Trade unionist Dennis?Clarke says Government policy on public servants acting in positions is causing “havoc”.
“Public servants are only allowed to act in a position for three months; the union thought they would be allowed to act for longer,” said the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) general secretary yesterday.
“This is rubbish and is wreaking havoc across the administration of the public service.”
Speaking to the DAILY NATION at NUPW headquarters in Dalkeith, St Michael, Clarke also took issue with the number of vacancies within the public sector.
“[At one point] there were 3 500 people acting in positions, while there were only 250 vacant positions. So Government should have gone to Parliament and made more posts available; but they have not done that. They are playing around,” he said.
Despite this, Clarke admitted there had been noticeable steps made to reform the public sector and argued that many people who spoke on it did not know what they were about.
Clarke said there had been amendments to the Widows And Orphans Act; the leave passage regulations; the Pension Act; and a reclassification of the public service, to name some of the changes.
“The most significant reform came in 1998 when casual employees were converted to public officers. Also, in 2007 the Public Service Act sought to streamline the sector.”
