JONES
The recent presentation by Prime Minister Bruce Golding in Parliament failed to live up to the expectation created by the hype that preceded it. Leading up to his presentation, in addressing party supporters and functionaries, PM Golding indicated that he would have been making an announcement in the debate on the supplementary estimates which could draw adverse criticisms and even opposition and that he would need their support at Gordon House on the day.
With the presentation coming in the early morning of the following day, when most people would be asleep and without the anticipated 'earth shattering' announcements, many were disappointed.
Since I watched the presentation and subsequently read the speech, I am yet to see or hear the "job cut announcement". In the speech, and in the text, the PM asked a question and answered it himself, ".... will the process lead to job cuts? That can hardly be avoided. But we would make a mistake if job cuts were what informed our approach because cutting jobs by themselves do not necessarily lead to efficiency, improvements or, indeed, cost savings. It is modernising and improving the efficiency of Government to stimulate economic growth that will ensure that opportunities are created for the absorption of displaced workers in endeavours that are perhaps more rewarding than they currently enjoy ... ."
To those of us in the public sector trade union movement, the PM has not said anything new and, in fact, I submit that he is repeating thoughts and ideas we have advanced for a while now. As a matter of public record, the first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU 1) acknowledged the undesirable state of our public administrative machinery, and the partners - unions and Government, committed to actions aimed at improving the quality of service delivery through the redevelopment of the sector. This commitment has been renewed in MOU 2 and MOU 3.
size of the sector
The agreement acknowledged boldly that the size of the sector must also be addressed by speaking to optimum size. It is why I believe that those who seem hooked on the notion that public sector workers and their unions are averse to such changes are so very wrong in their analysis.
History and past experiences must always guide our actions for the future, and the restructuring of the Jamaican public sector can be no different. For many years, we have been restructuring, reorganising, modernising and even cutting the public sector. What have we achieved?
In the 1980s, we had the Administrative Reform Programme, which was a World Bank-supported programme which intended to do some of the same things we are now talking about. That programme changed precious little, other than the salaries of the senior management staff. Again, in that era, we cut thousands of jobs in the sector particularly in local government, and that, too, achieved more negative than positive.
In the 1991/1992 cut of 5,000 jobs from the civil service, we went about another budgetary exercise which not only failed to correct the fiscal imbalances, but it decimated public services especially in the social sectors of water, housing, health and education to the point where a significant portion of our citizenry became poorer.
What was worse, is the fact that with the reduction in the levels and quality of the public services the Government provides and the resulting social decay, the country had to re-engage some of the recently-separated and also employ new ones as many of the former employees had no interest in further employment with the Government. Today, the public sector employs many more persons than it did in 1985, when it started the practice of job cuts simply to save money.
The Government has published its employment numbers as being at approximately 117,000 workers and, while I am suspicious of that figure, I think it is worth analysing it in order that we can understand the complexity of cutting jobs in the public sector.
non-operational posts
In the 117,000 is a total of what is called established posts in central administration, commonly called the civil service i.e. people working in ministries and traditional departments include ministries of agriculture, education, justice, labour and social security, national security, Inland Revenue, Customs, Taxpayer Audit and Assessment, Fisheries, Attorney General, Accountant General departments, Director of Public Prosecution etc. These are contained in the 41,353 listed in the Civil Service Establishment Order, 955 of which are listed as non-operational posts i.e., that no bodies are in them.
Included in this number are 10,839 police posts and 10,869 health and environment posts, a total of 21,708 posts between those two entities, more than 50 per cent of the listed established posts. Included in the health and environment posts of course are the registered and enrolled nurses, medical doctors and consultants, dietitians, nutritionists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, mental health nurses, public health inspectors, dental nurses and the many other members of the health and medical care teams in the hospitals and clinics.
In the other approximately 20,000 established posts are economists, correctional, customs, immigration, education, labour and social welfare officers, postal workers, Governor General staff, court staff, foreign service staff, revenue collection staff, prime minister's support staff, chief parliamentary counsel staff and of which Revenue collection accounts for 3,486, Correctional Services 2,463, Labour and Social Security 1,053.
This is but some indication of the occupational groupings that make up the civil service and of course there are many others who must provide administrative support to those named like your accountants who must ensure that the police get supplies and that the teachers are paid and the court reporters who capture the very important proceedings in the courts so that the judges can make correct decisions.
If the number of 117,000 employees is, therefore, true, it suggests that a significant number of persons are employed in statutory bodies and government companies, as of the approximately 73,000 outside of the Establishment Order, 22,000 are teachers. This leaves some 51,000 in entities such as the NHT, UDC, Port Authority, Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica Trade and Investment, HEART Trust, Development Bank of Jamaica and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica among others.
DIALOGUE
Even as we acknowledge the changing times and the need to prepare workers for the changes, we do not accept that simply cutting the labour force to save money is the way to correct the fiscal challenges the country faces. Any meaningful review of the state apparatus must begin with a dialogue on the role of government. Only then will we be able to agree collectively on the type and levels of public services that the state should deliver and therefore the quality and size of the workforce necessary to provide the services.
Wayne St A. Jones is president of the Jamaica Civil Service Association.