David Cameron is coming under pressure from his own MPs to scrap a system of extra holidays for civil servants.This is the system of 'privilege holidays' - one day for the Queen's Birthday, one day at Christmas, and half a day for Maundy Thursday.
Last night, Tory MPs called for an end to the system, saying it was simply unaffordable at a time when the Government is having to slash billions of pounds from public spending and make thousands of civil servants redundant.Hmmm, personally I'd have thought having them do nothing was preferable; when in work, they are prone to coming up with all sorts of barmy and baffling schemes and policies...
It seems the Cabinet Office doesn't want to touch this one though:
A Cabinet Office source said last night that the extra days off were written into civil servants’ contracts of employment.Hmm, now why would that be a probl...
Ah:
On 10 May, the High Court ruled that the government had acted unlawfully when it introduced, without PCS’s agreement, a new scheme which cut members’ accrued rights under the CSCS.Softly, softly, catchee monkey on this one, chaps...
Are the extra days off written into contracts of employment in the same way the bankers bonuses were written into their contracts with the nationalised banks? I seem to remember they were ignored. Perhaps whats sauce for the private (now nationalised) goose could be sauce for the public gander.
ReplyDeleteOr does the rule of law only apply to the public sector, much as the human Rights Act only seems to apply to criminals?
I suspect - if you take the CSC as a 'contract of employment' - that they are.
ReplyDeleteBut then, I didn't agree with the banker's bonus changes either, except for those banks taking bailout money from the taxpayer.