Dec 08 - GGCA Responds To Online Criticism
The GGCA has replied to the online comments quoted in the article written by Leo Olivero in the Panorama edition of the 4th of December.
The GGCA Committee says it does not want to engage in what it describes as “the often uninformed and sometimes malicious comments” made in reference to the union on social media. However, the GGCA notes that in the section of Public Concerns of the said article, there are quotes of several online comments criticising the GGCA or its members.
A statement continued: “Civil servants, and indeed all of our members, are hard-working individuals often working in testing, low-resourced conditions with unreasonable expectations placed on us. We therefore strongly disagree with any statement labelling us as lazy or inefficient.
“In particular, reference has been made to the GBC programme ‘The Powder Room’, where the GGCA President has previously appeared as a panelist, on a personal capacity, in her free time. This is a programme where panelists express personal opinions, and within a democratic society, it is within our rights to do so. We feel we need to draw a distinction between these type of comments and insulting terms used to describe civil servants by a government minister, who is the representative of our employer, the Government Of Gibraltar. The minister in question has worked with many of our members in the past, and shall continue to do so in the next four years.
“We found the comment unacceptable and condemned it at the time. However we received and accepted a wholehearted apology in the interest of maintaining a positive working relationship with the recently re-elected government.
“As a final point, the GGCA Committee has previously declared its political neutrality amongst its members and would like to reaffirm our commitment to maintaining this stance as long as we remain responsible for running GGCA affairs.”
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