THE 2023 report of the Auditor General includes an alarming statement on the issue of contract employment as it relates to the public service. This propensity by successive governments for the use of contract labour has been stealthily creeping into the public service, much to the consternation of public sector unions for over two decades.
The Auditor General's report is a confirmation of a seemingly tacit policy position of the government to circumvent the roles of service commissions as a means of separating powers between the executive and the legislature. Such separation intended is to prevent the concentration of unchecked power by providing critical checks and balances.
The report flagged an overall 31 per cent increase in expenditure on 'short-term' contract workers in the last fiscal year compared to the previous financial year.
The report further noted that these contracts were tethered to state agencies and government ministries for periods exceeding six months. In addition to the State flagrantly ignoring good industrial relations practices, the report noted that there is no evidence of a policy directive for the preponderance of this underhanded attempt to seize control of the public service.
TTUTA as the recognised majority unit for teachers and associated personnel has been repeatedly pointing to the emergence of a parallel public service and the associated dangers of allowing this trend to go unchecked.
It has continually complained about the increasing number of positions in the teaching service that remain "vacant," which are subsequently filled by people on 'short-term contracts.' What is even more disconcerting is that people so engaged are never given contract copies detailing the terms of engagement. These 'short-term contracts' ultimately extend for years with "contract breaks" periodically, confirming that these positions ought to be filled permanently.
From business office assistants, school safety and health officers, information and communication technicians, guidance officers, school social workers and pre-school teachers, many positions in the education sector, including established teaching positions, have been manned for years by people on these so-called 'short-term contracts,' despite repeated protests by the unions for the regularisation of these positions.
In addition, several permanent positions are not being declared vacant to the Teaching Service Commission so that they can be filled in the proper manner.
These contract workers are being denied several rights and benefits compared to permanent workers, not the least of which is security of tenure, being at the behest of politicians' whim and fancy. It also creates the opportunity for rampant nepotism.
Among the several ministries and state agencies guilty of this practice, the report noted that the Ministry of Education is a chief culprit, spending a whopping $37,076,963.73 on short-term employment in the last fiscal year.
It is to be noted that based on the revised national policy for contract employ
