Appalling (Mail, £). An extract:
“The members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union say it would benefit both employees and the Government by improving work-life balance while reducing sick days.
They are the second Whitehall branch to demand a four-day week after those in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made the call first last December.
Last night Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers will see right through this utter claptrap being pushed by work-shy pen pushers.
‘Public sector workers already work fewer hours and take more annual leave than private sector workers, yet somehow these spoiled bureaucrats have the gall to demand even more time off.
‘Angela Rayner should take this opportunity to stand up for the British people and demand that civil servants do a full week of work like the rest of the country.’
But PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote insisted: ‘A four-day week benefits both the employer and the employee. Employers offering a four-day week have better staff retention, find recruiting easier and lose less to sick days.” [J4MB: A one-day week with no loss in pay would bring even more ‘benefits’, on these grounds.]
It hardly needs pointing out that the majority of the employees, as in the public sector in general, are women.
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