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States employees could take industrial action for the rest of the week by 'working to rule', despite last minute negotiations as an agreement has still not been reached between the two sides.
Unite the Union members who work for the States decided to strike today after their recent talks over a pay deal broke down. But the government has said it is frustrated the industrial action has gone ahead even though there is now a clear path to a settlement.
An emergency meeting was held yesterday and another this morning to try and prevent any disruption, but nothing solid came out of them, and the strike went ahead.
The States are now urging Unite to 'fully engage' in the independent process that has been started to resolve the disagreement to "allow it the opportunity to resolve the dispute in a way that does not impact on the Guernsey public". Unite have already committed to not disrupting essential services like the airport and the hospital - staff there have stayed in work.
But other staff have stayed away from the workplace today, and are now saying they could 'work to rule' for the rest of the week. This means they would decline any overtime requests. The full strike will go on until midnight tonight.
"At the current time, the States of Guernsey expects the operation of the airport and harbour and essential services at the hospital to remain unaffected. Furthermore other hospital services are continuing, however if this should change, we will issue further advice," a spokesperson for the States said.
"It is unclear at the current time what impact there will be today and tonight on sewage, rubbish and recycling collections. Again, further advice will be issued today as soon as it is available.
"It is frustrating that Unite have decided to move forward with this disruptive action. A formal disputes resolution process was agreed yesterday, meaning there is a clear path to resolving the disagreement over pay and conditions without the need for industrial action."
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