Major public sector strikes due next week

Swathes of Jersey's public sector are walking out on strike next week in a dramatic escalation of tensions in a dispute over pay.

Customs and Immigration officers will walk out all day next Monday (14 Jan), while teaching assistants will walk out from 11:30am to 2pm the same day.

Then next Tuesday (15 Jan), all other civil servants will walk out for the full day.

It follows a two-hour walk out last month.

The States of Jersey say their pay deal is final and there is no more money for civil servants.

Members of the Unite and Prospect unions say the offers, which the government announced as a 6% to 7% pay rise over the next two years, fail to take account of years of below-inflation pay settlements.

Members of both unions have already begun a limited work-to-rule. That will be intensified from this Wednesday, with members urged to turn down any overtime, even if it is paid.

The deputy chairman of the States Employment Board, Constable Richard Buchanan, has confirmed there is no more money to make an improved pay offer.

The States of Jersey released this statement in response the news of the strike: