Government complacency

The strike ordered by the GWU at the hospitals and elderly homes has once again highlighted the disparity that exists between the conditions of work in the private sector and those in the public sector.

We recently witnessed the trauma of the layoff of hundreds of workers in the private sector because their employers decided to move their factories to low income countries. These same workers - perhaps some of them are still unemployed - now hear that the government is bound to pay the full salary of the strikers who only perform 15 per cent of their work. A luxury which they surely never enjoyed.

Who would ever dream of a private employer allowing this luxury to his employees?

Naturally, one cannot expect employers to dish out money to their employees without getting something in return. So why are public employees so privileged? The answer is simple. The government can afford this abuse of public money because there are always the taxpayers, many of them workers in the private sector, to foot the bill. This different treatment in democracy, that boasts of equal treatment for all its citizens, should be eliminated once and for all. Private employees in similar circumstances would be faced with a lock out and not regaled with their full pay.

I am not against the use of strike action by the workers but, like everyone else, they should be accountable for their action. The law is absurd as it serves as an incentive for the workers to go on strike indefinitely once they get paid no matter what.

I am sure that the government knew of the absurdity of this law. So what is the reason for retaining it? Once again it is caught on the wrong foot and has to face the music. Once again the government has no card to play. Episodes like this only serve to show its complacency with the resultant suffering of the patients.