fp Turks and Caicos

The interim government hasn’t spent enough time assessing which civil service jobs should be made redundant, nor has it given civil servants enough time to consider offers of voluntary severance, the Civil Service Association says in a Nov. 13 letter to the governor.

The CSA, whose membership includes about one-third of the 2,200 government employees in the Turks and Caicos Islands, demanded an extra two weeks for workers to consider the Nov. 4 offer to leave their jobs in return for cash. That would have extended the deadline until Nov. 28.

At a press conference Nov. 16, His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd said the deadlines stood. Monthly paid employees had until Nov. 14 to seek the offer, while weekly paid employees had until Nov. 17.

The CSA’s letter asked the governor for a “positive response” to its list of demands and recommendations by the close of business Nov. 17, telling the governor that “we are prepared take any required actions deemed necessary at a time of our choosing.”

The letter did not elaborate, but said, “When our backs are against the wall, our choices are limited to three options: get abused, die or fight back.”

The governor said he would be responding soon to the CSA’s letter.

On Nov. 17, the CSA Management Council announced two "March for Freedom" demonstrations by government employees to take place Saturday, Nov. 19. On Providenciales, the march will assemble at 1:30 p.m. at Samuel Been’s Plaza on Airport Road and begin at 2 p.m., ending at the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex. On Grand Turk, the march will assemble at 2:30 p.m. at the Emancipation Square Clock Tower and begin at 3 p.m., ending at the Library Tennis Court.

"Come out to express your concerns about the detrimental policies this interim government is imposing on people and the public servants of the Turks and Caicos Islands," the CSA announcement said. 

If enough people do not accept the offer to meet the target, more will be forced off their jobs with less generous severance packages.
Before the deadline, sources said more than 200 have submitted Expression of Interest forms to the Office of Public Service Management.

Those who are accepted and want to proceed must sign and return a forecast notification by 4 p.m. on Dec. 9.

The CSA’s requests and demands include:

• Government initially said anyone accepting the offer would be forever banned from ever working for government or statutory boards, but changed that to four years for government jobs. The CSA wants the ban to be reduced to two years for government jobs and eliminated completely for the country’s 35 statutory boards.

• The CSA also demanded that the government make public the savings already achieved with public service reform, claiming that public employment has already been reduced by the government stated goal of 25 percent.

According to figures obtained by the fp from government Chief Financial Officer Hugh McGarel-Groves, spending on government personnel was $88 million in fiscal 2008-09, the last full year of elected government control. The 2011-12 budget projects personnel spending of $66.5 million, or about 24 percent less than 2008-09.

The governor has said the target is $45 million, which would be just more than half what it was in 2008-09.

In April 2010, Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary Delton Jones said the interim government wanted to reduce spending on personnel to about 45 percent of available revenue. If government sticks to its budget, that spending will be 41 percent of revenue.

• In April 2010 all government employees got a 10-percent salary cut, and its that salary amount on which redundancy pay would be based. The CSA wants it based on the full salary without the 10-percent cut.

• Government can reject any application for voluntary redundancy, but employees who seek it but are not accepted will be protected from forced redundancy for a year. The CSA wants all those who apply to be accepted, but if government decides it must keep certain employees for their skills, those should get three-year contract employment to secure their jobs.

Under the government’s plan, the amount of severance to be paid is based on wages and years of service, similar to programmes offered recently to U.K. public servants.

Government will make the final decisions based on the needs of the organization and cost, and those who are accepted will be terminated Jan. 31. Some people may be asked to work beyond this date to minimise disruption with salaries still drawn and compensation payments not affected.

Click here to read the CSA's letter

Chart source: CFO Hugh McGarel-Groves, TCI Budget 2011-12