In June 2015, a recruitment process for Administrative Assistants was suspended by the Government of Gibraltar. We have been advocating, since that time, that this recruitment process be recommenced, as an unacceptably large number of supply workers have been covering vacant posts within civil service departments. We have, in this period, raised this issue in meetings with civil service HR, with the incumbent and former Chief Secretary and with the Chief Minister. We have also made a number of public statements.

Indeed, in February 2108, we were able to send out to our membership the results of feedback from our members as to the scale of this problem: for example, in the Treasury Department, 22% of officers are supply workers; in the Income Tax Office, 22% of officers are supply workers, and the Department of Social Security, 24% of officers are supply workers.

In March this year, we carried out an online poll, where we asked our civil service members: “In your opinion is the AA recruitment process the most important civil service issue for the GGCA?” The response was overwhelmingly in the positive: 88% of our civil service members voted ‘yes’.

In May this year, the GGCA supported a Unite GHA walkout on the basis of this principle that external agency workers should not be engaged to cover permanent posts within the civil service and public service.

"We welcomed the Chief Minister’s commitment to resolve this matter, which was given publically in May this year but with no outcome to date. We would like to see the situation resolved with no further delay, with an immediate recommencement of the Administrative Assistant recruitment process which was suspended in June 2015," the GGCA said.

22-11-18 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR