(CNS): According to an internal memo sent to heads of department, this week, public sector salary cuts may not be as severe as had been feared. Following a Cabinet directive to reduce Civil Service personnel costs in March the Deputy Governor’s Office has finally decided to roll back the most recent salary increases across the board, of 3.2%, which is in line with the offer made by the Civil Service Association. Government is also cutting acting payments, reducing duty and other concessions, as well as removing flight and travel allowances for overseas workers. The government has also decided to drop the premium that departments will pay to CINICOfor each public servant rather than a co-share option on health benefits.
A number of other human resource trims have also been made which together appear to be less directly detrimental to public sector workers than was feared, all of which along with the salary cut will come into effect at the start of the next fiscal year on 1 July.
The announcement has not been made official yet, but heads of department were only given a brief window of opportunity to get back to Cabinet members to point out any major difficulties with the proposal, hence it is expected to be presented to the wider civil service today. However, a number of policy proposals and announcements over the last 12 months have had been about the public sector but none have been made official and there are no guarantees that this is the final decision.
The government has been criticised by the opposition and by members of the civil service for the uncertainty surrounding government expenditure for the last 12 months.
Moreover, government is still engaged in a battle to balance next year’s budget as well as facing a significant deficit for 2009/10. Last week the UDP administration changed the PMFL to remove the deadline for budget presentations in the law of 1 May giving it time to wrestle with its financial difficulties and the fundamental problem of the declining revenue and increasing operating costs.
The civil service management was asked to cut human resource costs by 8% and Cabinet has also asked for operating costs to be reduced by 10%. There is still no indication if the operational cuts will in turn lead to a reduction in head count or services or if those cuts can be made through the trimming of so called fat, cost savings and efficiencies.
END OF ARGUMENT ON HEALTH INSURANCE
I cannot believe how ignorant people are on this blog. Everyone is spouting off their little two cent opinions.
Give me 1 good reason why Civil Servants should pay 50% of their Health Insurance WITHOUT ….let me repeat WITHOUT the option of having any choice of OBGYN, Dentist, Pediatrician etc?
The system has been set up to make Civil Servants on CINICO the anchor of the HSA. If they pull out- along with their guaranteed payments to the HSA, then the hospital is in a BIG BIG Mess.
Would anyone in the private sector pay 50% of their Health Insurance even 25% of their health insurance only to be told they can only go to the Government’s hospital for ALL their health care needs if you want coverage?
I don’t think so.
So please lobby your Government to resolve the CINICO/HSA marriage so that we can have CHOICE and rightfully CONTRIBUTE like everyone else.
This is a fair and reasonable argument. So stop hollering and going on like spoiled children. No Choice, No Contribution….simple.
End of Discussion on Insurance (for now).
Who are you to tell us what to think or consider? Why is view determinative? How angry and arrogant. All things must be considered and that includes cutting health care costs of the civil service.
If you do not like you can get a job in the private sector. . .
You get free dental too?? Is that just for you? Forever??? And all of your family members also??
On top of not having to make pension contributions????
End of discussion.
One of the benefits for working with the government was to get free health care, dental and eye care. This goes for you and your dependants. Times have changed and as a responsible citizen you should pay for your own health care, including taking care of yourself. Hasn’t the public noticed that you have to be overweight to be in certain government positions.
I don’t think that government workers should only pay for a portion of the monthly allowance but government workers should have co-pay.
That way CINICO will be what it is really for, the poor, indigent and the unsurable.
It is your choice to work for government and get the benefits that you are getting. If you don’t like it, then get another job in the private sector and see whether you can make such demands without the threat of being fired.
Be realistic. At least you have a job, there are many others out there that don’t have jobs. On that note don’t get me started on that because the jobless are too proud to work the jobs that are available.
Wake up Cayman. This is the cut you give yourself when you really don’t want to have a cut. – I am laughing because this is histerically funny.
Rolling back 3.2% (a drop in the bucket) of something they have not got is giving nothing back. It is like handing back my future pay rise next year or my Xmas bonus this coming Xmas which I have not received yet. What a joke. Do the CS’s really think we will fall for this or do they think that the general public is stupid.
This is a perfect example why no-one has any respect now, for the CS,
You need to wake up….. CS received the 3.2% cost of living increase in 2008. That’s the 3.2 % they are "rolling back" Wake up before you comment….
When will this negativity towards Civil Servants end?
It is disgusting to hear what is being said or blogged about Civil Servants.
It used to be an honour to be a Civil Servant, but not anymore based on what is being said. Where will the new generation of civil servants come from, because the service cannot attract people at this rate? This yoyoing has to stop, because the civil service is now at its darkest hour, and the morale of the service is at an all time low.
Let us pray we do not get another IVAN and the dedication of the civil service has be tested and proven once again. How short memories people have, and the efforts by the civil servants that held the country together in one of its darkest hours.
People just be careful of what you say and blog, because there are a lot of hard working dedicated people in the service, who are being unfairly treated.
The honor disappeared when the civil service became a glorified social security service for voters.
Hopefully if the morale is that low 10-15% of them might resign and do their best piece of public service ever.
What ever happened to the MLA’s pay cut of 20 to 30% that Mac spoke about the other day?
I am sure these government elites won’t feel a thing like the Civil servant’ mother who has kids and is making below the belt of 3000 a month. I am sure the MLA’s with their perks and bonuses (housekeeper included) can at least see something is wrong with a 3.2% across-the-board effecting those who are doing the most work at the bottom
When we are able to encourage actual business growth in Cayman by releasing the ridiculous encumbrances that squash entreprenurial spirit, the civil servants will either a) find productive jobs in the private sector or b) will be providing a meaningful service within Government.
The truth is that all of the protectionist legislation and the hobbling of production (through difficulties in getting work permits, rollover policies that replace established members of this society for newcomers, for allowing the few lazy Caymanians to have a stronger voice than their countrymen who are intelligent, hardworking and industrious) is finally catching up and the only answer to is allow the free market to do its work unhindered by the unintended consequences of protectionist crap, which just doesn’t work.
I heard an interesting story the other day: A man was crowing to another about the fact that a restaurant had gone bust and that the seven expat employees all had to leave – good riddance to them! he said. The other man looked at him and said "but didn’t one of those employees rent your mother’s apartment? How is she going to pay her mortgage? The first man stared blankly at the second man and then said "I have just never thought of it like that before".
It is time to start thinking about it. We are more than 7,000 work permits down and all of those people who are rubbing their hands together in glee might also want to get out their calculators: If you take 7,000 permit-holders and multiply that times (say) 3, to account for the dependents of that person and then multiply it by how much that family would spend in a year in the local economy (rent, groceries, clothing, gasoline, entertainment, charitable donations), even if you use a number as low as $2,400 per year, you still get $50 million. To be clear – that is $50 million that Caymanian business owners did not take in and the Caymanian workers did not receive.
The civil servants will adjust to their new salaries – no one expects them to be happy about this situation, but the well is dry! The only way to bolster more revenue for the Government is to open the doors to new opportunity and new businesses. It was that way once before and it worked brilliantly! Why is there such a problem with accepting this once again?
In rough times, rough decisions need to be made. It is not for upper level people such as Governor, Deputy Governor and Deputy Chief Secretary to do layoffs; that role lies within the hands of the poloticians and it is them that does not want to do it? Why??? Because they feel they will be viewed as the bad guy! Its not something that anyone wants to do….but it is something that needs to be done. And we are not the only ones affected. Look at the situation in the US, where major companies have laid off thousands. What is a company to do? Do the nice thing and cut everyone?? NO!!! These politicians need to stop trying to be the "favourite" and do what they need to do!
I am disgusted that everyone on the island seems to know about this but that poor civil servants! They still have not been given the decency to be told about it!
Take their salaries and benefits and then they will still have to pay VAT.
These pay cuts and reductions in benefits will NEVER be returned.
Stand up Cayman!
Fairly pay all workers and tax people on the island that can afford it, not people who are already struggling to keep these beloved islands safe.
Because when your front line workers leave, be sure to realise your legal partners and other high earners will too and you will be left with a dump of a country.
CS cuts what a joke ?
No-one has the balls to do what has to be done so that tells me that they do not have the intelligence to save themselves.
Remember the CS is 110 CS per 1000 population that’s 1 cs for every 100 people in Cayman – this is outrageous and makes Cayman look like a joke compared to our small countries around the world.
The upper level CS are paid enormous salaries are frequently not at work and many have their own businesses. It’s time to start cutting from the the unproductive top moving down. Lets start with Donnie who approved the Tempura salaries increasing one from $9000/month to $27000/month. He also has shown that he is incapable of doing what is necessary in cutting the operational costs of the CS and running the CS like a private sector business.
Why should Cayman have to pay more taxes to support this wastefulness and incompetence. They are paid very handsomely with great incentives to perform and what do we get for our investment in these people. Very little.
The Harsh Truth or the Bottom?
Having read the blogs here there seems to be the perception that the private sector has done nothing and everyone is just bashing the Civil Service as lazy, bloated and useless. Both are wrong but reality must set in shortly with the CS or we are all going to end up where we have 20-30 % unemployment overnight.
The private sector has shed some 4,000 work permits and several hundred Caymanians at the same time. Most companies are months behind in their cash flow with huge accounts receivable. The companies are trailing in pensions, medical, government payments. They have cut advertising, christmas parties, training, etc. Coupled with the recent increase in taxes, the net result is that Cayman has lost somewhere between 7-10,000 people. Do not believe it? ask Immigration for the number of work permits that are active, drive around on a saturday and see if you find traffic anymore and it is not just the new roads.
Starting around 2001-2003 the Cayman Islands Government began to spend significantly more than it made. Hurricane Ivan’s insurance money bubble gave a false sense that we had a bigger economy than we had. Once the bubble of that temporary injection of funds stopped, and the world recession kicked in, the local economy crashed. Simple.
Now the Civil service is Bloated. it does have people in it that are useless, it does do businesses that should be privatized, it has become decentralized to the point of craziness. Do we have hard working, efficient Civil servants? Most definitely. Do we have Civil servants that believe they are being productive when they are not? definitely. Do we have CS that are protecting their little turfdoms? definitely. Do I believe that any cuts means a drop in service? i do not. total scare tactics.
The solution is not across the board cuts however. The cuts need to be surgical in nature and focus more heavily on the upper end of the CS. All salaries and benefits need to be brought back in line with the private sector. Be that up or down. The cost of the CS is too high and I predict that the CS will one day not get paid at all because of the lack of money. Look around the world and see what is happening. Turks & Caicos are now getting paid a week or more after the beginning of the month and that is after an across the board cut of 10%. This will eventually happen here one way or the other. We need to immediately divest major government assets along with the related Civil servants who will be guaranteed employment for one year. We need to stop the spending. I find it amazing that even after the revenue continues to sink, the government continues to spend (NRA in particular) based on the “budget”. crazy idea. just stop spending immediately. Centralize services -everyone will be in GOAP anyway, plan to benefit from that concept now.
The harsh reality is that the CS needs to be cut by $100 -150M per year. The sooner we start the softer we will all hit the bottom!
Deputy Governor gives approval…….
Hope the leaders that be, will be telling the country ASAP how much this "roll back" is going to be saving the country and exactly how they portray this move in helping the country. 3000 people now putting less money into the ecomony, helps the country how?????? Also noticed that when the idea of pay cuts first came up, Big Mac called bluff that the Ministers, MLA’s, etc. would be leading by example and cutting their salaries by 20 %. Well to date that has not happened and sorry but 3.2 % off their big fat salary is a drop in the bucket and MOST DEFINATELY NOT FAIR, to the people at the bottom of the pay scale. Country gone to hell in a hand basket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the interests of clear and honest speech, can I ask just one thing. Is CNS owned by XXXX? A simple "Yes" or "No" will suffice. A rejection of this question will stand as a "Yes". Thank you.
CNS: In the interest of addressing the many rumours about who owns CNS, the answer to your question is NO. (Readers can insert whatever they like in the blanked out space and the answer is the same.)
I’ll answer that. CNS is NOT owned by Robert Murdoch. It is actually run by aliens inside a secret cave on Cayman Brac.
Sorry CNS…they had to find out.
CNS: Busted! Drat that Scrooge McDuck!
Sorry, I spelled the name wrong. It’s Rupert Murdoch who doesn’t own CNS. Donald Trump owns CNS and the aliens work for him. And it isn’t a cave they work out of, I heard it’s a lavishly appointed 350′ submarine.
The soloution is trim salaries of upper level managment in the CS along with reduce fringe benifits. Leave lower level employees wages, however make a push to trim the number of employees within CS over a period of 24mnths.
The 3.2% roll back of civil servants salaries will only put the economy in a worse state- let’s watch what will have to the economy from here on, supermarkets, restaurants and small business will be cutting staff and the economy will take a noise dive, everyone tighten you belts you will experience a gerk that really ….. hurts.
It won’t hurt anything like the continued fiscal profligacy.
WOW…
The MLA’s have managed to cut everyone in government and slap themselves on the risk. YET NO WORD ON THE DRASTIC REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN SALARIES and THOSE GOVERNMENT ELITE.
So many Civil Servants now making below 2500 will fell the shock of their lives.
Who is looking out for the low-wager???
It’s a pity in my mind that all are full of words, know how, know not and criticisms when you are "ANONYMOUS"……. you are still & will always continue 2 b "ANONYMOUS" until you soothsayers shut up and instead, PUT-UP!…….. lets PUT-UP since we (ANONYMOUSLY, AUTONOMOUSLY & UNANIMOUSLY) know what needs to be done, LETS "gett’er done"!………damn it, let make "ACTION" the buzz word not "ANONYMOUS", lets stand up and be counted ……
"Who is looking out for the low-wager???"……. i wonder also 18:57?
$300 Million a Year.
According to recent budgets, Government spends about $300 million a year on itself, for salaries, offices, travel, and perks, which is about $6,000 for each person on the Island, or $24,000 for each family of four.
This leaves about $250 million for the services they provide and everything else.
A simple calculation shows the government spends $1.20 on itself for every dollar is disburses.
Can anyone see what is wrong with that?
Fifty cents, or even eighty cents per dollar disbursed would seem more reasonable.
WE ARE ALL READY FOR THE NEXT ELECTION.
you know unna idots on ya talking down the civil service and the likes do not have a clue about the value of the civil service and the service they provide.
When I think of hurricane Ivan and the work the civil servants did. I was grateful to see how they ran, service and kept those shelters running. The cleanup crews from PWD the firemen and police that were on patrol and keeping the curfew. The civil servants that slaved away for long overtime without nothing in return…just love of country…cleaning out the destroyed tower building and glass house and making make shift offices all over the place just to get services back up and running. The Immigration department staff that work to process all those permits. The environmental department that worked to keep us all from being carried away with the flies and rats that were taking us all away in the weeks after. The tourism staff that worked to get our hotels and condos ready. The civil servants who got things in place to get small businesses and businesses in general back up and running. The radio Cayman staff that made us all live by the radios everyday especially the mornings just to hear where water was or food would be or what govt offfice would be open.
Unna not going to stop provoking our dedicated civil servants until unna get what happenning in Greece with massive demonstrations and Trinindad a few years ago when the governtment started messing with the civil service. Think it cant happen here….sit down deh.
These idiots on ya who do not think 3.2 percent is a lot in these hard times are fools. For most of them…is looking at 90 – 300 with the average being about 150. Any other time that is a huge cut; in these times that can be the tipping point to not making monthly expenses.
Well, the Government fueled by the expat jokers and bankers and financial services people who lives on this sites (who makes there thousand monthly) have just fuelled the huge contraction in the local economy this is going to cause. Mark my words. So whatever the govt is saviing from these cuts with the multiplier you have just destroyed tens of millions of dollars from the economy.
This is terrible….and I warning unna leave our public servants alone. I really got to thinking if some on here do not want to stoke civil unrest in our country. I know I will not get many thumbs up….but ask me if I care!
You seem to be suggesting that the way for us to solve our problems will be for the civil servants to march, burn our banks and kill some people in the process.
How that sort of behaviour will solve our Budget problems I will never understand, however if it comes to that then I will fully understand the mentality and thinking of our civil servants.
Like the old saying goes "DUPPY KNOW WHO TO FRIGHTEN" and I for one would not offer any civil servant my sympathy for that kind of behaviour.
This conversation is totally irrelevant. No one is saying that some of them did not do good but what about the police that didn’t show up to defend the law of the land?
Look I can not tell you how many times I sat and thanked God for the Fire Department and their staff. Prior to, during and after the Hurricane they were basically all that this Islandhad going full bore. They were directing traffic, clearing roads, doing rescues and probably even getting cats out of trees. Yet all we here about is how the Police needs raises yet they are the most privileged department in the Cayman Islands with the highest starting salary, early retirement and more perks than you can shake a stick at. You see them always in the paper yet you never see the fire department. I know part of that is the incompetence of the heads of the FD to get their due credit and show up their work but still people come on.
Sorry didn’t mean to pick on you RCIPS but you deserved it considering they being our guardians also was involved heavily in the theft of gas.
Look fact are there are many CS staff who just show up to collect a paycheck. 3.2% is not even skimming what is needed. They need to pay their 50% of healthcare and 50% of their pensions like the rest of us. They complain about their pay but when I see the ads in the paper for the positions I find myself applying. Their salaries are competitive against the private sector and if you threw in the health and pension bonuses they get paid better. Please keep in mind the average private sector is paying out anywhere from CI$300 to CI$800 or more per month on these.
But it’s not all about the cuts to their salaries or benefits it’s about the excess staff. There needs to be cuts to staff levels. We need to start by reversing the decentralisation of HR and other functions brought on by PPM during their tenure. We need to work these staff into the private sector by making companies who want to hire outside pick these staff up.
Then we need look at what else can be privatised. Stores is a good start because CIG should be buying with the complete power of CIG. A 0.10cent savings on copy paper could amount to thousands of dollars monthly in savings. Work this across all products and the savings should amount to a nice tidy sum.
Prison again. No way a prisoner should cost us $56K a year. Time to make those waste of good sperm cells go to work. Make them build stuff to sell. Put those back against CIG cost. No build no pay plus more hard work. Cut the benefits of TV and AC for sure. Then work on the food. No way these guys should be living so luxuriously.
CIG Equipment – Is all their equipment really needed? Should they have multiple equipment? Centralise and lease to departments.
Next thing is stop trying to play Jamaican. Nothing worse than a comb some wanna be rasta. You can tell by all the words you say correctly you nimwit.
JUST THOSE POOR CAYMANIANS MAKING $300O AND UNDER PER MONTH AND IS SINGLE PARENT . How in the earth are they going to survive? Unna Politicians should be in our shoes.You all not only make too big a salary but the perks WOW all those trips for nothing, good gracious especially all you CHRISTIANS please consider us. Oh my goodnes I forget to mention the body guards who even take you all to Church. Ever heard about the Resurrection Day well that is going to be nothing to the next Election. We will be playing good old Buck Owens " crying time again". Oh be careful little hurry ups what you do, for the father up above, he is looking down .
Maybesomeone in the private sector can help me. But exactly how are salary cuts in the private sector helping the financial problem in the country?
There has been a lot of bashing of civil servants. There is the image being painted that we are all highly overpaid when in fact the truth is the opposite. The problem with the Civil Service is not that they are overpaid it is that we have too many civil servants for the country to support.
Now here is your problem. The private sector does not pick up your garbage, nor do they provide police, firemen, air traffic and the list goes on.
What needs to happen is that the civil service needs to be downsized but our government as did the last one has not addressed the problem and we are running out of time. You just cant go and fire all the civil servants the island would be a disaster.
Pay cuts might give some of them the incentive to leave which would be best for everyone.
"Maybe someone in the private sector can help me. But exactly how are salary cuts in the private sector helping the financial problem in the country?" Because the government is not taking in enough money to pay its outgoings. Either revenue needs to increase (very hard without wiping an incredibly fragile economy at its weakest point) or costs need to be cut, and the biggest, most easily cut cost is the obscene expense of one of the world’s fattest least productive civil services relative to size of population.
The original poster asked how salary cuts in the PRIVATE sector are helping the financial problem in the country. Probably because a lot of people are saying the private sector took their cuts, now it’s the public sector’s turn. Your point doesn’t address the question.
Earlier I asked the question "Maybe someone in the private sector can help me. But exactly how are salary cuts in the private sector helping the financial problem in the country?"
I recieved two answers in reply. The first said that government was waisting money, which I agree with but did not answer the question.
The second suggested that since the private sector took cuts then under the current recession Government should do the same. While I understand what you are saying my conclusion from you two are that slary or staff cuts in the private sector does nothing to the countries financial problems.
When the private sector cuts salaries or jobs, they used to help them make a profit and I have no problem with that, but it does not help Government.
Last point, Government is an absolute must have. It is not the private sector that deals with fires, nor do they provide policemen, air traffic, health (To a lesser extent) etc. That makes Government’s problems everyones problems.
It has been repeatedly said on here that government needs to identify the posts that it can do without and make the hard decision to do so. There are departments of government with many unnecessary positions, for example there are departments with three and four deputies to the head of department then those deputies have deputies (although perhaps by another name) and on and on it goes. This might be an ideal situation for some but in these difficult times it is extravagance to be eliminated. Yes, it will be hard to turn people away and say that they no longer have a job but it has to be done and until it happens this mess will continue.
There is also the decentralisation of government that needs to be reversed, which would eliminate the cost of the overpaid CFOs and Chief Officers. If the government would do this, and when I say the govenrnment I mean the Governor (and the Deputy Governor) who has responsibility for the civil service, we would see a huge reduction in the cost of civil service salaries and by extension the cost of running the government service. Of course these suggestions, though repeatedly made, fall on deaf ears and are ignored.
In other words we( the government) are still the same incompetent, backward thinking, and self centered people that got Cayman into the bad and getting worse every day financial situation in the first place. No big surprise that their pathetic "fixes" will not fix anything at all.
There is no way those in power can solve the problems they themselves created. There is no way that the Caymanian people will get together and agree to a plan to solve the problems. All anyone can do now is watch it all fail and try to get out of the way. Hopefully the future leaders will learn from the current ones the lessons of what not to do and why. Good luck Cayman islands. There are still a lot of good people and a lot of good potential for Cayman when this is finally over.
3.2% across the board?? Nicky does this include statuatory bodies; they did not receive the increase that would be rolled back!
CNS: It’s unclear at the moment but we’re is looking into it.
Statutory bodies (i.e. CIMA, HSA, CIAA) also get increments, cost of living etc, that the regular civil servants do not/did not get.
NO THEY DON’T!
Dear CNS,
CNS: Good grief! What more do you want us to do than present both sides of the argument? I believe you are confusing the commentswith the CNS articles – comments are open to everyone, including public servants (the only place where they are able to state their case freely). Just to note because you appear to have forgotten, civil servants, even heads of departments, are not generally allowed to talk to the press, so interviewing a cross section is not possible. They are, however, able to post their positions, if they wish to, anonymously right here on CNS.
It is our duty to report on what politicians, reports and senior civil servants are saying about civil service reductions (including via leaked memos), and we make it clear who is saying what. If you believe they are pet talking monkeys, that is your opinion but that does not mean that their findings or words should be kept from the public. We have also at every step gone out of our way to getthe CICSA response, not just reported on the press releases – there is no negative tone in these articles to an objective reader, but you are reading it with your own bias or basing your opinion on the subsequent comments rather than the articles themselves.
If you feel that the answers to that list of questions would boost the public’s view of the civil service, then lobby CICSA to get them into the media. CICSA is the only organisation that could conduct that kind of survey, if they felt it was important.
Also, if you are truly interested in being informed about things that you don’t see in the media, you can find out the answer to any of these questions by making FOI requests using an anonymous email address. That is what FOI is for.
Dear Tired:
Go back to work and stop writing such extensive foolishness.
I would go back to work but I am unemployed and I am sure you can see why :-)! ( yippee for unemployed posters of "follishness"!)
Cayman let me tell you the truth I am a civil servant and my department just got cuts in pay and other areas that directly affect the small man,as a caymanian I work hard and love my country dearly but I must say that this leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth! to all you lower paid civil servants out there speak up and let the Cayman government know that we are all not stupid,and for those over paid department heads and big shots in government if bigmac had the b@@@ls he would have cut the upper levels by 10% and up,now that would have been some good old caymanian savings.
Compared to other civil servants worldwide you have gotten off very lightly – especially since we have such a woefully overstaffed, overpaid and underproductive civil service.
If you are that unhappy and that much in love with your "country" then do the right thing leave your job and get one in the private sector. That way the bill for the civil servants will go done even more. I bet you won’t leave because you still have it far too good in a public job.
We need another 5% off your wages and quite a few resignations from your peers. And it is the lower end workers that make up the bulk of cost (that is how management pyramids work), so they need to bear the brunt.
"If you are that unhappy then leave" you say. There is one problem with that suggestion – all of the jobs that person would likely be able to perform are all taken by work permit holders! You try being Caymanian, unemployed and searching for a job and you will see how many applications you even get an answer to, much less an interview.
It is sickening to read the repeated accusations of overpaid and underproductive civil servants. Whilst I am sure that in some instances that is so, I believe it is worng to paint every civil servant with the same brush. There are many hard working civil servants who go beyond the call of duty and it is hugely unfair to those people to have such accusations levelled at them.
While I would agree that the civil service needs to be downsized you are not painting the total picture here. Most here in Cayman are above standards set around a significant part of the world. Not just the civil servants. What you need to try and look at is compare what a secretary in Government makes as compared to the private sector then compare overseas.
You do that honestly and you will get a big surprise. As for the benifits that the civil servants get I have no problem there in saying that they should not get the breaks they are getting with health insurrance and retirement. However your solution seems to place all the blame on under paid civil servants.
By the way the private sector has done nothing to help the government pays its bills.
Reply to ”Cayman let me tell you the”
So right, higher cuts should start at the top. Not to the employee at
the bottom of the ladder who can hardly make ends meet as it is. Not
fair!!!
Come I tell unna some areas where Government can save. Firstly, they can start by taking away the Blackberries handed out to these civil servants that sit on their backsides and text all day. XXXXX And all of these deals ya bout staff getting like a whole year off, fully paid, to study for some kinda degree, dat nah right! Dats money wasted right deh while the rest of us are bursting our asses and sometimes get cursed for it. Some of these people collecting these big salaries need to go!!
another area would be to turn of all those a/c units in government buildings that are left running even when there are extended public holiday breaks. Encourage persons that in good health to find jobs and be more productive so that the government will not have to be "footing" all their bills. Have proper supervision of the men and women who are working so that the government can get even 3/4 days worth of work. instead of the 1/2 or 1/4 that they are now getting in some instances.
You made some very good suggestions but you forgot to suggest that the Politicians wage be cut by half or more. Let them get some good headaches like us trying to figure out how to put food on the tables every day.
So If have this right. The civil servants that will be building the Premiers new CI 100,000.00 plus, wall around his personal house will be doing it at a cut back wage.
Boy that makes sense????????
Not enough. Not nearly enough. If Bush doesn’t slash both CS jobs and salaries, and if he refuses to drasstically slim-down the overwight CS, it will be his undoing: his political nemesis. The people of these fair islands will object vociferously if they are asked to cough up more taxes without seeing BIG savings in public sector pay. Every other country on the planet has had to do this to balance the books, and Cayman should be no exception. Every day it becomes more evident that Bush is governing to defend his popularity (votes) and NOT in the National interest.
It’s simple math: we could do our parts by giving ourselves raises and rescinding them. The savings would be in the millions!
Last weekend for instance I didn’t buy a pair of $150 Nikes. Right there I saved $150! And I also didn’t buy a $1200 flat screen tv. If I do that every weekend…. no worries.
I heard that one department was caught trying to do just that – give themselves raises and then rescind them. Pretty crafty move I’d say.
I donot think the idea of across the board cuts are the right thing to do.
the lower levels should only have a nominal cut as they generally live pay check to pay check due to high cost of living.
the higher positions in the managerial positions should have a 10% cuts and some of their positions made reduntant.
Many of these positions are just a nuisance or hinderance in the functioning of the civil service functions.
Also cut back wasteful expenditure– right down to unnecessary stationary
I gather the new administration building is getting new furniture etc. Why not use the old oes and defer purchases till the finances improve
In the health department, get rid of many of the managerial positions without cutting back on the clinical staff and lower level jobs like porters and house keepers. That way patient care will not be affected. The cut/savings from the unnecessary higher positions could be used towards supplies accounts sothat clinical patient care not suffer.
While all this taking place, let us see where are business and functioning model went wrong and gradually make the changes in organisational structures of the government.
over the years, the civil service has become unvieldy and top heavy.
also when new services and positions were created, no proper thought was given to whether it was sustainable and even essential.– bigger government is not necessarly better and viable.It bancrupts nations and we are just realising this from sitting at its door-steps.
let us all work together and come out of this- an advice to the civil service, please donot live in isolation and on a seperate island. You are all part of the cayman islands.
you all don’t get it do you? We are going to go into a depression when people can’t pay their loans, there will be massive foreclosures, businesses will close because no one is spending money, crimes will escalate because of poverty, etc. Jamaica will be heaven compared to here.
The fact of the matter is, is that we Civil Servants who are hardly making anything at all is going to be tremendously affected by this salary cut. Like myself for instance who is making just a little over two thousand a month. I can hardly survive now as it is. I am thankful of course to have a job and that the pay cut is not going to be anymore than it is. But beleive me it is very hard to even make it on my present salary and they are already deducting money from that for an overseas medical. Those Civil Servants and Politicians who are making those big time salaries and getting all those perks and benefits are not going to feel it very much at all or maybe not at all. They should be the ones whose salaries are cut and all their unnecessary benefits and perks done away with.
It just seems that most people seem to think that all Civil Servants are making tons of money and getting so much benefits and thats not true at all. I have been working for Government almost ten years now and I have never had an increment, a salary raise except the cost of living raise which I had only about 3 or 4 times in all the time I have been there and never a bonus at Christmas or any other time. And I do know that there are many companies in the Private Sector that give their employees these benefits all the time and I have heard about some Government departments that give their staff these sometimes as well, but I am not one of them and there are many like me. So forgive me for believing that at least we should be entitled to have our substandard insurance coverge that we have, and should not have to have our low class salaries cut as well.
By the way I am a Caymanian and I work damn hard for whatever I get.
Thank you.
It’s got nothing to do with how much you do or do not earn. If the CS can perform as effectively and efficiently without you in post, I’m afraid you’ve got to go. This may sound harsh, but that’s just the way it is. When the country has to save millions of dollars in public sector pay, civil servants surpluss to requirement are always a main target area for savings — or should be if Bush had the courage to manage in the National interest. You’ll just have to go find yourself another job, like millions of other people who have lost their jobs in the recession. Be grateful you’ve had 10-years of sustained income; it’s hasn’t been that way for many of us. These are tough times and you may have to accept you’re one of the casualties of the economic downturn. If you’ve got skills and you’re good at your job, you’ll be able to find a job in the public sector, where by your own admission the benefits are far greater in any case.
Well i have to agree with you writer,I am too a civil servant making lees than $2,500.00 a month,Why didnt heads of CISCA fight for us and stick with the reccomended cuts above $3,000.00 that was proposed by the Govt, Well as you can see they were going to loose 5% and above, they are no better than the rest out there.
19:28: I’m afraid you’re finding out a hard reality. The big shots won’t take a pay cut, they would much rather you did. You may have been hired in the first place because a department head needed more underlings in order to justify a higher pay scale. Ie more people….more "responsibility". Kinda funny when you think about it because it’s the one thing they DON’T do. But you can bet they’ll still be there sitting on their a$$es. And they won’t take a pay cut either. Because they are "friends of friends". That’s just how it is in a corrupt bureaucracy. Get out! You’ll be better off for it. ….Find out where your pension is FIRST because they’ve probably ignored that along with other responsibilities. Good luck.
"We Civil Servants…….is"?????
You’re overpaid, Bro or Sis.
Want to balance budget??.
Sell GOAP. Sell Sewage. Privatize NRA. Sell Dump. Rent or Give away Boatswain Beach (not the turtles). I could go on.
Across the board cuts are silly. Until cuts are targeted and specific they will always be seen as crazy idea. We should target 30% cut in Social Services department- as long as people believe that they can go get a check from government, that department will always expand.
We claim that we have no revenue coming in but NRA is still paving roads and sending equipment to Cayman Brac…. any true business would have cancelled these projects when it realized that revenue was down. But in government as long as it is in the budget, you had better spend it!
Things have to change around here. This system is broken.
NRA is paving roads because if they didn’t… They would not be working. But how about choosing some needed works vs. the special needs driveway for the new vehicle inspection centre.
NRA had better send equipment and what have you to Cayman Brac or else we will really have crying time again .
For information on the 9 million dollar hurricane shelter in Cayman Brac visit the planning department where plans have been submitted to have a view of it. The proposed property is near the sports complex on the bluff. Just do a land registry search or foi search and you will see that government has just purchased additional land in that area also – BROKE – I dont know!!!!????
jealous? A hurricane shelter? that’s what you worried about instead of Julie’s baggage man, hotel expenses, Mac’s 4 bodyguards, wall, housekeeper, butler, cook, SUV, and only God knows what else. Let us not forget their big salaries. bet they aren’t cutting that and their travel expenses. at least a hurricane shelter is a necessity.
A normal hurricane shelter but a 60 plus room apartment complex, come on thats over the top even in the good times.
"A normal hurricane shelter but a 60 plus room apartment complex, come on thats over the top even in the good times."
That sounds like a hotel. Maybe you are confusing that with one of the new hotels being built. I wantto know where this is because I go on the bluff a lot and I don’t see it. Please give us directions.
Or maybe it’s the new resthome because they are always out of beds.
Go to the Planning department thats were the plans are, then you can see for youself
I am a civil servant and I can honestly say that I am ashamed of the choice to cut salaries by 3.2% across the board,to all those civil servants making under $3ooo dollars it is going to be very hard,shame on you the cayman government the real culprits with the big salaries are laughing all the way to the bank.
You are so right about that, it should only affect people making salaries $3000 and higher cause the cost of living isn’t cheap here in the Cayman Islands.
$2500 CI a month is a tax free annual income of US$37,500. That is equivalent to $50k-60k salary in the mainland US. Anyone with a menial or low level administrative job should be grateful they are so overpaid rather than moan.
While you may be right with the conversion, the issue is the buying power of the US$ verses the CI$.
What you can achieve, even in terms of home purchases in some areas and definitely food and other consumables in the US, it is not possible here in Cayman.
And we can’t all leave and go live in the US!! So, we have to make and spend the limited income right here……
$9 million hurricane shelter on Cayman Brac. Is anyone paying attention?
If I was a civil servant, the first question I would be asking is why my salary is being cut 3.2 % and the gov’t is going to spend $9 million on a hurricane shelter for Cayman Brac. Didn’t they just finish remodeling the one they had? Are they padding someone’s pocket by buying their property to access the shelter?
Ask questions people!!!!
Thats for the Brac now, miss julie will get what she want even if she makes poor Mack sweat later. Wonder who is going to get the contract on that one? One million dollars could build quite a shelter. Bet Mr Andy is not going to get that contract. See the problems now that some of the contractors for the Paloma are in? Dont worry people are watching.
Too late Double O this small island has taken on too many people already and they are expecting the government to provide for them as if its their right this coupled with the locals who expect the same. Because of the share size some believe special attention of their needs should be the government’s only focus, this has induced a coma like entitlement state of mind which has led to our government over spending without regard for how they are going to get revenue to cover this expenditure. The subsequent economic situation or crisis has done little to fully wake them up and they are in a state of disbelief at the moment because it has gone on so long. Cut the population to stop capital flight and look after those who have the countries interest at heart that should narrow it down quite a bit.
too little , too late….. now we will all have payroll tax thanks to the useless civil service and the spinless gov ‘leaders’
Can someone please confirm/clarify whether this 3.2% cut will be across the board and include government agencies/bodies/statutory authorities? For example, those arms of government that DID NOT receive a 3.2% increase when this was given?
I think I have slipped into the twilight zone. Is anyone there?
Hold on. We hated PPM because they would not make decisions. We drove them from the house because of this reluctance. Then we put ig Big Mac because he’s the man. He’s going to make decisions. Did we put in PPM 2.0?
Everytime I look at Big Mac now I see him morphing into Kurt. Am I having deja vu or vuja de?
Okay Big Mac let me help you on this. The first step is to forget you are running in 2012/13. Let that play out the way it will.
The second step is to see what you can do under the law.
All CIG employees have contracts meaning that cutting their salaries is a no no. Maybe even cutting their benefits is a no no unless they volutarily give it to you.
Saying that your only course of action is to makepositions redundant which allows you the right under the law to release from employment staff members. To do this you must first make the positions non viable which means making changes such as rolling back changes made by PPM to de-centralise certain departments. Then beyond that to centralise other departments/services.
My suggestion for staff being released is to incorporate Immigration department and labour board where staff can transition to private company seeking staff.
This 3.5% rollback is a joke. It does not begin to touch our problems. If you Mr Bush do not have the cahones to do the job we put you in for we can always replace you in 2 years. My only hope is for the people of Cayman to remember how spineless his government is and to make sure he does not see the light of day again.
Cut their salaries and let them pay their portion of pension and insurance just like we do in the private sector.
I’ll say it again, it is not fair for the government to impose taxes on us whilst civil servants continue to live high on the hog acting like they are invincible and not removable.
Anywhere else in the private sector the fat would have been cut by now.
Let the chips fall where they may!
Civil Servants are not living high on the hog as you call it because they get their health and pension benefits paid. Many private sector companies pay this for their employees and have always done so it is part of the remuneration package for their employees – why should civil servants be any different. Furthermore, private sector employees who get this paid for by their employers are free to chose which health service to use and are not forced and subjected to the sub standard health service offered by the HSA. Maybe if and when civil servants can go to the private sector for their health care (which many of them do now and pay for themselves) then maybe they will not object to having to pay a small premium towards this health care.
This a load of crap! The only companies in the private sector that can pay all of the pension and insurance are making good money and can afford to do so. Government is losing money hand over fist and its time that civil servants understand that this is not a God-given right and the people of these islands can no longer afford to pay them these perks. Frankly speaking, we don’t have the money.
I totally agree, why should we have to pay taxes because civil servants believe that they should be exempt for life, can’t be fired evenif the do nothing, have fully paid pension and health insurance and good salaries and to make things worse salary raises in times like these.
Somebody needs to take charge here be it the Governor or Deputy Governor. Enough is enough, we need to share the load and that means civil servants must pay their fair share like the majority of us do in the private sector.
I suppose they will want to be exempt from taxes when those come in too!!
Talking to so many Cayman Bracers who work for the Government they are furious. I THINK THAT THE DEPUTY MUST STILL BE SOMEWHERE DOWN IN HONDURAS BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT WANT TO LOOSE ALL THOSE VOTES. tHAT WOULD BE THE SAME ONES THAT LYNDON NEEDED THE LAST ELECTION.
You are very right 05/07/2010 – 12:52. All of the attackers of the Civil Service out there do not know the hell civil servants go through each day. You folks think they are so highly paid etc, that is not true in the majority of cases. What you all should call for is a bigger reduction of the pay for the overpaid Chief Officers and others at that level, not the lower paid and hard working Caymanians whose families will suffer. It is also true that MANY civil servants pay private insurance and do not rely on coverage from government, CINICO. I know of a friend who is a civil servant and was hospitalised. She could have had it all billed to the government (as per her conract) but she chose for it to be paid in full by herself and her private insurance. So, when you all are throwing the constant stream of stones at civil servants just remember that they are not all the same and a great many do not rely on govenment to pay for their needs.
Just because you don’t use the insurance offered doesn’t mean they stop paying for it. Even more of a waste of money. And I worked in the civil service for many years. I wasn’t overpaid but that’s only because I did most of the work to pick up the slack from everyone else in my department who got paid more than me as they had been there for 15-odd years. Get a job in the private sector and you’ll see why we are throwing stones.
The scaling back of government should be tied to the scaling back of this population we need to stop this ambitious expansion schemes and plans and concentrate on managing and protecting what we already have it is clearly obvious that these two are uniquely tied to one another. We cant continue to expand this place out of control as some would like us to believe to suit their financial agenda. Focusing on what we do best and treating the people here well should not only be a government only program but a national program.Lessing the demand on good and services from government will lessen governments expansion. Quality not quantity and boy be sure got alot of quantity round here of late.
Maybe you could ask why a 9 million dollar hurricane shelter is being built in Cayman Brac in these tough economic times.
Wow! Really? Where?
And also why Government is purchasing the land for it, when it has plenty of its own.
uhm… Nicky? any truth to this?
CNS: I will check it out this week.
I agree with you 100%, this country is too focused on developing and expanding everything particulary the population. And with all of the expansion and development comes more requirements and strain on the government and society as a whole. Maybe it is time we take a closer look at this and see if it is really in the best interest of the country to expand at such a fast paced rate. For it may look all well in the short term, but we need to think long term, and the see if we are making the right choices for the future of this country.
Nice in theory but who could you get rid of? You could only realistically get rid of foreigners and either they are tourists spending a lot of money here, or they are professional expats working at international firms that bring millions and millions in revenue to Cayman each year, or they are the humble low paid expats that are the backbone of the local economy by working long hours for a pittance. They are your nannies and gardeners and serve your meals. Prices would increase greatly at local stores if they had to increase staff wages.
It would be too great a loss in revenue to get rid of any of the above mentioned groups. Don’t even kid yourself for a moment that businesses and investors would hang around for a second if they couldn’t employ expatriate professionals. the expats and international businesses would take their money elsewhere in a flash.
The only other group you could get rid of are the locals and whilst it could be argued that it would be the most beneficial financially for the country to get rid of this dead wood. It’s not going to happen is it??
The answer is very easy people just like you who behave like this place was not here before you economic opportunist/refugees made your way here. Your millions and millions comment yes you are right but it is obvious our greedy leadership and country has got very little or a fraction of it or we wouldn’t find ourselves in the current financial quagmire. Your humble backbone and pittance comment wreaks of self serving propaganda and resentment if you do not like it here then head on out to greener pastures Greece and the rest of your European bastions would welcome you and your millions. You like the rest of your parasitic companions expect to live and feed off this place until it is gone then you will find another host to move to. Deadwood has some use sadly we can’t say the same for persons like you who arrive on these shores preaching falsehoods and spreading your racist views and assumptions.Sadly we have our own gullible idiots who tolerate this crap because their materialistic desires are consuming them. Trouble is coming to Cayman if we don’t shed persons like you.
Only if the leaders already made the cut they promise to their HUGE salaries ,we THE PEOPLES,can be happy and say that our leaders are leading by example.
Only if that was or is done, we the PEOPLES,can trust them and support them in next elections.
It would be a shame to see that many hard long time civil cervices, get the same pay cut from their little salaries,than the LEADERS of our country ,whom all makes such HUGE SALARIES.
They promised a CUT they should do it.
Then do this other cut ,togueter with us ,then we can say that you care.
Still they can get fancy cars,houses,private schools for their kids,helpers,you name it…While we the people can only wait for next election to see you leave with a $10.000 dollars montly pay,just for having served us or maybe served themself’s
"The government has also decided to drop the premium that departments will pay to CINICO for each public servant rather than a co-share option on health benefits."
Sounds like government decided to lower the amount of premium payments to CINICO. Isn’t the Health Services Authority already running a deficit? Doesn’t this just shift more deficit onto the Health Services Authority?
CINICO also runs at a defecit. So if the premiums government pays to CINICO are dropped, then the defecit at CINICO will increase, and the defecit will be funded by….Government. If CINICO’s premiums exceeded its costs, its ‘profit’ would be paid back to Government anyway. In short, this will have no effect at all on Governments problem.
They ran a surplus last year if you actually look at the accounts.
Dont get me wrong but there is civil servants that bust there butts just like you all private sectors do how would you feelif your employer call you in and said look we are cutting your salary by X Y & Z then what that would be a whole nother situtation wouldnt it well guess what do throw stones in a glass house if you are afraid to get cut.
Didn’t you hear we in the private sector have already been given cuts over the last year and half, and are now living with it, as well as the threat of another 5% cut through payroll tax, all to keep your wages uncut. nice eh?
So please, it’s already happened and the fact that you don’t even realise this really shows how out of touch Civil Servants are with the economic state Cayman is in right now.
Selfish b*****ds!
People get real and start to think critically. The reduction of CS salaries will not balance the budget or increase revenues anymore than wishing that it will go away make it happen.
Successive governments and their mismanagement of fund have contributed to this combined with the global economic recession. Government need to stop giving hand outs to all, during the past 15 years Cayman have become a welfare state, prior to this Caymanians would never entertain the idea of begging now this has become the norm.
Greed is the driving force of these islands, we want everything now and no one is willing to wait or to make any sacrifices. Before we go spouting out what the CS should do have you given a thought about what you could, should and have to do to contribute to reducing the deficit and now to increase the revenues? I guess not everyone wants to pass the buck that is what is wrong with society on a whole. It’s call the me me syndrome. Everyone that owes government should pay what they owe, for one this would really help to increase the revenues.
Still don’t get it do you, with stupidity like this it is no wonder you work for government. The private sector has gone through an extensive cost cutting exercise over the last 2 years, salaries have been cut, jobs have been cut and people have been let go. The private sector knows exactly what it is like!!! There are good people in the civil service but you are obvoiusly not one of them, 3.2% pay cut, ha, that is one or two beers a week less. Try losing your job before you start the winning? You are pathetic
I totaly agree with you. I am a civil servant and have no problems with a pay cut, but what really bothers me is the lazy, no good parasites that are working in the Government and cannot be fired because of stupid rules.
A lot of people in would have been fired long ago if they worked the private sector.
Ooop’s sorry the last comment I made was a bit stupid, they would’nt have been hired in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get rid of them!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still think they should be paying their own portion to the pension contribution.
No pension holiday!! That is just a bad idea all around. But all should make thier own decision about that.
Instead of reducing all CS salaries they should first trim it and start with the 700 or so that were hired under the PPM administration or as a result of the implementation of their policies like the new PMFL the FOI, the new Constitution, etc. Why should every CS pay for what the PPM did and how they left this country? They made us the prime targets of the business community knowing full well that CS salaries are lower and the healthcare is inferior that the wider community. Thanks Kurt, Alden, Chuckie, et al. Don’t even want to see your faces.
Oh lord….spit out the McKeeva cool aid please before you become another Jonestown !!!
I hate the PPM but this post about 700 jobs is total bullcrap of the Ezzard Miller variety which has been discredited by a parliamentary answer on the issue. Complete ignorance about matters on this site is very depressing but I suppose represents why Cayman is in the mess it is. Too many bigoted intellectually limited bozos.God help us.
We will not make progress as a country unless we stop turning the Civil Service upside down every time there is an election. Government wastes much money by having to rename ministries and creates inefficiency by rearranging ministries and portfolios of responsibility because of the preferences of the elected Ministers.
Since the US is always seen as a model, has anyone ever seen the politicians in the states interferrring with the programmes that are put in place by the Civil Service?
Each government and ministry tries to undue the work that was done by the previous one whenever there is an election and interferes with the plans and development that are in place.
This commotion is what is affecting the civil service and the Cyaman Islands. Momentum is lost whenever theere is an election because of this, and the poor civil service I understand takes at least eighteen months to settle down aghain.
Wow 3.2%!I guess all of the big wigs in government should be happy,what a joke.
So rolling back an INCREASE is a savings??? Who taught our leaders accounting?
His 3.2% increase cutback is like Obama’s 100 Million cutback. This is a link that really makes me think…..what would Cayman’s budget look like on a table???
http://www.wimp.com/budgetcuts
Interesting web link to ponder.
Everyone, please offer ideas on how we can cut spending…
About time too…lets hope it is not too little too late.
And what is this about reducing flight allowances for overseas workers? More racism?
Racism?! Perhaps it was unfair for them to have it in the first place when Caymanians don’t. Works the same way in the private sector. If there is any discrimination it is in favour of the expat.
BullSxxt! Bullsxxt! Bullsxxt! I work with several Caymanians who (by their managers’ own admission) should be fired for laziness, incompetence, bad attitude. But they can’t be fired. Why? ‘Cause their mama squat ’em out here in the Cayman Islands.
erm – I think they are referring to civil servants who work , representing Cayman Islands in other countries….no racism there. Wow – jumping to conclusions much?
What do we all spend money on that could be taxed that is not already taxed? What is a billion dollar revenue stream in Cayman? Hmmmmm utilities. Most of them are govt. (CUC, WA, DOE) hellloooooo?
ICTA! Digicel and Lime rake in millions. We chat, chat, chat, top up, surf, text, talk…..
ooooh, what about making the phone companies give Govt a little profit? They operate for next to nothing and the govt only gets license fees.
Just a thought….we tax our tourists (landing fees, hotel tax) we tax fuel surcharges….what about a phone surcharge???
Reply to what do we all spend money on….
The only problem with the government taxing the phone companies is
that then they in turn will pass that extra cost on to their customers!!
A no win situation there!!
I completely agree with the guy who reckons we should tax the mobile phone operators. Cell phones are a non essential luxury device. Even people on the lowest incomes seem to spend every minute of every day on the phone which must indicate that it is very cheap.
The government should tax the operators and fix the prices like they do in europe. The regulators there specify maximum rates that companies can charge for different services.
Whilst CUC, water and groceries etc are essential items that it is unfair to increase the charges for, cell phone usage is completely optional.
By making it more expensive to talk on the phone, you also have the added benefit of increasing productivity in the work place by probably 30% as the workers don’t waste so much of their employers time making private phone calls.
These areas were taxed before when they had exclusive licenses but that changed when we introduced competition or changed the exclusive contracts to reduce cost. This is a vicious cycle and we need to pay our fair share.
I have a contract which states my salary in it so how can they make cuts without my consents? Or is this another bluff?
By gettin you to sign for the cuts. They’ll give you a nice choice cuts or redundancy. One weeks pay per year of employment.
Then you can decide which you would rather have a steady lower income that will help Cayman survive or no job, little money to help Cayman survive
9:34 The last line of your contract states that "this contract is subject to The Laws of The Cayman Islands". So all they have to do is hustle through a new Law that states that all Govt salaries are to be reduced by 3.2 % on 1st July.
Leeches like this are killing the island. Take your pay cut or lose your job. It is that simple. Prviate businesses are going bust all over and many other are vacating the island for pastures greener. The decreasing tax base and increasing civil service cost imbalance needs to be addressed.
The private sector employees have had to ‘take one for the team’, now it is the turn of the civil service. We cannot afford to keep shelling out through the nose for your fat cat salary and gold plated benefits.
Government needs to fire every employee and offer the good ones a new position at a reduced salary and benefits more in line with the real world so they can take it or leave it. This method is used around the world even in governments to cut numbers. Make people apply for their own jobs. It’s the only way to make ends meet.
"fat cat salary and gold plated benefits". Wow, bitter?? "reduced salary and benefits more in line with the real world", I can tell you that as a Civil Servant, my salary is well and truly in line with the ‘real world’ (I just compared it with the USA, Canada, UK and Australia, I even used a currency converter, on my own computer, at home, with my own internet connection, on my weekend). Apparently, unless I messed up the calculations, which is a possibility given that, according to some on here, I would probably not be intelligent or resourceful enough to get a job in the private sector, my salary is not fat nor is it cat like either. And tell me, did you choose the private sector for its benefits, higher salary, nice package, bonus every year??? Unfortunately, that comes with risk and less security, and in times like these, comes back to bite you on the a@$. I will take my pay cut, fair and square, to sustain this country, more so though to stop hearing your bitter pill trying to go down!! Across the board cuts so be it, personally though, looking and trimming, and higher than just grass roots level, is the more sustainable option. Get rid of what is unnecessary, and there is lots.
contract? they probably will not renew your contract anyway. that’s another thing they are doing.
cutting your salary is actually against the labor law so guess they will change that.
It’s not nice calling anyone a leech. Everyone needs to make money and pay their bills. these are hard times and it will get much worse. this will put the economy at a stand still. I took Economics and I know this is very bad for the economy.
Off topic…there is a lot of aggression on this site. A lot of people are angry all the time. It reminds me of Jamaica.
Shouldn’t the tile be "Cayman now faces certain death because of it’s spineless leaders"
?
Keep going! This is a drop in the bucket and we need to fill a big well with new savings.
Next? Fire ANY civil servant who is found to abuse a fuel card, phone service, government vehicle, travel expense, overtime, etc….I have been to Immigration (as an employer), vehicle licensing, customs, DOE, and Planning in the past two weeks and can say that they are OVER STAFFED. It does not take (3) workers to stamp paperwork.
Anyone ever notice that the traffic at 4:30PM is backed up? I’m tired of seeing workers pick up their children at 3:15PM, run an errand and NOT go back to the office. Does anyone actually work until 5:00PM anymore? Put in time clocks in ALL government departments! Start firing people who do not perform, this will lesson the numbers and keep the hard workers.
Increase efficiency and decrease spending?….wow, time to work Cayman. The free ride is over!!!
I’m not disagreeing that we need to make serious cuts, but let’s not assume that everybody on the road at 4:30 is a civil servant stealing time!
A salary rollback? That’s it? Where the f**k are the cuts !?
So they were asked to cut back 8% of human resource costs and 10% of operating costs and instead rolled back salary increases by 3.2% ?
Is this a joke ?
No joke but do try and keep up– or at least read this fine news outlet when it reports on the latest news in the attempt to bring to bay that dreaded enemy of right thinking people and yellow peril, the Civil Service.
The deputy governor reported some few weeks ago that the 10% in operating costs was more than achieved. If I remember correctly the total savings there was about twice what was asked for or 49 million. There may have been more cuts since then although CNS would have to get their source(s) inside the Civil Service to confirm the extent of all of this.
I think the same source will likely confirm that the cuts and reductions mentioned here equate to 8% of personnel costs. If you remember, the Government has already taken that amount out of the budget– leaving it up to the civil service how this was achieved. You may also find that at the end of the 2011 financial year the civil service has shrunk considerably more than it had by Mid 2010– assuming all the key players inside and outside the service are willing.
Anyhow I’m sure the Civil Service would be terribly disappointed to know that you don’t find all this to be enough. Although the local purveyors of goods and services where they spend their hard-earned dollars can breathe a tiny sigh of relief for the moment– or at least the ones who understand that civil servants are capable of being very thrifty when they have need.
What must the civil service doto demonstrate its bona fides, one wonders? Pay a payroll tax to Cayman Finance. Perhaps something from the pages of the classics… a bonfire of hedge fund certificates at Camana Bay where 1000 civil servants newly notified of their redundancy emulate Scaevola from the glory days of Ancient Rome and thrust their right hands into the flames (or was it the left, I forget)? Probably because I didn’t go to Oxbridge.
To date not one dollar has been saved or cut. yes there is a massive black hole in the budget, but just because somebody tells us they have cut operating expenditure by 10% doesn’t mean they have actually done this, especially when there is no evidence of cuts.
Despite your pompousness your story is absolute rubbish and does not agree with any previous statements made through either this or any other media outlet.
A 2-3% rollback of salary increases does not reduce personnel costs by 8%. With your adding up skills I have to guess that you are one of the accountants to blame for the black hole and lack of accounts for the past however many years.
If you put more effort into your work as you do with your pedantic and pathetic comments, then perhaps you and your ilk wouldn’t be quite so despised by the tax (fee) payers of this island.
anon 15:33
I’m not an accountant but you are wrong. there has been many cuts but it wasn’t enough. i know of a department that gave up everything except what they were using at the moment. the money was already committed so they couldn’t cut it. I can’t think of a good example to explain this so i will leave it as is and hopefully you won’t go off half-cocked and sprout rubbish taht you don’t know.
Hmm:
I did go to Oxbridge and thank God in that it made me incabable of writing the hilarious pompous drivel of your last paragraph.