Council staff paid twice
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Are the public aware that the majority of people who man the polling stations are Wrexham Council employees who are given a days paid leave to do so?
They then get paid again for these duties so are effectively being paid twice for the day!Yes, I knew that too. It has always been the case. However, it’s not just local authority staff employed on elections. I have done it myself (bored out of my skull!) and I never worked for the LA. I know of retired people who do it as well. It is paid out of a separate budget provided by the electoral commission. So, no story here!!
What’s the alternative: go out and recruit reliable trustworthy people for one very long day’s work each time there is an election. The recruitment costs would dwarf the supposed cost of the current system many times over and you would still have to pay them. Of course, unlike council staff, there would be no real way to hold these one off zero hour contract people to their responsibilities so all kinds of electoral shenanigans could occur. It is a funny world where sitting in a polling station ticking off names as part of the democratic process counts as a perk. Bring back free meals, days out at the races and hospitality in the directors’ boxes at the Racecourse!!
Well that little attempt at council bashing failed Wxmanon. We should be thankful that we have a well organised electoral system in place aided by able council and non-council staff.
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