Turks & Caicos civil service salaries to be cut by 10%
(Jamaica Observer): In a letter to civil service staff on Tuesday, chief executive officer of the interim government, Mark Capes, informed all public employees in the Turks and Caicos Islands that public service salaries and wages for all staff, plus certain allowances, excluding housing, will be cut by 10 per cent. This reduction will take effect, for wage earners, on 16 April and, for salaried staff, at the end of the month. Overtime will now be allowed only in life threatening or other strictly essential circumstances. "By providing over five and seven weeks’ notice respectively, I hope this will give you time to adjust your personal finances as necessary," Capes said.
Category: World News
The UK Cabinet Office ( in charge of the public service) has attempted to carry out a sneaky scheme to cut redundancy packages of public servants before they laid them off. Right now the UK public service has been striking, they are on overtime strike and have the government in court over the matter. Let us say, the UK public servants are not lying around and playing dead.
Perhaps it is time for private sector employees who frequent this blog and write against the positions taken by CICSA, to consider their own employment positions. Who can they go to have their employment causes represented. Who lobbies for the poor employee in the private sector when they are being beaten down, abused you name it.
Perhaps, while some improvements need to take place in the public service, can one really critisise them as employees for wanting to ensure that right is done by them and the law is not ignored?
Food for thought. Is it not interesting that there are no private sector employment group unions in Cayman. Is it not intersting that the Government ( no matter who they are) will not put into force an Employment law that will actually protect the interests of employees in this island. Perhaps the only two unions we have in the Cayman Islands is The Civil Service Association and the Chamber of Commerce. The latter, has been dictating for years what rights and protections employees should have (nil) as it is driven by employers. The former, is employee driven. Perhaps, it is time to turn this whole thing on its head and start talking in the positive – Ensuring that whilst government controls its spending, it does so in real ways, irrespective of the political costs, not just "popular ways" and in the meantime, start talking about what private sector employees should be doing doing to galvanise themselves. Is it not funny that no private sector employees had a word to say about cutting their pensions, there are employee advocates regarding health insurane violations and non payment of pensions……Wake up Cayman do not let red herrings blind you from all the issues at play here.
What are the odds of the UK government suggesting something like this at home, what with the unions and an upcoming election…. A non-starter… But, why not impose it on the loser colonies…
Cuts in pay won’t be suggested by any of the parties before the election, but will be near the top pf the agenda soon after.
Whoever wins the election will have to find the equivalent of $200 Billion through cuts in spending and taxes rises over the next few years. Public sector pay, pensions, and social benefits are going to have to be cut. It’s going to hurt, and hurt a lot. That is the price of Brown’s insanity.
I would not bet on it, but time will tell…
Corruption will get worse now. People will do anything when they get in a bind and need to survive.
So what you are saying is that this "Christian" country is full of people who will turn to crime very easily?
Why is this even an issue? the options are:
1. salary reduction: Yes No
2. staff cuts Yes No
3. taxes, income or property Yes No
CS the choice is your!
I’m sure there will be a few CI civil servants paying attention to this news. One poster has already commented that making this announcement available as regional news here is an attempt to bolster the notion that local civil servants should "bleed". However, looking back, it was never an issue of making someone bleed, it was in fact an issue of reducing costs and overhead in the government. One of the largest pieces of overhead has, and continues to be, fully subsidized pension and health insurance payments for government employees. However, when it was suggested by government to suspend pension contributions for even a short while, the civil service association turned that down. When it has been suggested by the public to trim costs they at least begin to pay a fair portion of both, it was turned down also.
The final solution from government to reduce costs has been to trim positions. And this was met by a response by the civil service association that services would also have to be necessarily cut, and /or those laid off would be soon be collecting social services.
This chess match has been going on for months and still there have no concessions from the association on pensions and health insurance , no reduction in staff, no offers put forth, and no other proposals from anywhere that have been agreeable.
It then begs the questions who "is intended to be bleeding?" And who is holding the weapon?
Someone should tell Mark Capes that he could state the reason for the cuts as overspending and bad policies of the PPM government.
Wait, the previous Turks & Caicos Premier was more aligned with the UDP. Never mind.
Turks and Caicos is a veryprimitive Place. We should always follow the Leaders.
I am sure Turks and Caicos is not a primitive enough place for you or you would be there trying to exchange their beach land and other prime properties for red cloth, broken mirrors and coloured beads.
Hey can I put in for his transfer to the Cayman Islands and maybe we can transfer Ebanks out.
Huuuummmm, Just a thought.
Shame on you CNS.
There was I thinking earlier that CNS was too left-wing and was supporting the civil service against cuts. Clearly CNS is balanced – it upsets everyone!
Quoting from above: "Here is a simple analogy: if a house that can only accommodate 6 people has come to house 9, the answer is for 3 to leave, not for all to stay and to have a third of their bodies amuputated."
Just to clarify – my thumbs up was my response to the CNS rebuttal. I am not in agreement with sadcitizen. Those crocodile tears and talk of such drastic analogies as "bleeding" and "amputation" are just not working for me. Perhaps the house of 9 should drop to 6 AND take an overall across the board deduction to the balance of staff. The best idea I have seen lately is the suggestion to let go all those who have business of their own on the side. They should voluntarily retire from CS and give their spot to someone who is more in need.
When you call the Glass House now a day atbtimes you get voice mail. Can you imagine what will happen when the salarys is cut. From the time that cayman went voice mail and the then Cable and wireless got rid of the Cayman operators and have the phones being answered from Jamaica that was the beginning of the down fall of Cayman.
Arbitrarily without rhyme or reason, this was sanction on the people (without their representation) under the British Rule!
Shame, shame, shame…
All in the name of corruption! When corruption was there long time ago, why did they not at that time took over the Islands???
All was all stage to get to Cayman!
A TOTAL SHAME!
Given the lack of representation given to long term non-belongers there "elected" regime had very little claim to legitimately representing the population. Bit like in Cayman.
Sounds like sour grapes, let me guess you were not able to have your way there?
Don’t try tobury the TCI yet, this is not the first time that they have been knocked down and did not stay down. TCIslanders are like the Phoenix.
Like Cayman they had a native population before you went there, that is who they must represent. My aunt have lived in the USA for 46 years legally would you consider this long term? she is not entitled to vote, given that she is not allowed to vote and many in the USA like her, explain to me "Better" if President Obama has very little claim to legitimately representing the population of the USA. "Better" engage your brain before you write.
Anon Sun 13:33: Given the terribly poor literate quality of your post, if your aunt is like you she probably shouldn’t get the vote.However, knowing the US as I do, there is some other reason for her not having it after all that time and it is HER fault not the US government’s.
But thankfully these islands are bound by human rights obligations which do not extend to a country where they execute the mentally ill.
You will find that the many on CNS are not very intelligent and loyal to the Queen. They think she and everything related to her is perfect.
IN ALL OF THIS, WHAT ABOUT THINKING ABOUT THE CAYMANIAN PEOPLE?
Your two sentences contradict each other and don’t make sense. Did you attend school at all?
I totally agree with you.
I can’t see why any Caymanian here disagreeing with your "plain as day" statement. It is a fact that they did declared British Rule, despite the people’s opposition to it.
It terms of democracy and fairness, it is shameful.
"Arbitrarily without rhyme or reason…" Read the transcripts of the Commission of Inquiry, you will find all the rhyme and reason you need.