EDITORIAL: Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar

Government is increasingly becoming isolated in the salary stand-off with its employees. Unions, the opposition and sections of civil society are adamant that demands for the first increment in over six years are just and fair.

The voting process currently underway to determine whether or not to embark on a national strike has already claimed collateral damage in the form of closures of public schools yesterday and today.

If civil servants vote in favour of a strike, government should immediately succumb to the demands instead of waiting for a shutdown to destroy what is left of our ailing economy before eventually budging.

During a shutdown, state agencies will be stripped to the bone, providing only what is necessary to protect life and property or what is required by law. A government shutdown means some key operations will grind to a halt, and restarting them would be costly.

Increasing salaries is already a mountainous bill on its own, and spending more money to repair the damage of a shutdown would suck the very last cent from treasury coffers. There have been green shoots of economic recovery from years of recession and all that would be gone within the blink of an eye if a shutdown occurs.