Tourism workers and civil servants need to out Alden and his selfish crew
Shameless writes: When I was growing up, we used to sing a chorus in Sunday school that said:
J O y
J O Y
That must surely mean
Jesus first
Yourself last
Others in between.
That little chorus engraved basic principles that have served many well over the years, particularly those with a genuine commitment to serving the people.
It seems, however, that Alden learned a different chorus and has now taught it to his enablers:
Y O U
Y O U
That must surely mean
Yourself first
Unnah last and
Others in between.
We’ve all seen the reports of Alden promising persons in the tourism sector that IF he and his Alliance buddies are elected, he’ll give them an additional $500 per month. Someone has seemingly complained to the Elections Office about his statement.
His response to the Cayman Compass when asked about it was: “Elections are precisely about what candidates promise to do if elected. That is the purpose of campaigns.” That is the type of arrogant dismissal that Alden is known for.
Imagine someone calls you and says, “I’m hungry bro. What do you have to eat?” You have food you can offer but you have also been wondering how you can get something that you need from the hardware store. You could reply, “Well, stop by and I’ll fix you something.”
That’s promising the person that if they stop by, you’ll give them something to eat. Or, you can use their need for food to try to get what you want from the store and say, “Okay, I need something from the store. Stop by me and I’ll give you the money and you can run and pick it up for me. When you come back, I’ll fix you something to eat.”
What Alden’s brush-off answer ignores is whether the person making the promise has the ability NOW to provide what he is promising or whether he needs TO GET ELECTED to do so. While 43 of the 50 candidates need to get elected to have a chance to influence government spending and fulfill a promise, seven candidates – he and his six ministers – have the ability NOW to fulfill promises.
They didn’t promise to pave roads here, there and everywhere IF ELECTED, but hot mix has been falling like rain for weeks. And while every one of the 43 candidates have promised to do something about the dump, only he and his minsters could give the green light NOW to the mega deal that was just signed with DART.
What Alden and his crew are doing to tourism sector workers is trying to use their plight to try to leverage their vote. They don’t need to. They could have decided to pay them the increase for a period just as they decided to pay Island Paving millions of dollars over the past few months. It’s that simple.
And that is not the worst thing that this greedy bunch has been up to lately by any means.
Tucked away in the final three pages, 326-328, of Extraordinary Gazette No.1/2021, published on 06 January 2021, is a Notice which states:
“The Civil Service Pay Scales for Salaried Staff, which come into effect on 1st January 2021, approved in accordance with Personnel Regulations (2019 Revisions) Schedule 2: Remuneration Bands, are hereby published.”
You wouldn’t have read about this here on CNS, in other local publications or seen it on CIGTV News Brief. In fact, even if you looked on the website of the Portfolio of the Civil Service (here), the logical authority on matters such as salary scales, what you will see is a link to the Salary Scales as of 01-Jan-2020.
There is no mention of the Civil Service Pay Scales which came into effect on 01January 2021. So the public who pays for these new salaries wouldn’t know what increases were awarded unless you subscribe to the Gazette or go on the Gazette website. Guess that’s World Class transparency!
A comparison of the 2020 and 2021 Salary Scales shows that only the top 4 grades, D up to A, have changed. The entry point of grades D, C and B have increased by 7.7% while the entry point of grade A has increased by 16.0%. And who are the reapers of these increases?
The entire elected cadre of MLA’s, including the speaker, ministers and the premier, viz:
| Premier | 16% increase from a measly $202,536pa to $234,900pa |
| Deputy Premier | 16% increase from a measly $192,804pa to $223,572pa |
| Speaker | 7.7% increase from a measly $188,076pa to $202,512pa |
| Ministers | 7.7% increase from a measly $174,636pa to $188,076pa |
| Leader of Opposition | 7.7% increase from a measly $141,456pa to $152,340pa |
| All other MLAs | 7.7% increase from a measly $121,212pa to $130,512pa |
Yes:
- all those prayers and foreign languages got Jon Jon a 7.7% raise;
- keeping the NRA from touching the horse place after they got the Grand Court to lift his injunction got Roy a 7.7% raise;
- almost hanging a $200M+ cruise port around our necks got Moses a 7.7% increase;
- consistently showing the real meaning of ‘clueless’ got Joey a 7,7% increase;
- saying nothing in 4 years got Capt Eugene and David a 7.7% raise;
- turning out to be a poodle in the LA after sounding like a rottweiler on Rooster got Austin a 7.7% increase;
- causing no end of embarrassment got McKeeva a 7.7% raise; and
- keeping their lips zipped about McKeeva’s assault of a woman got Barbara, Julie and Tara 7.7% raises too.
You read right!
It wasn’t just elected officials who have reaped the fruits of this though:
| Deputy Governor | 16% increase from a measly $183,504pa to $212,796pa |
| Attorney General & Financial Secretary | 7.7% increase from a measly $174,636pa to $188,076pa |
| Auditor Gen., Cabinet Sec, Chief Officers, Comm. of Police, District Comm. & UK Rep | 7.7% increase from a measly $141,456pa to $152,340pa |
| Directors of Ed Services, Planning, PWD, Tourism, Ombudsman, et al | 7.7% increase from a measly $121,212pa to $130,512pa |
And yes, the governor would also have reaped a 16% increase since his salary is a markup of the DG’s salary.
And the rest of the civil service, the people who actually do the work?
| Uniformed officers who enforced the social discipline to get us here | 0.0% |
| Sanitation workers who collected our garbage | 0.0% |
| Public health and others who administered the tests and vaccinated us | 0.0% |
| Civil servants who kept the business of government going | 0.0% |
| Civil servants toiling to try to make Ministers look good for election | 0.0% |
That’s right – 0.0% increase from ‘what they were getting’ to ‘what they still getting’!
Now you understand what Alden’s lil chorus means:
Y O U
Y O U
That must surely mean
Yourself (he and his enablers) first
Unnah (ordinary civil service) last and
Others (tourism workers if his slate gets elected) in between.
No one should need a clearer example of the priorities of Alden and his followers. They have shown us over and over that their priorities are not the average Caymanian, and not Cayman. Their focus is on themselves and the elites that they serve.
One can only hope that civil servants and unemployed tourism workers show Alden and his followers how they truly feel about how they have been treated by voting for anyone other than a PPM Alliance candidate on 14 April.
N.B. All of the salaries quoted are based on the first point of the scale except for those of the premier, deputy premier and speaker who, in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Legislative Assembly (Management) Law, 2020, are at points A5, A3 and B4, respectively.
Furthermore, Schedules 1 and 2 afford a plethora of additional benefits, some at the discretion of the premier.
Correction: The salaries for “Auditor Gen., Cabinet Sec, Chief Officers, Comm. of Police, District Comm. & UK Rep” and “Directors of Ed Services, Planning, PWD, Tourism, Ombudsman, et al” have been corrected.
Category: Viewpoint & Analysis
Stimulus.. Use your retirement savings here your pension instead.
I feel so violated after reading this. No wonder they will sell their mother to get back in. I would love to see their bank accounts even though the shock might kill me. God is watching and he/she don’t like ugly. Please Cayman make your vote count tomorrow like never before.
You think people would vote for idiots who talk about taking away Tourism and we must live on agriculture? My district is doing quite well thank you. I don’t know why people complaining. The only thing left for government to do is wipe you all backsides. I will vote for PPM. I know their plans and what they will do or won’t do. The other person running in my district need a mental check up and so do the people who nominated that person.
Give the newbies a chance and get rid of these useless and selfish lot with have now. Only people I think deserve to stay are Kenneth B and Chris S.
NS – Jay
EE – Arden
PP – anyone but Austin
RedBay – anyone but Alden
GT – anyone but David and Roy
West Bay – don’t even think they think about who they vote for. Just being honest.
That there is a recipe for success, use it to have success in changing Cayman ..actually more like destroy Cayman. However that basically what Johan, and Sammy are saying..vote for us because we are not PPM or their Alliance. Then they get elected and nothing happens, but wait all they promised was that there would be change and that change will be ” someone other than PPM”. And then the dissatisfaction begins.
Moron.
Thanks for this…I didn’t think I could get more disgusted with Alden and the piglets.
Alden has made us an embarrassment to Caymanians and the Crown….yet our governor stays silent…makes you wonder who’s best interest’s the UK is really concerned with. Don’t think it’s ours.
Vote them all out. They are ruining our country and only care about feathering their own nest and those of their inner circle.
so Mac now gets over $202,000 a year after being caught being drunk in public beating up a woman- and found GUILTY??! Real classy and deserving of that salary! (insert eye roll here)
time for change people!! Vote them all out!!!!!
Auditor General, Ms Winspear, any comments?
I can only speak for myself, and can say that I earn less than $188k which is quoted above as the minimum salary for my pay scale and so I can say that at least some of the information in the above view point piece is factually incorrect. While I do know that there was a recent change to the range of some of the pay scales that in itself does not necessarily mean that people on those pay scales will have been given a pay rise.
PS I should add for the avoidance of doubt that I have not had a pay increase recently.
You are not on there radar sue Winspear…
They have it both ways, severance if they don’t get back in and a raise if they do..
You can’t make this stuff up! All happening during a pandemic where some people don’t even have work much less a raise in pay.
Cayman please vote wisely and dump this PPM lead monstrosity.
You got screwed, Ms Winspear. You deserve as much or more than some of those who apparently mysteriously got increases. This is not how pay awards used to be handled…to those who hath shall it be given.
I am in GTW.
David Wight is anti-expat and is for the new dock so I am forced to wote if merely to get him out.
That leaves 2 bus/taxi drivers to choose from… Lol
And you couldn’t pay me enough under the table to wote for Pearlina. So I’m in a real pickle.
Ridiculous that this is how the woting system works here.
Wonder how it would work if we could all wote who we wanted (maybe top 3 in order of want) and then see how the outcome looks.
This is why some have suggested allowing persons not born in these beautiful islands to run for public office. It might be a horrible idea now but only because there are some good candidates among the field, what happens when we are all in a pickle because we don’t have any good candidates because the hard working, honest, qualified folks don’t want to run? That could happen sooner than we think. Something to think about. God bless these beautiful islands when the sun sets on Wednesday evening
Prospect: We need DOERS, not talkers… We had an Austin already, we do not need a different version.
We are all to blame; since 2008 we kept voting people who had done very little to look out for our children or grandchildren. And today, many are still considering voting for the same BS – more of the same – sub-standard education, ignored social problems, racism, social segregation, unemployment, over development, destruction of our natural resources, exorbitant health care costs. Vote PPM if you want it to continue.
Pray tell me which one of you aspiring to be elected on 14 April 2021 will reverse these new pay grades on 01 May 2021? I bet none of you will do so and will be quite happy to enjoy the fruits of your labor as an MP when elected. By the way, where are the complaints from the current Opposition and Independents on the back bench about these increases when they were decided and implemented??
Interesting that the current (until 15Apr) Govt did not see it fit to do a cost of living adjustment for the rank and file Civil Servants as was done in the last 2 years.
Our government’s main objective, at least since Alden barely got in this term, was for him and his equally disgusting alliance members to plunder as much as they could for their last 4 years. Hope they all move to honduras when the lose as I can’t stand the look of them.
Vote Cayman For Love Of Country
Fax:
– If they do not get re-elected, the MPs get 3 months’ severance PLUS paid pension for life at the rate of salary at which they left the civil service. Meanwhile, our unemployment is at 8% and only 22% of our public school students qualify for a tertiary education AND we cannot find affordable housing. #MUSTBENICE 🤷🏻♀️ Vote them out.
“Wote” smart, Cayman. ‘Nuff said.
There are glaring errors with this article. The Governor is paid by the FCO, so presumably the increases don’t apply to him.
And if this a Progressives’ err, where are the voices of the current opposition and independent MPs to point out the folly? Is the silence consent and evidence of complicit behaviour? Has the author reached out to any current MP for answers regardless of which side of the bench they sit?
Roy has addressed the land by Linford Pierson publicly, it has not been his land for many years.
This article would have stood up better with better fact-checking and without blatant bias against the sitting government. But with Shameless hiding behind a nom du plume, it gives an uneasy feeling as to what is verified fact.
CNS: The governor’s salary and his PA are paid by the CIG. See here.
Thanks for clarifying CNS!
PPM is grasping for straws at the last minute..
It’s a little late in the game but the shit is hitting the fan now.
Enough is enough they all gotta go!
Alden McLaughlin
Roy McTaggart
Moses Kirkconnell
McKeeva Bush
Joey Hew
Juliana O’Connor-Connolly
David Wight
Barbara Connolly
Eugene Ebanks
Dwayne Seymour
Austin Harris
All must GO on Election Day. None deserve another chance as we have had enough and know them by the fruit of their labor.
Do the right thing . However I take all this rhetoric with a grain of salt, when you look Cayman hypocrites vote them all back in , dont be surprised, I wish I could say otherwise but this has been a trend in Cayman. Do you really want a change Cayman or you still want to carry on with the suppession , opppression and stagnation.? My God dont we need a breathe of fresh air, dont you feel stifled, let us wake Thursday morning feeling relieved. Let us do soul searching and give new Candidates a chance.
To be honest, I agree with you. The majority of the voters are older and paper Caymanians and they don’t like change even if it is for the better.
We have 8 long years of this tirade. It’s time to clean the slate clean of PPM/CDP and Alliance.
We can do better Cayman.
Please vote wisely!
The Progressives have no shame
Vote them all out!
Dear Caymanians
We desperately need change. The time has come to vote out this collection of pirates in Parliament that look out for themselves and their chosen few. This article is shocking and summaries the attitude and actions of the PPM and UNITY MLA’s.
Election Day is tomorrow and we must remove these people from office from continuing their madness. How can they be trusted to do right for Cayman and all of us given their track record over the last four to eight years?
Do not be fooled the time for change has come. Use your vote to drive the change in leadership the country needs. They do not deserve another chance they have not earned and do no respect the people.
and the truth shall set you free..It’s too bad they hide these things from us.. In my opinion none of them are worth the salaries they are getting..
Caymanians are out here starving and can’t afford to buy a piece of land or a decent house..
Keeping us dumb, uneducated and unemployed the PPM and their Alliance lackeys believe that if they throw us a couple of fosters cards a turkey and a red t-shirt that they can have her votes. Well, I took them but I ain’t voting for them. Damn crooks!
Franz the Useless gets 16%
Eric Bush the Wutless gets almost 8%
10:32 stop being jealous!
Finally Caymanians being paid properly.
The rest of the Civil service will receive they pay rise later this year.
Franz @9:49am, thanks for announcing a pay rise for civil servant “later this year”.
Why do you get to go first ?
Are you a civil servant?