EDITOR: Office attendants are workers too and deserve to be treated better. It is time to have a heart for them. While it is commendable to change the pension laws concerning teachers, the office attendants are seemingly forgotten and are not counted for much.
Those office attendants work very hard. Besides carrying out mails, they do office work like packing away files and other office duty, yet they are least paid and when they retire they have no pension to receive. Come on man, have a heart for these dedicated and hard working individuals who without them the government programmes can be set back because they are the ones who give out communication in the form of documents to various ministries.

Just think about it, if they fail to deliver a document let’s say for payments then those who ought to receive payments would not. Similar sentiments can be expressed for other documents which ought to be delivered to different ministries and departments. A delay in delivering can have a negative effect. So they play a very pivotal role in the government service, yet they are not pensionable.

Sometimes they have to be at work early since they have to open the buildings of the various ministries and also sometimes late in the evening to close up. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they are the only important persons or the most important persons, but like all other civil servants they are important and in some cases work much harder than some other civil servants.

While I don’t oppose the amendments to the pension act for teachers, we have to remember that our hardworking and dedicated office attendants need urgent attention in passing the required legislation to make our office attendants who have served over 15yrs pensionable.

Can you imagine having office attendants working for over twenty five years and go home with no pension and have to wait until the age 65 to receive benefits from NIS. How unfair can that be, for they have to risk their lives through sun or rain to ensure that communications are delivered on time to various ministries and departments, while many pensionable civil servants sit in air condition all day and when they retire receive a handsome pension.

Even worse are politicians, some of whom hardly does anything but is qualified to receive pension after nine (9yrs) years. What an injustice. Who really cares for these office attendants and where is the heart for these workers. Come on man, they deserve better. It is time to consider this class of workers. It is time for a level playing field. It is time to make them pensionable.

Kennard King