind all public sector workers whether they are local or foreign. Christen Suckoo told CNS that the goal of the organisation is to protect the salaries, benefits and jobs of every single civil servant. He said, however, that the association was well aware that there are forces in the community that would like to see the service downsized and, given that pressure, the CICSA had to offer sensible ways of addressing that.

“Our position is in defence of every civil servant, regardless of where they come from,” Suckoo said. “However, we would be naive to deny that there are forces out there that want to see a reduction, and if we have to think about that, the realistic options are early retirement and contract renewals.”

Following reports that Suckoo had suggested removing expat public servants as a means of cutting government expenditure during a meeting hosted by Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush to address the dire financial circumstances facing the country, the CICSA VP said that was simply not the case.

He explained that he would not advocate just removing foreign workers, not least because many of them have essential skills that the service depends on. But he said that if the service was forced to downsize, which he said had to be a long term project over a decade or more, those wanting to take early retirement and contract renewals should bethe first areas of consideration. He explained that those wishing to retire would have to be eased out over a long period to protect the impact on the pension fund, and every contract had to be considered on a case by case basis because of potential negative impact of not renewing contracted civil servants who could be essential to the needs of government.

“I apologise to any ex-pat in the service who thought I was suggesting that we should just cut contracts. That was not the message I wanted to convey and I could have articulated my point much better,” Suckoo said, adding that he was hoping to take a realistic assessment of how it was possible to downsize without causing harm to workers or the service itself.

He said the pressure to downsize was one that was based on a misconception of an over bloated and lazy civil service, which he said was just not true, and if cuts to jobs were coming people would have to think hard about what sort of services they are prepared to sacrifice.

“The idea that there are hundreds of overpaid and under utilized people in the public sector is totally misplaced,” Suckoo warned. “While there are some individuals earning large salaries, many, many more are not. I would also suggest that in comparison to the private sector most civil servants are paid considerably less for equivalent positions. More importantly, the public has to ask itself does it really believe we have an overabundance of teachers, police officers and garbage collectors that we can afford to just cut. ”

Suckoo said that, while there was room for efficiencies, he did not see how civil service jobs could be significantly reduced and still maintain the level of servicethe to which the public had become accustomed.  He also noted that the service had submitted a considerable number of ideas regarding revenue raising measures, which were discussed with the leader of government business following the meeting last Thursday at the Ritz, and further meetings were planned this week.

“One thing we have to remember is that any significant job losses in the civil service will have a direct negative impact on the local economy. “We have to understand that we are dealing with the largest body of employees in the country and if lot of them are to lose their jobs at the same time this will have a tremendous impact on local businesses.”

Suckoo noted that these were difficult times and the public sector was an obvious target, but it could not be the only target. While the civil service wanted to help all it could, everyone had to come together and think through the implications carefully.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    It is obvious that expats are employed as there are not Caymanians qualified to fill certain positions. People, we need to unite and work towards a better Cayman instead of planitng seeds of hatred in the hearts of our people!!!

    • Anonymous says:

      "It is obvious that expats are employed as there are not Caymanians qualified to fill certain positions".  Excuse me?!  That is the EXCUSE used not to employ Caymanians but frequently not fact. There are many qualified and experienced Caymanians being kept out of good jobs because some employers prefer foreign workers who they will be able tosupress and control.

  2. Anonymous says:

    First of all, let me clarify that I am not anti-expat; in fact I am an expat, and I am quite sick and tired of whiners from other countries who come to the Cayman Islands wearing thin skins and are unable to accept that the local Caymanians have a right to feel a sense of protection for their country. You are the persons who have chosento post anti-Caymanian, or shall I say "insensitive" posts here.

    I have lived in these Islands for more years than many of you   would imagine and I have utmost respect and admiration for the kind and gentle folk who have welcomed us in their midst and continue to allow us to share  the profits of their country. Oh yes, some of us worked to help to bring in those profits but let me remind you that it was our job and we were paid to do so. None of us did a favour to the Cayman Islands.

    Now that the coffers are empty there are those who see it as their right to remain, because they may be a tad more educated they say and may have skills that they see as unattainable by Caymanians. Those of you who, like me, chose to come here seeking jobs and the opportunity for a better life should take pause and consider that many of your own actions have in essence killed the golden goose. Greed is rampant in many forms and because of the docile nature  (not stupidity) of the Caymanian people the evil of greed continues to eat away at the fabric of this society.

    If one examines the Civil List for the Civil Service and carries out the other relevant checks, it will become very clear that indeed there are many highly paid, and probably unnecessary dare do I add, positions held by expatriates within the Civil Service. Go no further than the ill-functioning, but highly paid, financial positions that were created under the failed Finance and Management Law. It is obvious from the fact that required financial statements have not been available for years, despite the hiring of these people, that many of them are not worth the salt in their dish. Someone(s) been asleep on the job and a price should be paid for this. This is the area in which the Civil Service Association has failed, in my opinion, in having Suckoo and others claim in essence they are protecting these disfunctional positions. There are many other high paying positions throughout the government service which has resulted from the Finance law and which has proven not to be necessary. If the government is truly seeking to cut expenses then it should identify the said positions and cut them immediately. There is no need for apology guys. That is the kind of measure that will get government back on track financially,  not waiting around for another decade as was suggested by Suckoo. Those are the types of positions that need to go, and is not teachers, doctors etc as suggested by one whining and insensitive poster.

    Tough decisions need to be made and expats should not expect to be protected over the Caymanian. We all have homelands to return to, not so for the Caymanian.

    Caymanian Civil Servants I say to you to stand up and do not be afraid to claim your rights in the present situation. Your rights as a people reign supreme over the rest of us who chose to become guest workers in your lovely country.

    To those of you who will now choose to bash me I can only say that facts are facts and you should do your self assessment and consider that your homeland awaits you still. This is not your country.

    I pray for the well being of these Islands and wonderful people.

     

    • Luke says:

      Actually some your "Sensitive" heros are suggesting eliminating all expats working for governments, so are including the "whining and insensitive" poster stated jobs of teachers, etc.

      So you are saying he is right that these jobs should not go if an expat has them.

      You are agreeing with him and that makes him insensitive?

    • Thankful says:

      Thank you for your kind heart.  I could not have said it any better.

    • Anonymous says:

      Who are you sucking up to with your sanctimonious ignorant claptrap? Caymanians are not so stupid as to fall for your oily hypocrisy.

  3. Anonymous says:

     

     Hmmm, this discussion has become quite passionate…

    I am not a “Civil Servant”, but this adamant request by the “Private Sector”, to reduce their medical benefits is absurd. Why is the solution to follow an expensive, ineffective (see mortality rates – US ranks close to 50th, 40,000,000+ un/under insured, etc.) and basically failed US system?

    Rather than demand we “dumb down”, can we not agree to provide basic medical care to all?  There would be cost savings (a singleadministration, increased contract negotiation leverage with local and overseas service providers, standard benefits…).

    The fee would be affordable to all, including the essential services (avoiding, “baby on the plane” scenarios).

    Insurance companies and employers can then focus on additional coverage, such as private rooms, better eye/dental care, further worldwide coverage, brand name only drugs…)  

  4. Anonymous says:

    I think the Government could save money by retiring the civil servants who are at retirement age and NOT re-employed them on contract. It is my understanding that when a civil servant retires they get a lump sum of money and a monthly pension. If they are re-employed then Government is paying the lump sum, monthly and a salary to these persons, this is ridiculous!!

    I have notice that since election several persons of retirement age have been employed instead of giving those jobs to young energetic persons who are seeking employment. What is that all about??? I feel that if you don’t have enough money to retire at60 or 65, you will never have enough, but some persons in this country are too greedy and can’t get enough. Sad, so sad!!!

    • Anonymous says:

      too many useless employees…immigration…8 counters…only 2 are ever open…the rest sit and gossip…vehicle licensing…same thing…post office…same thing….the list goes on and on…get rid of the useless people

      • Anonymous says:

        Just look also at the useless and underperforming positions in the Trade and Business office under Immigration. Anyone ever tried to get information from the secretaries there? It is a nightmare and most times they wont even answer their phones. How many of you submitted applications that are sitting in that office and not being dealt with for months and sometimes years while they sleep on the job?

        I hear a review of that office is taking place and I sure hope the reviewers look deep and hard and do what needs to be done. Looks like some of those staff might already be retired!

        Also the people doing the review need to do something to protect small businesses from being smothered by people here on work permits joining up with the greedy Caymanians and opening businesses to compete with their former employer. I am one person who suffered from this when one of my key members of staff left and joined up with someone else, got a license and is working hard to put me out of business, deliberately targeting my clients. People coming here on work permits should be prevented from opening business to immediately compete directly with their former employers. They law should have a clause to prevent them from doing this for a set period of time. it is an unfair practice that greedy Caymanians are teaming up with the foreigner to do.

        Surely some kind of protection should be in the law to protect Caymanians. I spoke with a past member of the work wermit board and was told that they could do nothing because the T and B board was issuing licenses and the people had a legitimate expectation to work permits. Imagine that? that is what we have come to guys!

        Well the review people and the new board need to do something to protect little Caymanian businesses! This is the kind of thing that is fueling the anti expat attitudes in Cayman.

        • Luke says:

          "They law should have a clause to prevent them from doing this for a set period of time."

          A law is not needed as you should write this into the contract of your prospective employee. That is what everyone else does

          • Anonymous says:

            And if you write it into their contract it is not worth the paper it is written on. You cannot have a non compete clause in a contract here in the Cayman Islands – it will not be recognised by Immigration as you cannot restrict someone from getting a job somewhere else  here- the days of slavery are over.  Get over it

        • Adam Smith says:

          "Also the people doing the review need to do something to protect small businesses from being smothered by people here on work permits joining up with the greedy Caymanians and opening businesses to compete with their former employer."  Well if they are not providing a better service in terms of quality or cost than you are you have nothing to fear, and if they are providing better service lucky us and long live the joys of a free market?  Why should the consumer suffer to protect business that could be run better. 

          You sound like a bitter spoilt greedy child.

          • Anonymous says:

            No, you miss the point, they do not offer a better service but use cheap labour (you know the 15 to one room ppl) to outbid legit Caymanian businesses. don’t worry though, T and B, Immigration, government is growing a monster and will soon have a bigger mess than mount thrashmore to contend with as more and more hard working Caymanians are put out of business and become desperate. Do you know how many Caymanians in the construction industry alone are being sidelined for cheap labour, for extended periods of time, while the predominantly foreign companies are thriving? The shortsighted mentality displayed by some here is what has landed us in the problems we are now suffering from and is going to cause civil war in this country.

    • Anonymous says:

      No doubt posted by a foreigner who would prefer to see the Caymanian go rather than accept that it is time fr you to stop the greed and return home. And, yes, I too am an expat and will not resent Cayman if I am told it is time to go.

    • Anonymous says:

      Instead of retiring Caymanian Civil Servants who need the jobs CICSA should have the nerve to speak up and call for the government to release foreign nationals who are in positions proven to be unnecessary or disfunctional within the government.  Retiring Caymanian Civil Servants will only cause a run on the Civil Service Pension fundwhich, incidentally is already operating in a deficit position.

  5. Got U says:

    Gov, you need to start having your meeting at one of the public schools or halls, this will cost you zero dollars.

    Cut out the Ritz and the big hotel bills for these meeting. 

    I will be watching to see if you will be using our money to have meetings at these places when you can make a cut back by using one of our schools.

    Got U

    • . says:

      Another rocket scientist who can’t read.

    • Anonymous says:

      RITZ MEETING WAS FOR FREE!  You people can’t read or what?  The Ritz meeting was free of charge so stop going on about it.  It only came out in the papers, talk shows and radio but I guess you can’t read, hear or use a computer.  You’re probably useless PPM!

  6. Caymanian2dmarrow says:

    To the person who wrote "Suckoo sugesting that there etc etc."  Let me enlighten you to a few things in response to your comments.

    1. I listened to Mr. Suckoo’s speech.  His comment was specific to early retirement being offered.  He said that the pensions fund could be affected if too many people were retired at once.  I see what is written in the article and wonder if CNS got it righgt (Sorry CNS but I know how interviews and communications go).

    2. I agree with you, and by listening to Mr. Suckoo and others I gather that they are aware of the ‘need for speed’ and are moving to do just that.  Did anybody else hear him and Mr. Bush discuss the possibility of the pensions fund or the credit union buying a government asset.  They are obviously trying to come up with ideas speedily, that would be a best-fit for all, including them yes, but what’s wrong with that if it is the best fit???

    3. First of all do you have proof that their salaris and benefits are actually greater than what is found in the private sector for comparable jobs?  I see civil service jobs advertised all the time and they are below par in most (not all) instances.  Second of all, he said that they are the largest group of employees, not that Government employs 51% of the working people in the country, there is a big difference! Government workers, civil servants and employees of government owned companies total less than 5,000.  How many people are there in the workforce?????

    4. The whole theme of Mr. Suckoo’s speech was that we are all in this together.  he went on to say that the civl service had already sacrificed and was willing to sacrifice more, but that they should not be expected to shoulder all of the burden either, a fair comment.

    5. So all of them are wasteful?  lets get real peopleany large organization has some waste, including large private sector organizations.  I also know of some very highly paid persons in the offshore banking industry that are nothing morethan seat-warmers, that’s waste too.

    6. Mr. Suckoo did not say anything about highly paid expat workers.  He said that government could not just cut expats because it would need to look at the skills they possess and how that affects service.  By the way, in listening to Mr. Suckoo at the forum and reading this article there are some subtle changes.  However are you sure that those changes are Mr. Suckoo changing his mind, or the result of CNS drafting.  Sorry CNS I am not saying that you do things like that on purpose, but I have experience in these things and I find that the whole meaning is oftten lost in translation.

    6B. Mr Suckoo was careful to state his organizations position right up front.  He was also careful to state that he was aware of others wanting to cut the Service and it is obvious that whoever the others are, he wanted them to know that there is a right way and a wrong way to go about doing that.  He stated clearly that it was not an idea coming from his organization.YOU NEED TO READ MORE, LISTEN MORE AND STOP PUTTING WORDS IN OTHER PEOPLE’S MOUTHS!

    By the way, do you not realize how courageous he had to be to even speak.  Civil Servants are mute generally becuse they are AFRAID to say anything for fear of reprisal by people like you, and more importantly from politicians (their voice is one of the things that they trade away for those benefits you are drooling over so much).  So maybe the problem is that he has a pair, you just didn’t like what he said.

     

    • GT Ninja says:

      Thank you Caymanian2dmarrow. I was starting to wonder if anyone was listening to the same Mr. Suckoo I heard on the radio that day.

      • Anonymous says:

        GT Ninja and whatever

        If Suckoo was so clear, why has he made an abject apology for his anti expat nonsense.?

        • Anon I mus says:

          You’re an idiot. People like you make me feel sad for the state of logic people nowadays have. Sometimes people are polite enough to apologies if they offend even if they didn’t mean to. Stop riding Christen for his comments. He’s one of many working hard to help sort us out and is taking a lot of heat from angry bitter and useless people like you that have nothing better to do but attack people for speaking out what common sense is wrong or right. GT Ninja looks like you have an anonymous hater that choses to follow your posts and bring you down or silence your thoughts. I say don’t let them stop you. That’s exactly what they want, to keep those that speak out mute. I really commend Christen for speaking out where a lot of other would not. Can you imagine how intimidating that must be to be on the other side of the table of Mr. Bush. This gave me hope. You may not like his thinking cause it may not be to your advantage but he is comment from what I gather was for all involved not to pick out or single out a group. I wish people would stop singling out all civil servants like they make so much. My brother is a civil servant that I know works hard everyday and tries his best to put an end to the stigma of bad lazy rude civil servants. He told me once it’s hard dealing with so many different personalities everyday but sometimes regardless of how someone talks down to you you have to be polite and serve them cause that’s your job. My brother is a civil servant I know deserves his job and more. I’m posting anon to protect his identity. By the way with all the facts and figure of how much civil servants get paid me makes just under 2500. So please tell me what is fat and luxurious about that!? I would in the private sector and make almost that in 2 weeks. Stop generalizing people, seriously. You all say cut the civil servants pay, then also attack anyone to mentioning a certain group. Really what is with you people. I hope we make it through the next 4 years, and it won’t be because of UDP PPM IND NOT, it well be the people that turn it around, just like after Ivan we were bare bones, but how did we do it each of us on our own, some may have gotten help but even to get help it took us getting up on our own. I look forward to a new type of elected member one that has seen the path government walks for the past 15 years. GT Ninja you are passionate but people will not appreciate it. Mr. Suckoo as a young Caymanian I respect you. We are not alone. I am not a memeber of any party, I am a Caymanian, this is my only home, and those with it in their best interest, are the ones I support, not an acronym.

  7. Uncivil Servant says:

    This is not about cutting essential positions at the lower end of the scale as many of you would like to make it out to be, be they expatriate or Caymanian held positions. This is about the need to consolidate the upper end "management" positions. Far too many cooks spoiling the broth for everyone else.

  8. Disappointed says:

    What a lot of rude, critical, impatient people…. and I don’t mean the Civil Servents or the ‘Furina’s’.

    Sure, it’s annoying to wait an hour or more to renew a drving license. Waiting to see a specialist at the hospital can take 6 weeks…a long time if you are stressed about your health. Try six months elsewhere… and then only if there is sufficient funding available.

    Have any of you mouthy folk tried doing this in any other country?  Only in Cayman can you get a  driving licence, or have your passport requirements met ON THE SAME DAY!!

    Sure… some civil servants – like regular human beings (which they are!) – can fall into the category of lazy and over-paid.  They receive health cover as part of their benefits package.  Many ‘private sector’ employees look forward to an anuual bonus of what… 15%?  Isn’t that part of their benefits package?

    Stop slinging mud, lets unite to help get Cayman through this down-spell!

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you!

    • Luke says:

      Many ‘private sector’ employees look forward to no bonuses, so your point is?

      And we pay extra for medical privately in Cayman so you would expect better service than a free socialist system, apples and oranges.

      As for the licencing, in the UK there are 520,000 civil servants for 62 million people, to 0.84% of the population are Civil servants

      In Cayman there are 3,801 for 49,000, so 7.8% almost 10 times more, so you would expect far greater efficiency

    • Anonymous says:

      actually in the UK you can get your passprt renewed within an hour.

  9. anon1 says:

    Sukoo suggesting that there is the possibility to reduce the cost ofth eCivil Service over 10 years is, quite frankly, rediculous for several reasons.

    1. There is absolutely no way that there will be a smaller Civil Service in the year 2019 than there is today. Even on an adjusted dollar value to take into account for inflation, there is no way a union such as the one he is the second in command of, with all its protectionism will allow the Civil Service to shrink. Just read his comments in the article.
    2. The problem created by overspending by the previous government is an immediate one and needs immediate shrinkage of government cost in order to effective address it, not results 10 years down the road when there might be a better economy and a balanced budget from increased revenue due to an improved economy.
    3. By his own admission the Civil service is the largest body of employees on the Island. Does he expect the minority of employees, local and expat included, to sholder the larger share of balancing the budget just so that the members of his union can continue to enjoy perks that the minority cannot claim. This fact alone will guarentee that the Civil Service continue to grow dispropotionally as the minority, locals and expats will strive even harder to become Civil Servants as that is the only job that has the benefit of a union to protect their high salaries and benefits.
    4. The Civil Service needs to acknowledge that we are all in this together, locals and expats who work in the government alike, as it is your salaries that will not be able to be paid if something drastic is not done immediately, not the salaries and benefits of the private sector.
    5. By the Civil Service own admission, it is their own waste, be it the use of government vehicles, waste of paper, overtime, employee benefits etc. that has contributed largly to this problem. This is the waste that you admit to up front, trust me, there is plenty more waste and inefficiency that you are ignoreing. If the Civil Service cared about anyone else buy themselves this waste would not have been going on for so long in the first place. The Leader of Government buisness has put the blame where it should be, let us hope that he has the balls to carry through with what is necessary in order to balance the budget. It is blatently unfair to expect the minority to sholder the greater part of the load in the form of new taxes.
    6. How Mr Sukoo proposes to make these cuts is his perogitive. He says that releasing some of the higher paid expat contract workers is not the way to go and has become an apologist for this suggestion. Well then Mr Sukoo, have the balls to come out and tell the whole of your union that cuts in salaries and benefits across the board is your suggestions, you cannot have it both ways. Immediate relief on the Governments coffers is what is necesary right now, so let us not talk about relief in 10 years. Are you waiting until Britain suspends our constitution as they did with Turks and Cacos before you get off your but and put forward something tangible that will benefit the whole country?
    • Anonymous says:

      Anon Tue at 11:14 is correct about the likelihood (or otherwise) of the civil service getting smaller over 10 years. The figures from the UK are enlightening:

      2004: Gordon Brown orders job cuts and "efficiency measures" to reduce the size of the UK civil service from 465,700.

      2009: Number of civil servants in UK is 522,930.

      All this growth is very typical of civil services around the world. That does not help us here in Cayman of course.

      • Anonymous says:

        In Gordon Brown’s deluded mind going from 465,700 to 522,930 is a reduction; the man is raving mad.

        The poor state of the Cayman budget is nothing compared to that of the UK. It is going to take many generations to repair the damage that man has done to the country. The British people are desperate to vote him out, but he won’t let them.

    • Anonymous says:

      The Self-Servants…

      This is in reponse the the misinformed civil servant who wrote "It is that silly season again" claiming that he and his colleagues consumed less than 50% of the budget…

      The 4000 Self-Servants – I refuse to call them Civil-Servants for obvious reasons – are paid some $352,167,000.00, according to page 304 of the 2008-2009 Budget document…

      Add to that some $15 million that should be half of their contribution to Health care – instead of getting it all at no cost to them – and you get a total reward package of over $367 million, which is substantially more than 50% of a budget that forecast some $676 million in expenditures…

      – Again, cut 30% of the Self-Servants’ numbers – except for cops and teachers – thus saving $122 million and you won’t be able to tell the difference, since the service part will continue to be just as bad…

      – Force them to pay their ways for pension and health care and save another $35 million…

      Self-Servants have become a caste of quasi PARASITES, as clearly outlined in this article in the usually government supportive Compass: here are some excerpts…

      "Cayman Islands elected lawmakers’ salaries increased 23 per cent on average over the last four years…

      …For instance, most civil servants’ pay went up by some eight per cent between mid–2006 and January of 2007…

      …The positions that saw the two largest salary increases percentage–wise between June 2005 and June 2009 were those for the leader of government business (32.2 per cent) and the opposition leader (35.5 per cent)…"

      http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=10384117

      How more self-serving and self-dealing can it possibly get?…

  10. Anon says:

    What a stroke of genius!…….Yes lets send home all those qualified and experienced expat teachers, policemen, doctors, nurses, etc. etc.

    And replace them with whom?

    • Anonymous says:

      I totally agree. Why not all expats leave the island for just one month. Lets see then who will teach your children? who will build you house? who will cut your hair? who will wait on you at the resaturants & bars? who will operate on you when you need to go to hospital?

      This whole expats are bad thing really needs to stop, if you want to blame anyone you need to blame yourself and your appointed government. You are the ones who vote them in, not the expats.

       

      Get over it already

       

  11. Anonymous says:

    It is that silly season again when you dumb and ignorant people come out with yourdumb and ignorant ideas.

    First…take a look at the previous budgets…assuming that some of you are not too lazy to read…..staff costs in central govt are less than 50%. What you should be looking at is the amount of civil servants that the PPM Govt added to the payroll over the last 4 years. Why do you think that they have been so silent over govt finances since they were rebuked by the FS?

    That kind of spending should be considered criminal.

  12. Nothing says:

    Suckoo offered nothing to help.  How pathetic. 

  13. Anonymous says:

    Civil service unions are amongst the most troublesome everywhere in the world.  Cut numbers by 25%, cut the spending on those left by 25%.  Massive change in budget, unnoticeable change in services.  If anything, the fear that their jobs are not safe will probably improve the public services we get – right now too many are "jobs-for-life" and "jobsworth".

  14. Anonymous says:

    I was very critical of Mr Suckoo in earlier posts for his apparent lack of concern for the expat civil servants. It seemed to be a follow on from similar anti expat sentiments that the President of the civil service union is prone to indulge in at union meetings.

    But I give Mr Suckoo very great credit for this sensible clarification and apology. He has a good future in public life in Cayman but he must watch the pandering to the prevailing kneejerk reactions that blights many local brains here far less impressive than his.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Let expat contracts run out and send them back home to fend for themselves. If the position is still needed (most of them are NOT) then a Caymanian should fill the position. See too many expats in management poitions with little or no employees. No need for the positions and really no need to employ guests from overseas. This is one easy way to thin the herd.

    • Anonymous says:

      Brilliant post! Quite agree. Step forward all unemployed Caymanian teachers, policemen, garbage collectors, prison officers, social workers and nurses so we can get rid of these damn furriners once and for all.

      • Anonymous says:

        Interesting, i have never seen a fellow caymanian picking up garbage or opening the door for me at burger king or kfc. Before saying get rid of expats, have any of you guys thought about what it would be like withought them? imagine if all of them pull out of the country tomorrow? your hatred of them is slowly but surely driving them away, i guess you all will be happy when no one wants to come here. only then it will be a perfect island right?

  16. Anonymous says:

    The ship is sinking, it’s over laden, but Mr. Suckoo and Mr. Watler wants to hold on to every piece of belonging and would rather see the whole thing sink to the bottom than lighten the load.

    His statements show a complete lack of understanding of Government finances. If you don’t reduce personnel costs, what are the alternatives?  Does the country cut funding to schools? assistance to the poor and indigent? funding to the hospital? or maybe depreciation, perhaps the Government doesn’t insure its assets this year or maybe just cut off all power so you all can sit and rock in your easy chair under the tree on the front lawn.

    When will you understand that the petty ideas of printing on both sides of the paper, buy less office supplies or don’t drive government vehicles after 5pm will have little to no impact on a potential $132 million deficit?

    Perhaps the manners that the FCO has the country under is just what we need, perhaps the first payday when you go to the bank and your salary is not there will be the wake up call you need, or perhaps its when you receive that first delinquent letter from your mortgage company or the first night in the darkness after your electricity gets cut off.

    Do the right thing, allow the Government to do what it must do, what everyone else sees it must do, Government is too large, it isunsustainable and the Country needs to right the ship, CICSA clearly cannot lead so it needs to either follow or get out the way.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Civil Servant = Bloodsuckers

    Don’t look for pity among the rest of the Cayman Islands population, Mr Suckoo and stop devising schemes with the government toincrease our  taxes to save your collective hides and attendant fat pay packets…

    Consuming 2/3 of the budget, the Civil Servants are sucking off all the blood and sustenance  of  these islands: in fact, they should more accurately be called SELF-SERVANTS, for here are their incredible perks…

    – They enjoy fully pensions and health services paid in full by government: if they contributed half, like all other emplyees do, we would save some $30million!

    – They are overpaid compared to the private sector, which has had to recently  reduce salaries on account of the Recession/Depression underway. In times of negative inflation, why should civil servants be exempted from belt tightening measures: let’s cut at least 10% of their bloated salaries and save another $30 million!…

    – Their full Pension pay-out is guaranteed: even if the money managers were to bankrupt the fund, the taxpayers must by law make up any deficit. As a private sector employee – if your Pension fund loses 50% of its value, tough luck: you’ll have to keep working past retirement age!

    But our Bloodsuckers-in-Chief, the MLA’s and Ministers are so enamoured of their respective CI$9000.00 and CI$14,000.00 paycheck every month and their fat pensions, that they’ll be the last one to cut off the Blood supply: they’d rather run this country into the ground than take a pay cut, even though their salaries have gone up between 25 and 35% in the last 4 years!…

    Finally, chop off 30% off the number of Self-Servants – except for a small category of police officers and teachers – and you won’ t be able to tell the difference, from a service point of view, but some $120 million will be saved!

    It’s grand time we form our own lobby to fight off your sef-serving lobby…

     

     

  18. noname says:

    I agree wholeheartedly  with both earlier posters regarding  the civil service particulalry as it relates to the civil service.

    It is time to do away with the socialist method of health care and other benefits that the civil servants have. Geovernment knows absolutely nothing about running an insurance company. Look at the mess CINICO is in. Why is it that all of a sudden these civil servants have become the untouchables?

    They are damned lucky that their jobs are politically safe. Any good employer with a lick of business sense would have done what was right to save his business in this ailing economy. Unfortunatley, what the civil service doesn’t seem to realise is that everyday in the real world(private sector) people are getting laid off because their jobs are no longer needed or that they are combined with some other to provide efficiences until the company can reorganise and get back on it’s feet. It’s the real world out there and maybe these guys want to hang on and go the way some of the big American companies with unions did.. They fought all the way until the company had no choice but to fold and instead of a few gone everyone was gone. Not saying that will happen in government as you do need some service based employees at all times  but I think the Cayman Islands needs to understand that all civil servants, Caymanian or Expat alike, should not be seen as untouchable and irreplaceable. Is it the case now that maybe in some areas we don’t eevn need some of these employees but to appease Mr. Suckhoo and his gang we just continue to keep them for political expediency. 

    Enough is enough guys. Pay half of  your health insurance like everyone else and this rubbish about having no deductible and no limitations on what is paid out on each claim is ridiculous. How much does that cost the Government. I shudder to know the cost the Government hospital must incur every year from these civil servants not to mention all the free air ambulance services to Miami and wherever else, plus the care while they are there just because these people are working for government. Absolutely Ridiculous!!

    The civil servants also claim that the reason they can’t pay for their share of their health and other benefits like the private sector is becasue they cannot afford it on their salaries. What a load of Sh-t! Excuse my French but does anyone read the newspaper and see how much these jobs pay? Isn’t this the real reason there are so many civil servants? I would want to be an untouchable too if I made that kind of money with free benefits.

    No country in the world pays garbage collectors higher salaries because they have to work unsociable hours. It doesn’t take a college degree to know how to pick up garbage so why do we pay like it is and again with special free benefits? This is my opinion, should be put out to tender and offfered to public 100% Caymanian privately owned companies so it is less burdensome to the country and will produce real revenue and cost savings to the country. When last did anyone pay their garbage bill. I have been getting one for a house that I haven’t lived in for over 12 years and each time I send it back or call them about it, I am told that I have to bring in the paperwork to prove I don’t live their anymore? Hello, isn’t that what Lands and Survey is for? Sorry I am not wasting my time or paying any more fees to get documents from Lands and Survey to prove that I don"t live somewhere where there has already been land transfer amongst other fees paid on it .

    I could go on an on but I think I have made my point. The civil service is too big. We all know that. The PPM government saddled us with this monster and know because of public outcry and for political reasons we can’t reduce this monster in any shape or form.

    McKeeva and UDP, you must make some tough decision now that will effect the civil service and save our country . Don’t worry about the votes, these same people will be thanking you in the next election for what you did because once the economy bounces back all of these persons will be working again maybe not for the civil service with its free health care and other socialist benefits but at least they will have a job and the rest of us will survive along with them as the country will have moved from the terrible state it is in. 

    I

     

     

    • Anonymous says:

       The fact is that if the private sector cuts workers, the fabric of society in general doesn’t suffer. Sure the unemployment stats go up but the Country still functions. Cut the civil service and the services that you currently have will be reduced, be they the police, ambulance, custom, immigration or social administration.

      If you are so convinced that we are paid so well and are on such a good number, then apply for a job. As a Caymanian that is breathing you are guaranteed a post.

  19. Anonymous says:

    What about the health insurance? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this is a serious burden on the government! Why not implement that it is split both ways just like the private sector? They would still have their jobs.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Come on, Government is a bloated, inefficient, lazy organization with Caymanians and expats alike feeding off the endeavour of hard-working residents. There is absolutely no way that the private sector is going to accept further regulation to keep you in your easy jobs.

    Its payback time for all those hours I have spent lining up to pay duty only to be insulted by some power-crazy customs official hell-bent on wielding their own sense of self-importance into my daily struggles. I had one such individual tell me and I quote, "I arrest people like you for a living". Then he found that I had done nothing wrong. Payback is a real b*tch.

    I won’t mention the ridiculous extravagance that you have also manifested with the public money. I have personally witnessed expenditure on jollies that is mind-boggling and I know I am not the only one.

    So, public sector, get over yourselves and start preparing to lose your useless jobs. There is no other way.

    • Anonymous says:

      It is amazing how ‘people’ can take random experiences and extrapolate them to describe an entire sector…WOW. I guess because you encountered ONE "power crazy" person, suddenly you know that all civil servants are in useless jobs….. how silly.

       

      I guess persons in the public service should use their experiences with lets say one of the ‘fast’ food restaurants to guage their views of the entire private sector.

      Becareful… ignorance is contagious!!

      • Anonymous says:

        Oh believe me. It is the norm, not the exception. Try running your own business and then get back to us.