PSA Warning Sounds LIke Blackmail Threat; Let's Hope It's Not So ^Featured

First, the PSA Union as a bargaining labor group deserves the best working conditions and proper pay scales for its membership. Government negotiators, at the other side of the bargaining table are representing the employer  the public: It is why we call PSA workers "public servants."

Bargaining in good faith is what the public expects from both parties. Threats of violence does not serve the public in any way beneficial. In all labor violence, all parties suffer, including the employers − the public.

1. PSA negotiators are charged with heavy responsibilities of delivering the best possible contract for their members. They’re being perceived as a greedy bunch.
2. Government negotiators are charged with protecting the public's interest. Namely put, "Do not give away the shop." They’re being perceived as snobbish, and a bunch of “Ebenezer Scrooges” in Charles Dickens’ novel “A Christmas Carol.”
3. PSA negotiators can recommend a strike (work stoppage) by their members, but it should be the last resort. Their members may suffer financial hardships during a strike, but the PSA Union may have strike funds to pay members on the picket lines.
4. Government negotiators can do a lockdown in retaliation as a last resort as well. They may terminate the services of PSA Union members. That has been done in the U.S. where the late President Reagan fired thousands of highly qualified Air Traffic Controller Union members.

Facts Cannot Be Ignored

It is the main reason why we hope the "negotiations" are done in good faith. Certain facts, however, should be kept as important “elephants-in-the-room” (difficult to push around) players in this labor dispute:
Fact #1: Certain public servants are indispensable in serving the public: police, healthcare providers, and the military; they should have a "no strike" clause in their contracts.
Fact #2: PSA Union members are not indispensable: There are more unemployed educated and qualified people who could take their jobs; unemployment in Tonga is one of the highest in the Pacific; like the U.S. Air Traffic Controller replacements…it took some time to train them, but they soon became permanent replacements.
Fact #3: Government negotiators will have to face voters in the next election, and they could be thrown out of their seats in government depending on how they handled the negotiations.
Fact #4. It is a myth that public servants' (Government employees) pay helps the economy grow. It is not a true statement. Public servants do not produce income for government; they provide free services for the public, which produce no revenues for government; they pay taxes (10%) on their paychecks back to government, but their take-home salaries account for 90% expenditures to the public.

The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

Fact #5. At present, public servants' wages are the number one onerous burden for Government. Researched statistics have shown public servants' wages and benefits to be the largest drain on the economy since the PSA Union's last pay hike victory in 2005.

 The Goose that Lays the Golden egg may perhaps be needing a companion. The PSA Union has a difficult job at the negotiation table. They’re expected to deliver more, not less, by their members. However, Tonga does not have a sustainable industry as a source of inexhaustible revenues.

Government negotiators must protect the public coffers. Bankrupting the Government will tarnish our global credit ratings, which will be devastating to the country’s economy. It will be an invitation to high inflation, high unemployment, and a deteriorating economy.

(Sione A. Mokofis is Director of English-Journalism & Languages at Tonga International Academy, Havelu, Tongatapu.E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)