Feb 13 - Unite Says GGCA's Desire To Bring Master Services Into The Public Sector Is "Naïve And Short Sighted"
Unite recognises and accepts that it no longer has collective negotiation rights for Master Services, but says there is a huge difference between the Union’s ability to negotiate collectively for the workforce, and another in safeguarding the interests of those members of the Master Services workforce that still belong to Unite.
A spokesman for Unite said: "On these grounds, Unite met the Chief Minister on Friday 3rd February and Minister Dr John Cortes on Monday 6th February in order to highlight the concerns of its existing membership within the company and to seek assurances that individual terms and conditions, as well as existing work arrangements for each individual would be respected. Unite was reassured on both occasions that any existing arrangement entered between their members and the current company would be a de facto consideration for the allocation of the tender bid to any prospective bidders. The irony of the matter is that many if not practically all of the terms and conditions that have been negotiated within Master Services from 1999 until approximately 18 months ago were done through Unite.
"Unite the Union, in contrast with the GGCA, believes that a holistic and democratic tender process is a priority, not only in respects to Master Services, but for any tender process that the Government of Gibraltar enters into. Whilst matters highlighted in GGCA activist posts on Social Media, as well as GGCA section reps through the print media highlight a commendable attitude by the Master Services management in respect to their understanding and flexibility in matters dealing with substance abuse or serious illness, the fact of the matter is that a union cannot use these arguments to defend the Directors of a company when their contract comes to an end, and attempt to usurp the tender process to the detriment of the public purse. For the avoidance of doubt, Unite would not be entertaining the owners of any company in trying to hold on to their tender through thick and thin and using this as a grievance on the workforce’s behalf. The GGCA’s collusion to safeguard the employer, and using its’ memberships funds and resources to this end is one we suspect the Civil Service will not be happy with. Unite however has noticed that the GGCA has changed its emphasis from defending the Directors originally to being somewhat more sympathetic to the concerns of the workforce. We welcome this.
"The GGCA’s desire to bring Master Services into the Public Sector, whilst admirable in ideology, is naïve and short sighted. The GGCA must adopt a more responsible attitude to its negotiation strategy. There are reasons for which Government enters into tender agreements with Private Sector employers, and that is that the multitude of tasks that a Government needs to undertake to meet the needs of its community would be cost prohibitive if these were undertaken from within the Public Sector. Add to this the financial and social uncertainty that Brexit will add to the equation and it beggars belief that the GGCA would be willing to recklessly pursue their current negotiating strategy. Unite wishes this were different, but it is the reality of our circumstances. There are alternatives to the GGCA’s proposal however that Unite has considered as viable and these could be put in place when it recovers negotiation rights for this area.
"The GGCA is haemorrhaging Civil Servants to Unite, a sign that many are not happy with the GGCA Leadership’s attitude to issues within the Civil Service such as the retirement of top level Civil Servants with full gratuities who then become re-engaged as consultants and therefore block promotion opportunities as well as costing the taxpayer a significant amount. Or perhaps its Unite’s picking of the right causes to defend, such as that of the Ministry of Defence attitude to our locally entered civilian workforce that is attracting more members and more interest daily. In fact, if we were to pick only one bone of contention with the GGCA, of which we have many, Unite would highlight the absolutely dismal behaviour and attitude of the GGCA in respects to the MOD issue where they have been nowhere to be seen. The GGCA has some members in the MOD and their silence on this matter is damning.
"To finalise, Unite the Union takes the opportunity to highlight to the GGCA, the Government of Gibraltar and any bidder in respects to the upcoming contract bid, that Unite will defend the interests of any of its members within the Master Services Company, or any other company, even if this were only one member."
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