It’s not just throwing money at a problem, but how much it takes to make it go away. Such is the mentality of the public service Trade Unions who, trying to revive some kind of 80s militancy, are threatening to strike in Town Halls up and down the country and want us to foot their ransom. Unison and the GMB Union are threatening to strike after rejecting a substantial pay increase deal, according to the Daily Express today (not online).
So we see yet another Trade Union trying to punch above its weight. It’s bad enough that the non-job sector in local government is expanding, but for the unions to reject an increased pay deal is a slap in the face to our over-burdened taxpayers. Should they succeed in strong-arming the authorities into increasing public sector pay, then the decision will come just in time for votes on council tax and implementation when council tax bills hit your mats next year. Thank you Unison.
This isn’t to say all those in the public sector don’t perform a good service or aren’t worthy of a pay in crease. Meals on wheels and essential care for the vulnerable are worth investment. Yet week-in-week-out we see more local government non-jobs, such as climate change officers, benefit overpayment officers and other bureaucrats that only soak up taxpayers’ money. If we scrap these bureaucratic departments, we’d then be able to free up money to invest in essential services and award suitable pay increases to those public servants who perform a brilliant service without increasing council tax.