Radhakrisna Sadien, trade unionist: “A decent living wage should be paid to workers”

The Report of the Pay Research Bureau is awaited by civil servants with much impatience given their last pay rise was three years ago. Unlike other sectors, the wages and employment terms of government employees are only reviewed when the PRB submits its report. Previously, those reports were issued every five years. However, the practice was amended and the PRB Report is now out every three years. The president of the State Employees Federation, Radhakrisna Sadien, talks to News on Sunday on the expectations surrounding the release of this report. What are the expectations of civil servants regarding the PRB Report? As you are aware, the Pay research Bureau Report is expected to be out by the end of March 2016 with its recommendations being retroactively implemented as from January 2016. Of course, each report brings along new expectations. That being said, it is worthwhile noting that the PRB is an independent and permanent body to review not only wages and salaries but also conditions of service in the public service, parastatal bodies and local authorities. This is the first time that the PRB is producing a report after three years. One has also to acknowledge that the current director of the PRB, Curpen Naik, is faced with a challenging task, as he will also have to address anomalies left in the 2013 PRB Report, the EOACI Report of Dev Manraj as well as the Seebaluck Report on ‘Anomalies’. You maintain that the PRB is independent in its decision taking? It is also true that several recommendations of the PRB give the impression that it does always operate in all independence. Since the coming into force of the PRB, there is no collective bargaining in the public service. The disappearance of the Central Whitley Council – which was a platform where collective bargaining took place on conditions of service for public officers – is badly felt. Many Ministries and departments use the PRB as an ‘eyewash’ when they have not succeeded in convincing trade unions on a particular project. In so doing, they avoid unions and deal with officers directly through the option forms. This report should be guided by the Decent Work Agenda of the ILO. What do you mean by this? It means that a decent living wage should be paid to workers, appropriate tools and equipment should be provided, appropriate training should be continuously given to all officers irrespective of status and acceptable working conditions should be provided to the workers. With each PRB Report, the wage gap between the Senior Chief Executive and the General Worker has kept on widening. This is most unfair as top civil servants also benefit a variety of fringe benefits which those at the lower rung of the ladder do not obtain. The PRB should not miss this opportunity to upgrade those at the bottom, motivate those in the technical grades, and attract and retain other professionals. Where do matters stand regarding the Civil Service College? The long awaited Civil Service College is now a reality. This stands to the credit of Alain Wong, the Minister of Civil Service, who has left no stone unturned to launch this project. After the appointment of the Director General, the College is in the process of recruiting other persons to become a functional structure. Meanwhile, training programmes have already started in nearly all ministries. Training civil servants is a long-term process. A long journey always starts with a first step. A parastatal body, namely the NTA, has been in the news recently with allegations of corruption taking place. What are your comments? Whatever is happening there cannot be tolerated as some people are unfortunately abusing the system for their own benefits. The solution does not lie in privatising the vehicle examination centre. It is a known fact that privatisation opens the door wide for corruption, not only in Mauritius, but it has been observed elsewhere. The NTA needs more human resources, new equipment and additional resources to face the growing demand for its services. A new Director General has been appointed in the person of Dr K. Reesaul who is a capable person. Why not give him time clean up the stables instead of privatising? You always talk about filling vacant positions in the civil service establishment... The filling of vacancies in government is too slow; the Public Service Commission needs to be reorganised and reinforced in order to respond to the needs of government in terms of staff. Delegation of powers for any sort of recruitment in the public service should not be allowed. Mauritius is not ready to allow recruitment to be done by Ministries without any interference. All vacancies in government, even for general workers and attendants, should be advertised and recruitments need to be done through a transparent mechanism. The authorities should come with the National Employment Agency quite fast, or else, we will lose our youth as they will leave for other shores. The possible introduction of a contributive medical scheme for civil servants has made headlines recently. Your views? A medical scheme in the civil service should not be used to privatise even partially the national health service. If a Medical Scheme is to come into operation, it should be optional and contributed by the employer and be managed like a provident fund and allow the officer to cash the contributions paid in his favour upon retirement. The Minister of Civil Service, with whom I have talked, has told me that it has never been the government’s intention to ask officers to contribute 100 percent to the Medical Scheme, if this project is to materialise. When will the Public Service Bill become a reality? The enactment of a Public Service Bill will help to bring fresh air within the civil service. There are still top civil servants who for their own personal interest are ready to do anything for the Minister. Those who resist know what is in store for them. Do you realise that in 2016, a Minister would go to the extent of intervening on the issue such as the transfer of staff. This is why my trade union has asked that posts of Secretary to Cabinet and Head of Civil Service, Senior Chief Executive, Financial Secretary, among others, should not be on a contractual basis. Advisors and Senior Advisors, who are paid from public funds, should also fall under the Public Service Bill. An Ombudsman should also be appointed to deal with complaints falling within the ambit of this legislation.