THE GOVERNMENT’S attempt to save a paltry €70 million from the state payroll over the next two years has hit difficulties.
While the biggest public sector union PASYDY agreed to small deductions being made from its members’ salaries, the primary school teachers’ union POED has rejected the government proposal. Secondary school teachers’ union OELMEK agreed to the deductions for one year but set a list of conditions that had to be satisfied by the government before it gave its approval to another year of cuts. Today, the unions of the semi-state organisations are set to take a stand on the proposal, with a strong possibility they will reject it.
Nobody should be surprised by the negative reaction of some unions. President Christofias and his government have allowed them to behave in this way, by insisting that any measures aimed at reducing the state payroll would have to be reached by consensus.
Now that consensus has not been achieved, what will our ultra-democratic president do? Will the government take a small percentage from the salaries of civil servants and secondary school teachers, while not touching the wages of primary teachers? And next June, when the secondary school teachers say the government has failed to satisfy their conditions – clamping down on tax evasion and taxing wealth – will they also be exempt from the pay cuts’ scheme?
The joke is that the unions have set conditions and forced the government to impose a levy on all private companies in order to agree to wage deductions that would not even be felt by their members, who will still move up the incremental wage scales and be paid the Cost of Living Allowance. In the worst cases, their salaries might remain the same, while most would still receive a small pay rise. In fact, the €35m saving would not even offset the increase in the state payroll which is estimated to reach €60 million this year.
In a way, it is good that some of the unions have rejected Christofias’ proposal because he might stop deluding himself about finding solutions to the problems faced by public finances through consensus.
When he cannot even secure consensus on an innocuous proposal that would not affect the earnings of public sector workers, what is the likelihood that these spoilt, selfish workers, who are accustomed to always getting their way, would agree to the reform of the state pensions scheme?
Nothing can be achieved through consensus and the sooner our deluded president realises this, the better.
