There are three services provided to the community or citizens of a country that are, for me, the most important. These are ‘law and order’ that is police and courts, health services and education. These services are most often provided by civil servants who are paid by governments. I think the health of any society may be gauged by how well the state looks after the people who provide these services.
In the UK a showdown is threatening between unions representing the public sector workers and the government. This is similar to the strikes the civil servants held in South Africa recently, which ended up being fairly unsuccessful for the strikers and a victory for the government. It seems that Prime Minister Brown is also determined to stick with a below-inflation pay settlement, in the UK a 2.5% increase.
This fairly dismal pay increase offer in the UK and the deal awarded to civil servants in South Africa, is a short sightedness of major proportion. What are the effects of unsatisfactory pay packages? There are many. For instance skilled people leave the civil service and pursue careers in the private sector. In the case of South Africa, these skilled people even leave the country. The migration of doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals is well documented.
The civil servants that remain, may feel demotivated and discriminated against and angry at unfair treatment. This could mean a deterioration in the quality of service to reflect these sentiments. It could also lead to strikes and unrest. The UK has already had one instance of a walk out of prison guards in protest of their pay packages. More wildcat strikes could be on the cards. South Africa’s civil servants were on strike for several weeks.
The civil servants affected by these low wage offerings, are traditionally the pillars of society. They have the responsibility of educating the young, watching over the health of the population and protecting and serving the people which are all incredibly important tasks in maintaining a healthy and politically stable society.
The doctors, nurses, teachers, judges and detectives, amongst many other professions, are predominantly a well educated and trained sector of the society, and represent a solid middle class on which the stability of a country has traditionally depended.
One of the foundations of the middle class is the fact that they are property owners. Keeping salaries low will prevent the young professionals from entering this market. There are already concerns in the UK that property prices have risen so steeply in the past five years or so, that for the average wage earner a step onto the property ladder is becoming almost impossible.
If the opportunity of property ownership is not available, what will stop the professionals from moving to Dubai and earning tax free dollars which they will invest in property in Spain or Portugal rather than in their home country. What impact will this have on the society they leave behind? Falling standards in education, health care and a rise in unpunished crime?
But besides all of the damage it may do to society in the UK, or South Africa, the ethics are relevant as well. Why should people, who have sweated to obtain relevant qualifications, worked their way through training programs at minimal wages, end up earning minimum pay.
If the government of a country has no qualms in paying its servants minimum wages, what is stopping the rest of society from following the lead. Might as well bring back slave labour. Just cutting the cost of the Iraqi war out of the budget should provide the government coffers with a little more funds to reward the people who make our society work.
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