Battle on over day off

Friday 06 February 2015

Unions are gearing up for a battle after the States said they wouldn’t be giving workers a day off to compensate for Liberation Day falling on the weekend – despite the fact that their Guernsey colleagues have all been promised an extra day’s holiday.

Unions here say they expect the 8,350 public sector workers to get an extra day off as they have in the past, even though the rest of us are going to have to make do without.

But the States have different ideas – a spokesman said: “Jersey’s public sector contracts of employment do not have a specific provision for Liberation Day as a public holiday. In practice, this means that Jersey’s public sector workers are treated in exactly the same way as the rest of the Island’s workforce.”

That means that States workers like the rest of Islanders are left pinning their hopes on Deputy Sam Mezec, who is taking a proposition to the States on 10 March to try to get an extra day off for all Islanders, no matter who they work for.

Unite official Nick Corbel says that the union is “focussed” on the issue.

“I would expect our workers to be given a day off,” he said.

“Historically, that is the way it has always been, although the employer has not approached us as yet. This issue is high on our agenda and we would expect the same provision.”

Yesterday, ITV revealed that public sector workers in Guernsey were in line for a day off in lieu, and Mr Corbel said that his members “did not expect to enjoy anything less than our esteemed neighbours in the other Channel Islands”.

Deputy Mezec’s proposition says that the States should swallow the £1.4 million bill to mark the 70th anniversary of Liberation Day, and that a three-day weekend could give tourism a lift.

He also argues that by making the Friday before Liberation Day a holiday, the Island would also be marking the 70th anniversary of VE Day and the anniversary of Winston Churchill announcing on the BBC that the Channel Islands would be freed the next day.