Civil servants ‘are hard-working’ - GGCA

Civil servants are hard-working individuals often working in testing, low-resourced conditions, the white collar union GGCA said as it blasted statements labelling public workers “lazy” or “inefficient”.

The committee was reacting to a controversy following comments made in a GBC election special of ‘The Powder Room’.

The GGCA said its President, Wendy Cumming,  has previously appeared as a panellist on this programme, though in a personal capacity and in her free time.

“This is a programme where panellists express personal opinions, and within a democratic society, it is within our rights to do so,” the union said in a statement.

And in a reference to comments about civil servants made by government minister Joe Bossano in a covert recording made public prior to the election, it added: “We feel we need to draw a distinction between these type of comments and insulting terms used to describe civil servants by a government minister, who is the representative of our employer, the Gibraltar Government.”

The committee added that Mr Bossano has worked with many GGCA members in the past and will continue to do so over the next four years.

“We found the comment unacceptable and condemned it at the time,” the GGCA said.

“However we received and accepted a wholehearted apology in the interest of maintaining a positive working relationship with the recently re-elected government.”

The GGCA added that the committee has previously declared its political neutrality amongst its members and yesterday reaffirmed that commitment.