25 March, 2008
NEW ZEALAND
PS Union registers as political party
Plans by the NZ Public Service Association to register as a third political party has been criticised by the Government saying it showed that the Public Service was not politically neutral.
   But the national secretary of the PSA, Brenda Pilott said the union would not be backing any party and wanted to err on the side of caution in the face of an uncertain law.
   Registering as a party is now a requirement for groups or individuals intending to spend more than NZ$12,000 (A$10,500) nationally or NZ$1000 (A$878)in an electorate on election advertising that persuades people to vote or not vote for a particular party or candidate.
   National State Services spokesman Gerry Brownlee said many Public Servants would be “quite aghast” at the decision because he was sure that the Public Service Association did not unilaterally represent the political views of public servants.
   He said the move to register as a third party meant the PSA had acknowledged the long-held view that they were an affiliate of the Labour Party and were coming to its rescue at a difficult time.
   He said it was evident that the PSA had stood by while the Public Service had become more politicised.
   “I guess they have been happy to do that because of the fact that the Government currently pays for most of their union activities through a thing called ‘partnership for quality’ so I guess this is just pay-back,” Mr Brownlee said.
   Ms Pilott said the union had understood that if it wanted to campaign on ideas, it had to register in order not to break the law.
   “It is already the case in fact that public services and the extent to which they are going to be funded or the value of them is already an election issue so I think it vindicates our decision,” Ms Pilott said.
   She was referring to a speech by National leader John Key who promised to cap the number of Public Servants.
   Ms Pilott criticised Mr Key’s knowledge of the Public Service and his use of statistics. But she said the PSA would not be backing any party.
   “Our line will be that public services are important and people need to consider that when they vote,” she said.
   “We are extremely mindful of the fact that our members are in many cases public servants and the idea of political neutrality is a very important one.”
   She said the legislation was new and everybody was feeling their way.
   “Our understanding is that if we want to participate in the election campaign in pursuit of particular ideas out there, then we are required to register.”

25 March, 2008
GHANA
Service charters to improve PS
A series of new charters designed to improve Public Service delivery systems have been launched by the Chief Advisor to the President, Mary Chinery-Hesse, but they came with a warning.
   Speaking at the launch of the charters, Ms Chinery-Hesse said the charters were aimed at arresting widespread irritations, frustration and desperation encountered by the public when they come into contact with public agencies.
   She said service delivery all round left a lot to be desired but some services in the private sector were even worse.
   “The Government’s initiative is therefore very welcome indeed but unless the Government can have a very strong deterring component, the initiative could as well be taken as stillborn.
   She said the next step in the charter system would be for a strong man or woman, with enough clout and resources to lead what was essentially a crusade.
   “The person must have the power to penalise any institution or individual that defaults in the expected service delivery standard and reward those that deliver,” she said.
   Taking lateness to work and absenteeism as examples, she said they contributed to the poor service delivery of public agencies.
   “You cannot deal with these with kid gloves. They have to be punched out of   the way!” she said.
   Ms Chinery-Hesse said a Campaign for Greater Discipline instituted by the Vice President in the first term of the NPP Administration foundered mainly because there was no deterring component.
   “These service delivery charters would go the same way unless there is someone to direct and give them the absolutely essential public face of seriousness,” she said.

25 March, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
Pension boost for staff on leave
Teachers and other Public Servants who take a career development break to volunteer overseas are to receive a boost to their pensions.
   About 350 UK Public Servants, including doctors, nurses and Local Government workers, take up such assignments each year with the Voluntary Service Overseas organisation to work in developing countries. They currently receive no pension contributions during their time away.
   Under a three-year pilot scheme the Government will fund pension benefits at a cost of £13 million (A$28,381,000) to cover the gap without cost to individual employer or employee.
   Currently about 180 UK teachers are taking the career break which is supported by teacher unions because it builds teachers’ careers, helps establish global partnerships, takes expertise to developing countries and brings new skills back into UK education.
   The pension announcement, made on the 50th anniversary of the VSO, formed part of the Government’s response to Lord Nigel Crisp’s report Global Health Partnerships on boosting links between the UK and developing countries.
   The report said that “… education, empowerment and helping people have more control over their lives and environment have profound and lasting effects”.
   The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said the move would encourage more sabbaticals and career development breaks.
   “My Department has made a substantial contribution to the new £13 million pension fund, which is also supported by the Departments of Health and International Development,” Mr Balls said.
   “And we hope to encourage more Public Servants into overseas volunteering.
   “I congratulate VSO on 50 rewarding years of taking practical professional help to some of the most difficult environments in the world.”
   He said teachers who volunteered brought back vital skills which fed back into UK education.
   “The testimony of teachers themselves suggests they have learned creative new approaches, particularly to working with pupils from diverse and challenging backgrounds,” he said.
   “They get management and leadership opportunities overseas that allow them to re-enter UK education with renewed focus or at a higher level.”

25 March, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
Pay dispute sparks 48-hour strike
Thousands of Jobcentre and social security staff in the UK staged a 48-hour strike in a pay dispute that showed signs of worsening across the civil service.
   Up to 80,000 staff at the Department for Work and Pensions took part in the industrial action, in protest at a lower-than-inflation pay offer.
   The Public and Commercial Services union said a three-year deal was being imposed on workers at an average of 1 per cent a year, although many will receive nothing extra this year.
   The union said the lowest paid DWP workers would see their wages rise to just 24 pence above the national minimum wage under the deal.
   Jobcentres, benefits offices, the pension service and the Child Support Agency were hit by the strike, which follows an earlier walkout before Christmas.
   PCS officials said the latest stoppage caused “significant disruption”, leading to offices being closed and those remaining open offering little or no service.
   The DWP strike followed recent industrial action by coastguards and transport department staff, also over pay, and warnings of wider unrest in the civil and Public Service.
   “Staff at the forefront of delivering the lowest unemployment in a generation deserve better and will not tolerate being used by the Government as an anti-inflationary tool, especially when there is no evidence to suggest that their pay fuels inflation,” said  PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.
   The union plans to hold a series of strike rallies in towns and cities across Britain, including Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool and Norwich.

25 March, 2008
UNITED STATES
Super switching policy having affect
Efforts to stop Public Servants in the US jumping between superannuation accounts are paying dividends with just 549 “market timers” reported last month compared to the 3775 who are identified as frequent traders.
   US Public Servants who contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan in preparation for their retirement are able to switch contributions between plans to earn the best return on their investments.
   The TSP contends that a relatively small number of Government employees were driving up the plan’s transaction costs, such as commissions to brokers, to the detriment of all of the plan’s 3.8 million participants.
   A letter was sent in January to the frequent traders, asking them to adhere to a policy adopted in November that limited plan participants to two stock trades per month.
   The number of interfund transfers dropped after that, but there were 549 who did not comply with the policy. Some of them have been moving large sums among the TSP’s funds, with one account holder transferring US$1 million (A$1.1 million) in and out of the funds.
   As a result, the TSP managers will reprogram computers to block the 549 participants from making electronic transfers, effective 31 March. To order an investment change, they will have to mail in a paper form, said Gregory T. Long, the TSP’s executive director.
   Mr Long said because of mail-delivery and handling times, that should effectively stop participants from using a long-term savings program for short-term purposes.
   He said the crackdown had led to about 100 complaints from participants and the formation of an Internet-based campaign to protest against trading restrictions. But Mr Long said the protests were not likely to derail the TSP’s policy.
   The newly-introduced restriction was not expected to affect most Government employees who invested in the plan as more than 99 percent of the TSP’s participants requested 12 or fewer interfund transfers in 2007.
   Mr Long said the frequent traders often focused on the TSP’s international fund, which tracked the Morgan Stanley Europe, Australasia and Far East Index and had been a top performer, gaining 26.32 per cent in 2006 and 11.43 per cent in 2007.
   It is down 9.13 percent since the start of this year however and many Public Servants have pulled out of the international and other stock funds in the past few months as volatility has increased on Wall Street and overseas.

25 March, 2008
CHINA
Fifth reshuffle for central Government
The National People’s Congress has approved a plan to reshuffle the central Government, creating 27 Ministerial Departments of the State.
   The Congress has established five “super ministries” - Industry and Information; Human Resources and Social Security; Environmental Protection; Housing and Urban-Rural Construction; and Transport. An energy Commission would also be set up as a Ministerial level Department
   According to Qiao Xinsheng, a professor with Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, the Government’s reshuffle was not as dramatic as expected and would result in a comprehensive reshaping of the structure and functions of many administrative departments.
   Before the latest reshuffle, the administration had been reformed just five times since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, but the administration somehow returned to its original size each time after it was trimmed.
   Mr Qiao said the administrative reforms should have taken advantage of economic and political reforms.
   “Without remarkable achievements of the economic and political reforms, the Government reshuffles could not achieve the goals the decision-makers wished,” he said.
   Under the planned economy, the administration was involved in nearly every aspect of economic operations.”
   He said even if certain Departments were removed from the Government in the reforms, their functions in resource allocation could not be eliminated from the administrative power. Thus, new branches had to be set up, bearing other names or under other supervising Departments.
   As economic reform progressed, more people in China were accepting that a service-oriented Government was indispensable for the future development of the nation, Mr Qiao said.
   “The latest Government reshuffle sets a better relationship between the different Departments of the administration, so that the Government can transform itself into a service-oriented body smoothly.”
   Qiao Xinsheng said the reshuffle marked the start of a new stage in administrative reform.
   “Reducing the number of administrative Departments was not the target of the reshuffle, the goal was a shift in the role of the administrative in the country’s social and economic operations,” he said
   “When the time is right, the role should be stated in law to ensure administrative departments to do their jobs and serve the public.”

25 March, 2008
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Call for PS and MPs to work together
The Governor of West Sepik Province, Simon Solo, has called for elected MPs and the Public Service to work together and deliver services to the outlying areas of the Province that had been missing out on key Government services.
   Mr Solo said all political leaders from the Province were united and committed to deliver services to the people “unlike before, where leaders worked in isolation.”
   He said the Public Service should follow suit.
   MP for Nuku and Housing Minister, Andrew Kumbakor also criticised the Public Service’s slackness and called for more cohesiveness in bringing real and meaningful development to the Province.
   Green MP Belden Namah, who supported Mr Kumbakor, called on the administration to shape up to implement the challenges in the Province.
   Mr Namah cited increases in the Budget such as the allocation of border development funding of K20 million (A$8,080,000) annually, starting this year.
   During the Assembly’s first meeting, MP Peter Iwei was elected unopposed as Deputy Governor of the Province. His appointment was made possible through the recently passed Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government.
   Mr Iwei thanked all MPs who elected him and urged the Public Service to work with him for the common good of the province.
   He also appealed for more assistance for his remote Telefomin electorate where isolation, high costs of living and other related problems made it one of the most difficult places in Papua New Guinea in which to live and work.

25 March, 2008
UNITED STATES
Harvard pays PS tuition fees
The Harvard Law School has unveiled a plan to encourage more students to enter public service.
   The University has announced it would pay the third year of tuition fees for students who promise to work in the Government or non-profit organisations.
   It said the initiative would save students who started their law classes this year more than US$41,000 (A$45,225) in tuition and would cost the University about US$3 million (A$3.3 million) annually over five years.
   “I want all of our students to have the ability to make public service their first choice after law school,” said the Dean of the Law School, Elena Kagan.
   A number of colleges had expressed concern in recent years that too few graduates were choosing careers in Government or at public-interest groups because of crushing educational debt.
   Many law school graduates also preferred to clerk for Judges or take a high-paying job with a law firm than directly enter positions at Government agencies and nonprofit groups.
   From 2003 to 2006, the number of Harvard Law School graduates entering public service ranged from a low of 54 to a high of 67, the school estimated, or 10 to 12 per cent of the class.
   Last year, leaders at 27 universities gathered at Princeton University to swap ideas on what it would take to bring a new generation into public service. Some studies showed that public service was not attractive to young people, which could prove troublesome for the Federal Government as hundreds of thousands of baby boomers were due to retire in the next few years.
   Harvard described the initiative as the first program of its kind in legal education.
   Students will be asked to demonstrate a commitment to public service during their time in law school and although the program was geared toward students entering the school this year, current students would be eligible for smaller tuition grants of US$5000 (A$5514) and $10,000 (A$11,028).
   The school defined public-service work as any full-time job in Government (Federal, State and Local and the military), any full-time job for a non-profit organisation and any full-time job for a political campaign. Up to one year of a clerkship can qualify toward the five-year commitment.
   Like many schools, Harvard Law also offers a loan repayment assistance program for graduates who chose careers in Government, public interest and higher education.

25 March, 2008
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
PS reforms to defeat unhappiness
A Government Minister has admitted that Public Servants were unhappy and de-motivated and that in turn made the people they served unhappy as well.
   But he said new reforms to the Public Service could mean citizens no longer needed to leave their homes to apply for such documents as driver’s licences or passports.
   The Minister of Public Administration, Kennedy Swaratsingh, said a TT$110 million (A$19,350,000) contract had been awarded to Fujitsu-ICL, a company based in Singapore, to completely transform the Public Service so that by January 2010, people would be able to access services from the comfort of their home, with the click of a button.
   Mr Swaratsingh said the ministry had begun preparations for the project and was currently dialoguing with stakeholders.
   He said the country would also be embarking on a “new experience” as people would be able to remotely access 75 per cent of public services from January 2010.
   He said there would be more remote stations throughout the country, so people who did not have access to a computer could visit Government centres to access services.
   There were currently two Centres in operation, one in St James and another in Point Fortin.

25 March, 2008
NEW YORK
New Centre for Public Service announced
Plans for a new National Centre for Public Service and a new academic curriculum have been announced by the New York City College as part of its mission to increase diversity in the field of public service.
   College officials say that the Charles B. Rangel Centre for Public Service would serve as a valuable locale for future recruitment and academic events and programs that were designed to attract students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds and propel them toward leadership positions in Government and public service.
   According to the Director of the Centre, Dr Brett Silverstein, the Centre’s primary mission will be to become a national hub for the advancement of diversity within the field of public service.
   Dr Silverstein said it was named after Republican Charles B. Rangel, the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
   He said according to a 2003 report issued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, non-Whites occupied just 13.8 per cent of top managerial and supervisory policy-making positions in the US Federal Government, and increased diversity in the Public Service work force was essential for a properly functioning government.
   “I think there is a general feeling that in a democracy it is useful if the various populations of the people of that democracy have representation in the Government,” Dr Silverstein said.
   “We think of [the centre] as access to excellence … as a way to level the playing field.”
   Construction of the centre in Harlem would take place over the next few years after funding was secured with current plans including a specialised library, conference space and offices for visiting scholars.
   In the meantime, several specialised academic programs have been designed to complement the Rangel Center and its mission and would start soon.
   On example was a new master’s program in public service incorporating academic seminars and mandatory internships.
   A joint Bachelor’s and Master’s program in public service and a mid-career Rangel fellowship program in leadership and policy innovation would also complement the Rangel Centre.
   Dr Silverstein said in addition to training and educating students about public policy issues affecting minority populations, the new Centre and its curriculum would incorporate studies relating to race, gender, ethnicity, class, immigration and various cultural influences that may impact the policy-making process.
   College officials also had plans to sponsor internship and mentorship opportunities for participating students.

18 March, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
PS urged to drop jargon
The British Chancellor and Secretary for Justice, Jack Straw, has urged the Public Service to drop its “PS jargon”, saying it only served to confuse the general public.
   He told a criminal justice summit that the system needed to ditch “dreadful” language that created barriers between public services and the tax-paying public.
   “There is still a good case for looking at what terms we use so that they are immediately intelligible to the public,” Mr Straw said.
   “‘Unpaid work’ does accurately describe what offenders have to do, but maybe if we added that this was ‘community payback’ that purpose would be even clearer.
   “Probation officers now routinely talk of the criminals they are dealing with as ‘offenders’, which is what they are, and not the euphemistic nonsense of ‘clients’, when the client is the victim and the tax-paying public.”
   He said the use of euphemism across Government, particularly but not exclusively in the fields of social services, was dreadful, because it acted as a barrier between the public and those who paid their salaries.
   Mr Straw said that giving the public confidence in the justice system was essential in order to narrow the “perception gap” on crime.
   He highlighted what he called dissonance between the 30 per cent reduction in crime since Labour came to power, and how crime was depicted by the media and therefore perceived by the general public.
   Citing a recent poll which found that 57 per cent of people believed crime was rising because of media coverage, the Justice Secretary conceded that Labour was partly to blame for inflating the “dialectic of crime” through its “tough on crime” mantra when it first came to power in 1997.

18 March, 2008
KENYA
Assurance that PS jobs are safe
The Head of the Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet in Kenya, Francis Muthaura, has moved to assure Public Servants that their jobs were safe under the recently announced Accord in the country.
   Following reports that senior positions in the Government would be reserved for Opposition supporters Mr Muthaura clarified the position.
   “The Accord does not include sharing of jobs in the Public Service,” he said.
   “Therefore, it should be clear that appointments in the Public Service are governed by the Constitution or Act of Parliament.”
   He said the clarification was necessary “to avoid politicisation of the civil service”.
   “I urge public servants to embrace the implementation of the Accord,” Mr Muthaura said.
   “It is extremely important that professionalism in the Public Service is maintained and free from partisan politics.”
   Mr Muthaura said holders of constitutional offices, permanent Secretaries (who were the chief accounting officers in the Ministries), Ambassadors, Judges of the High Court, chairpersons of boards and a few Chief Executives will be appointed by the President.
   He said he was responding to media reports that the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) was lining up supporters to be given plum jobs in the Public Service, Diplomatic Corps and State corporations.
   The civil service head said the composition of the Cabinet would remain the prerogative of the President, although the Opposition Leader would recommend to the President names of Opposition Members of Parliament for inclusion in the Cabinet.

18 March, 2008
UNITED STATES
Disability Insurance plan to replace PS Leave
Federal Government employees in the United States could be offered disability insurance instead of increased leave entitlements.
   A spokeswoman for the Government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said the administration recognised that many employees could not afford to take several weeks of unpaid leave when the need arose and that there was a “gap in coverage”.
   The leave issue came to the fore when Democrat MP Carolyn Maloney raised the case of 39-year-old Public Servant, Amy Costantino who, after giving birth to premature twins, had to decide whether to use her sick leave and vacation time to be with her sons in intensive care or go back to work and save the leave so she could be with her sons when they came home from hospital.
   Ms Costantino, 39, decided to save the leave for when her boys came home but, she told a House hearing, “I often wonder if I made the right decision,” especially when she thinks about not being at the hospital to feed and comfort her babies at their most vulnerable time.
   Her account of trying to juggle family and work responsibilities wrapped up a hearing on legislation that would provide Federal employees with eight weeks of full pay and benefits for the birth or adoption of a child. The hearing was held by the Joint Economic Committee and the House of Representatives Federal Workforce subcommittee.
   Ms Maloney, Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee said Federal employees were forced too often to choose between their pay cheque and their new child. She noted that “even the best-prepared workers face difficult choices when children need their care”.
   Ms Maloney has championed paid parental leave for Federal employees for the past eight years, hoping to make the Government a role model for the nation’s employers. She said studies showed the United States had not kept pace with other industrialised countries when it came to providing paid family leave.
   Ms Maloney’s proposal has encountered resistance, in part because of a lack of enthusiasm by the Bush Administration, which says Federal employees already have ample and generous benefits that can be used for maternity leave.
   Employees, for example, earn 13 days of paid sick leave each year, which they can build up over the years without limitation. Most employees also earn from 13 to 26 days of paid vacation each year, and they may carry over up to six weeks of annual leave into the next year.
   Nancy H. Kichak, an associate director at the OPM, said the Administration did not believe fully-paid time off was the best way to help employees, saying that OPM favoured a short-term disability insurance program for workers who wished to voluntarily purchase such coverage.
   Ms Kichak said OPM was working on how to design the benefit and estimated the insurance would cost an employee about $40 per pay period. Ms Kichak said this kind of program would be attractive to a broad range of employees because it would provide income when they could not work because of non-job-related accidents, illnesses and childbirth.

18 March, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
PM confirms PS reforms to continue
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed that he intends continuing with the program of public sector reform commenced by his predecessor, Tony Blair.
   Speaking to the Financial Times, the Prime Minister said the public rightly expected ever-higher quality of public services more personal to their needs – “from general practitioners open in the evening and at weekends, and one-to-one tuition for children to personal budgets for social care and police known personally to local neighbourhoods.”
   Mr Brown promised to “create new trusts and federations around successful schools and in areas of greatest need, drive forward expansion of our academies program”.
   He also said there would be more personal and preventive care in the health service and policing would be better matched to community needs.
   “This is my approach to achieving excellence: no tolerance of under-performance, giving users of public services more choices and crucially, a new recognition that real and lasting change must come from empowering the users of services themselves, with professionals and Government playing a supporting role,” he said.
   Mr Brown said the first stage of reform after Labour came to power in 1997 involved a program of investment and repair to remedy neglect. The second tackled underperformance and making standards uniform.
   It was now time, he said, to move on to the third stage of reform: “Where we not only further enhance choice but also empower both the users of services and all the professionals who deliver them to drive up standards for all.”
   Mr Brown’s interview came as it was announced that former Goldman Sachs banker Jennifer Moses was to start as a Downing Street adviser.
   Ms Moses was working as a managing director at Goldman Sachs when her personal assistant stole more than £1 million from investment accounts belonging to her and her husband Ron Beller.
   Her role at Number 10 has not yet been defined, but her appointment is being seen as an attempt to strengthen Mr Brown’s inner circle in the wake of negative media coverage.

18 March, 2008
SOUTH AFRICA
Rights to service set out in new book
The South African Government has published a Know Your Service Rights book, with the aim of educating people about how Government worked.
   Launched in Johannesburg by Public Service and Administration Minister, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi in front of 500 delegates from the Government, private sector, civil society and other organisations with an interest in service delivery issues, the book is to be followed by a series of radio mini-dramas with the same message.
   “We are bringing Government to the people by working across the social cluster Departments to roll out the campaign while assessing and redressing mechanisms within Departments,” Ms Fraser-Moleketi said.
   “The book is graphic, accessible and colourful. It is currently being translated into all official languages and will be available later this year in Thusong Centres and other service delivery points.”
   Ms Fraser-Moleketi said the book symbolised a “business unusual” approach to delivering government services to the people.
   “These engagements will culminate in roll out to the citizens with road shows across the country with national and provincial Departments and most importantly, our Community Development Workers,” she said.
   The Community Development Workers would take the campaign to communities through municipal offices, traditional leaders and non-Government organisations.
   Ms Fraser-Moleketi said popularising Batho Pele principles though advocacy and strategic activities had led to the development of programs such as the Change Management Program.
   “This is an internal Public Service staff project instilling the belief set ‘We belong! We care! We serve!’ through workshops and leadership interaction,” Ms Fraser-Moleketi said.
   “Delivering the rights specified in the Constitution is more than a commitment of this Government,” she said. “It is an obligation that will challenge us for many years to come and we believe the launch of this campaign is a major step along this road.”

18 March, 2008
CANADA
Government missing target on minority jobs
A week-long conference on racial discrimination in the Canadian Public Service has heard that the Government was well behind its target to hire one in five employees from visible minorities.
   According to the National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Patty Ducharme, the Government was not doing enough, which suggested it was not committed to having a truly representative Public Service.
   “The members want us working actively on making the Government and their managers accountable when it comes to employment equity,” Ms Ducharme said, “which has a direct impact on their workplaces, but also on the face of the Public Service.”
   The conference focused on the current climate of racial discrimination faced by visible minorities in society and in the workplace and was the first time PSAC had held a conference specific to this segment of its members.
    Visible minorities made up about 8.6 per cent of the Federal Public Service workforce in Canada.

18 March, 2008
GUYANA
Union recognises role of women
The Guyana Public Service Union used International Women’s Day to salute the contribution of women to its nation’s industry, way of life and unionism.
   The GPSU said women’s contributions to trade unionism were many. It said the common values shared by both the Union and the International Women’s Day committee in undertaking to unite people had led to a national partnership where women had been instrumental in keeping the wheels of industry turning.
   The Union said women should also use the occasion to take stock of the progress of the cause and the need for reassessment of priorities.
   It said despite the accomplishments there were still “challenges that they face even in the 21st century”.
   The GPSU said it recognised that in Guyana the average woman’s opportunities for upward mobility were a fraction of that of a man’s and that most women in the labour force were in lower paying jobs.
   It said, though, in principle, women’s rights had improved worldwide: “women continued to bear the greater share of the burden of inequality in every corner of the world”.
   The Union said this imbalance must be corrected.
   The GPSU’s general and executive councils also extended their gratitude to the local workforce, 60 per cent of which were women.

18 March, 2008
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Premier presents PS awards
The Premier’s Awards for Innovation and Excellence have been presented to Public Servants in the Canadian Province of British Columbia.
   Peter Bradford, a stewardship evaluation officer with the Ministry of Forests, was recognised for his work on the province’s forest and range evaluation program.
   The Premier, Gordon Campbell, also presented awards to groups or individuals who protected 35 communities from flood damage, developed a Province-wide electronic Court registry, reduced waits for decisions on disability assistance cases, and set up a 24-hour traveller information system.
   Richard Bennett of Victoria, who earlier picked up a regional honour, received a legacy award for his 30 years of work on air quality management.
   Dr Bennett is involved in one of Canada’s leading air quality programs and spearheaded the development of the Air Quality Health Index,
   The ceremony featured 20 finalists from a record 110 nominations in seven categories. The Premier’s awards were launched in 2004.

18 March, 2008
BOLIVIA
Energy production now a public service
The Bolivian Government has launched an Energy Revolution program that would make all electricity production and distribution public services for the benefit of all Bolivians.
   President Evo Morales said the initiative had been implemented in cooperation with Cuba and Venezuela, among other countries.
   He said the project officially started with the delivery of 5.8 million free compact fluorescent light bulbs to households in the cities of El Alto, La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.
   “Energy is not a merchandise and cannot be a private service; hence the Government’s determination to turn it into a public service,” Mr morales said.
   The President said the Government’s emphasis on new policies promoting energy efficiency would be complemented with other projects to take advantage of hydraulic resources and to build thermoelectric plants.
   Bolivian Minister of Hydrocarbons, Carlos Villegas said this and other initiatives were the fruit of the agreements made under the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americans (ALBA).
   Cuba’s ambassador to La Paz, Rafael Dausa, and Counselor Minister of Venezuela, Douglas Perez, spoke about the important role of Fidel Castro as the pioneer in energy efficiency plans in the Americas.

11 March, 2008
GERMANY
Pay dispute leads to walk-out
Public Servants in most of Germany’s 16 States have walked off the job in a pay dispute.
   The dispute comes amid concern over perceptions that wealth from the Germany’s recent economic upswing was being distributed unfairly.
   Thousands of bus and train drivers, preschool teachers and waterworks employees have already walked off their jobs while train drivers threatened new walkouts in a separate dispute.
   The effort was focused on northern and eastern cities, the ver.di service workers union said. The union plans to expand the strikes to cover major airports, including Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne-Bonn. Airline Lufthansa AG said it would cancel 142 domestic and European flights as a precaution but not its transcontinental routes to the United States and elsewhere.
   While employers pointed to the need to remain competitive in an increasingly globalised economy, unions argued that workers deserved their share of Germany’s economic improvement after years of wage restraint.
   ver.di has called for a raise of 8 per cent for Germany’s 1.3 million public service workers, backdated to 1 January.
   The Government has countered by offering a 5 per cent increase over two years, accompanied by a longer working week, but ver.di rejected that offer.
   In a separate dispute that has bubbled for months, GDL, the union representing train drivers, threatened to launch an all-out strike against the nation’s rail network unless national railway operator Deutsche Bahn AG signed off on a wage agreement.
   Union leader Manfred Schell accused Deutsche Bahn of dragging its heels on applying a wage agreement reached in January to all of its members, including those employed by a subsidiary company.
   That agreement foresaw an 8 per cent raise effective 1 March; another 3 per cent starting in September, and one-time payments of €800 (A$1313) per driver to cover a period dating back to 1 July.
   Deutsche Bahn personnel chief Margret Suckale insisted that “we will not let the negotiations fail at this point”.
   Deutsche Bahn carries 5 million passengers daily.

11 March, 2008
CANADA
Nunavut staff in election bid
Public Servants in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut have called for changes to the law to make it easier for them to take part in election campaigns.
   Nunavut’s current Public Service Act allows Government employees to support a candidate or belong to a political party, but they are not allowed to work for a Federal or Territorial riding association, or serve as a candidate’s campaign manager.
   The Act also requires civil servants who want to run for office to take a leave of absence from their jobs as soon as they declare themselves a candidate.
   That contrasts with many southern jurisdictions, in which a worker takes leave after the election writ is dropped.
   “The act is quite restrictive. It’s been cut up and pasted,” Nunavut Employees Union president Doug Workman told CBC News.
   “It’s quite restrictive in certain areas and it’s not very clear in other areas.”
   Mr Workman said the Nunavut Government should catch up with changes already seen in the Federal Public Service and other jurisdictions.
   His call comes as Nunavummiut were anticipating a Territorial election, likely later this year. The date is expected to be announced sometime during the current legislative session. Some Nunavut residents also take part in Federal election campaigns.
   Human Resources Minister, Louis Tapardjuk said the Public Service Act was already being reviewed.
   “And soon we’ll be starting our Public Service consultation for all the stakeholders,” Mr Tapardjuk said.
   “And undoubtedly, this very issue will be addressed in the Public Service Act that we’re looking at.”
   Mr Tapardjuk said the current Act did not apply to elections for officials with Inuit organisations, municipalities or local hunters and trappers organisations, but the Act itself was also ambiguous about that.

11 March, 2008
UNITED STATES
Roosevelt honours for PS leaders
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and US Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid have been awarded the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Distinguished Public Service Award.
   Presented by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the Award honours individuals whose careers exemplified President Roosevelt’s extraordinary dedication to Public Service and sought to inspire renewed national commitment to the principles for which FDR stood.
   President of the Roosevelt Institute, Christopher N. Breiseth said that as the US entered a Presidential election year it was important to bring to the nation a renewed awareness of the accomplishments of FDR’s New Deal.
   “It is time once again to inspire our citizens to embrace a new engagement with their Government,” Mr Breiseth said, “ to build a better future in the same spirit of hope, courage, and creativity that marked the Roosevelt era, and which mark the service of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid.”
   He said Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid were being recognised for their leadership, compassion, and long-standing commitment to values and vision that informed FDR’s tenure in office - a belief in the power of humane Government and in the crucial role that Congress must play in shaping America’s policies both at home and abroad.
   The Awards presentation took place at a benefit dinner to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the New Deal, which was launched during the Roosevelt administration’s first dramatic “100 days” in office.
   According to Mr Breiseth, in that unprecedented and unmatched period, Congress, under FDR’s leadership, passed 15 major pieces of legislation to meet the crisis of the Great Depression.
   He said past recipients of the Roosevelt Distinguished Service Award were Robert Ball, Arthur Levitt Jr., and Henry A. Wallace (posthumously).
   Based at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute was committed to informing new generations of the ideals and achievements of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

11 March, 2008
CANADA
Archivists open file on pay rates
Archivists and historians employed by the Canadian Government have held a rally to draw attention to their sub-par pay.
   Employees of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and their colleagues, who are members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, form one of the lowest-paid groups in the Federal Government. They have also been without a contract since 30 September, 2006.
   Archivists at LAC earn an average of C$13,000 (A$14,181) less than their professional peers across the country. Their undervaluation is a longstanding issue in the Government of Canada and is a constant and growing obstacle to job retention at LAC.
   High staff turnover has affected work practice and the LAC was in peril of no longer being able to fulfil its legislative mandate as guardian of the Government’s and the nation’s documents.
   The compensation issue has been widely acknowledged by all parties, but the Government continues to deny the need for a wage increase.
   The LAC archivists and historians are members of the Research Group in the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, a national union that represents 55,000 members from coast to coast to coast.
Ten Institute groups are currently in talks with the Treasury Board and negotiations for all these groups are moving slowly.

11 March, 2008
NEW YORK
Trademark action to beat counterfeiting
The International Trademark Association has joined a call from the International Chamber of Commerce for concrete action toward the completion of a new trade agreement focusing specifically on stopping the trade in counterfeit goods.
   The United States, European Union, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico and South Korea announced in October 2007, that they had reached a tentative agreement on a framework for a new multi-lateral Agreement intended to establish a stronger set of common standards for intellectual property enforcement among their countries.
   The group said the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would provide for stronger international coordination, agreement on the best enforcement practices and alignment on provisions of legal frameworks to ensure that adequate criminal, civil and border protection measures were in place.
   “Expectations for ACTA are high,” said INTA Executive Director, Alan C. Drewsen.
   “This proposed agreement has the potential to deliver significant improvements in establishing stronger international guidelines and standards, and providing Governments with clear directives for action.”
   The two business organisations are calling for the negotiations on the new anti-counterfeiting agreement to begin as soon as possible.
   “The Governments that so far have agreed to engage in negotiating the new agreement have made a commitment to complete the process and we urge them to get started without further delay,” said Bob Wright, Co-Chairman of the ICC’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) initiative and Vice Chairman and Executive Officer, General Electric.
   To help facilitate the treaty’s path to implementation, INTA and ICC’s BASCAP have developed a paper summarising their support for the agreement and their views on the most important provisions to be included in ACTA. The two groups plan to send the paper to the leaders of the Governments that to date were supporting the negotiation of ACTA, urging them to keep the process moving forward.
   Mr Wright and Mr Drewsen said INTA and the ICC endorsed a framework for a multilateral treaty that included setting high standards for measures to combat counterfeiting, improving coordination of national and international enforcement efforts, increasing the powers of Customs officials to disrupt the flow of counterfeits through Free Trade Zones, working with business to address the growing problem of the sale of counterfeits on the internet, and treating international trade in counterfeits as a transnational crime which often involved organised criminal syndicates that took advantage of jurisdictional differences.

11 March, 2008
BARBADOS
PS Training College opens doors
Public Sector employees in the Caribbean country of Barbados will soon be able to sharpen their administrative skills at a new Public Service Training College.
   Minister of State for Labour and the Civil Service, Arni Walters made the announcement at the second annual GIVE Awards at Sherbourne Conference Centre.
   “In this regard, the scope of the training provided by the Training and Administration Division will be broadened and partnerships will be established with other training providers to ensure that training is delivered based on critical needs analyses,” Mr Walters said.
   He said training would not be limited to those already in the workforce. He added that a series of workshops had been held since the introduction of the GIVE program, which looked at attitudinal and behavioural change.
   “The program has been promoted in the schools and drama was basically used as the means of communication to get the message across. Initially 10 schools, that is five primary and five secondary, were selected and during the next financial year, another 10 schools as well as some tertiary institutions will be targeted.”
   Walters also said steps would be taken to modernise and “deal with issues of excessive red tape, over centralisation, bureaucratisation and rigidities with the public administration system”.
   The GIVE Awards, which stand for Great attitude, Initiative, Values and Excellence, were established to recognise outstanding Public Servants. Forty employees from the Ministry were presented with awards on the night.

11 March, 2008
SOUTH AFRICA
PS grievances reveal failings
South Africa’s Public Servants lodged 4,476 grievances with their Public Service Commission in the 18 months between January 2005 and June 2006, most stemming from dissatisfaction with performance assessments.
   According to a report released by the PSC, Government employees at national and provincial level were also not happy about salary matters, or recruitment and selection.
   The report on grievance trends in the Public Service indicated that the Government still needed to go a long way to improve its human resource capability.
   The document said the data reinforced the view that there might be widespread problems in respect of personnel practices and that these needed to be urgently reviewed.
   “The grievances of employees pose a threat to achieving labour peace and promoting service delivery,” the report said.
   It said the number of grievances referred to the PSC had increased on an annual basis since the promulgation in 2003 of the grievance rules for the Public Service.
   The report said an analysis of the trends and causes of grievances showed that the increases were a result of a combination of incorrect application of practices and policies, and Departments not being able to deal with grievances on time.
   The PSC expressed concern about the number of cases reported to it because it indicated a high level of dissatisfaction in the Public Service.
   The Commission also warned that the figures might not be an accurate barometer of the actual level of unhappiness among Public Servants because not all of them lay formal complaints.
   “It is therefore important that Departments constantly monitor the causes of grievances lodged with them,” the report said.
   “Failure to address unhappiness in the workplace poses a threat to overall service delivery,” it said.

11 March, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
Pension load leaves Councils reeling
A new report has shown that one-fifth of all Council tax receipts in England was being spent on Local Government pensions.
   The average council spent ₤10 million (A$21.4M) on pension contributions in 2006/07, up 13 per cent on the year, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance.
   The total bill for Local Government pensions was ₤4.6 billion (A$9.8 billion), with one pound in every five of Council tax going towards supporting civil servants’ retirement.
   “It’s unacceptable that ordinary families and pensioners who struggle to pay inflated Council tax bills see so much of their money spent on gold-plated Council pensions that have all but disappeared in the wider economy,” said the Chairman of the Alliance, Andrew Allum.
   The Taxpayers’ Alliance called for urgent reform of the “outdated” Local Government pension scheme.
   Specifically, Mr Allum said, it wanted to see an end to Councils paying added years’ benefits to staff who retired early and for Councils to collectively campaign for national reform.
   Despite Council tax doubling in the last decade, many local authorities are raising Council tax and cutting services, such as rubbish collection or care for the elderly, the Alliance said.
   Ten years ago the average band D Council tax bill in England was ₤646 (A$1383) - a figure that soared to ₤1268 (A$2714) last year.
   Bills will rise by an average ₤52 (A$111) this year, up around 4 per cent on the year, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy said.
   However, John Ransford, Deputy Chief Executive of the Local Government Association, a cross-party organisation that represents councils in England, said the local government pension scheme had recently undergone a “radical overhaul”.
   “[It] provides greater value for money to the taxpayer while at the same time recognising the invaluable work that Council staff do to make the lives of local people better,” he said.
   “The Taxpayers’ Alliance appears to be condemning lollipop ladies, bin men, street cleaners and librarians for getting a pension worthy of the years of service they have given helping local people. Councils provide more than 800 different services for local residents and these cannot be delivered by robots or machines,” Mr Ransford said.

11 March, 2008
BRUNEI
Call for PS to keep improving
The Public Service of Brunei has been called on to adapt to change and keep improving to meet ongoing and increasing demands
   The Minister of Home Affairs, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof, said the Public Service sector was constantly faced with challenges in tackling issues of high importance and with the rise of more knowledgeable and educated customers in the country, it was not surprising their expectations were also increasing.
   In order to achieve greater efficiency, the Public Services sector must present a “passion for excellence and thirst for quality” attitude in order to become more prompt and effective, he said.
   “The initial impressions made by any department or organisation lies on the hospitality or attention given to clients by the front-liners. They may include immigration officers who are stationed at control posts and attend to tourists while processing their documents,” he said.
   “A paradigm shift and customer care therefore must be looked into. In order to understand the needs and opinions of customers, we need to put ourselves in their shoes.”
   He also quoted an excerpt from the titah of His Majesty the Sultan at the Public Services Day celebration last November, on the long-term vision to see the sector function more efficiently and effectively, as well as be able to exceed the expectations of customers that are continuously increasing.
   In relation to this, he hoped that Departments under the Ministry would undertake Customer Satisfaction Research to analyse any flaws in the current system.
   A number of complaints were still being received by the Ministry, pertaining to matters such as slow response on the status of various applications, time-consuming or complicated work procedures, not answering phone calls promptly enough, unresponsiveness to complaints and the use of conventional laws that were no longer relevant.

11 March, 2008
IRELAND
Funding backflip for public broadcasters
An investigation into the funding of Irish public broadcasters RTÉ and TG4 by the European Commission has been wound up following commitments from the Irish Government that it would amend the way the services were funded.
   Ireland has agreed to clarify the Public Service remit and to make accounts more transparent.
   The Commission concluded that once the promised changes were made, the regime would then be in line with EU state aid rules. Ireland would have until December 2008 to implement the commitments in national law.
   The Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes said that the new system would provide more transparency, proportionality and accountability in Irish public service broadcasting.
   The European Commission looked into the issue in March 2005, following a complaint from a private competitor. The complainant argued that the Public Service remit was not sufficiently precise, and that the use of public funds lacked the necessary transparency to make sure that public funds were not used for commercial activities.
   Under the new agreement between Irish authorities and the EU Commission, the fulfilment of the public service tasks would be supervised by an independent body, transparent accounts and enhanced controls would be introduced, and there would be safeguards to ensure that public broadcasters carried out their commercial activities on market terms.