Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Support for Unison at Kent County Council

As I have stated before, I support Unison's claim for a reasonable wage rise for Kent County Council workers and earlier I sent the letter below to the Kent on Sunday. News just out from the Kent Messenger:

"Bonuses of more than £100,000 were paid to Kent County Council's top officers last year"

How County Councillors can deny low paid public sector workers a proper rise is beyond me.

The letter:

Dear Editor,

The news that Kent County Council has voted to cut the pay of its workers is hardly a surprise but it is a decision that must be condemned. Council workers have been offered just 1% against current inflation rates of around 3%. In times of economic recession KCC needs to inject money into our economy not take it out. By shrinking Kent's economy more than it is already shrinking, KCC are putting others' jobs at risk. County Councillor's need to rethink their decision.

For anyone suggesting that workers are lucky to have a job, it is worth remembering that a large proportion of KCC staff are not paid huge amounts and for people on lower incomes keeping pace with inflation is essential. KCC must look after its staff and remember that public sector
staff are the backbone of our society.

KCC claim they must keep spending down in times of recession but, as we now all know, economists across the world are saying differently. KCC has failed to look after public money, losing £50m on dodgy investments and wasting cash on pointless publicity like Kent TV, it should try to make amends and look after its staff and inject money into Kent's economy.

Stuart Jeffery
Green Party Prospective MP for Maidstone and the Weald

No comments: