Dear Editor
Am I the only one who is sickened by the continued attacks on SCC Chief Executive, Andrea Hill ["Why not walk to work, Andrea?", Jan 10] in the columns of the EADT. She is a public servant doing an efficient job at a difficult time. Her salary is large, but it is still within the guidelines adopted by the government's recent inquiry into fair pay.
The rubbishing of Mrs Hill seems to be part of an on-going campaign to belittle workers in the public sector and could be classed as a new "politics of envy" whereby those in the private sector continually snipe at the wages and conditions of their contemporaries. Could it be connected with the government's privatisation programmes?
If executives in the private sector with similar responsibilities to those of Mrs Hill are prepared to make their salaries and conditions available, then we would be better able to make accurate judgments about the relative merits of public vs. private. Traditionally, the public sector has always been the Cinderella as far as pay and conditions are concerned.
It is a passing phenomena that public pay is perceived as being more generous. In 2011, the Incomes Data Services predicts that pay rises may average 3 per cent in the private sector. Public-sector workers could see less than a 0.75% rise. All this against a backdrop of retail prices surging at 4.7% a year!
The recent events in Arizona should remind us that the targeting of any public figure should be tempered with restraint and should never take on the appearance of a witch-hunt.
Yours sincerely
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