The joint union leaders of the BNTU, the APSSM and the PSU came on right after him and they said that those who get more, must sacrifice more:
Elena Smith - President, BNTU "We heard them say they were given an overwhelming mandate; those are some of the comments that we keep hearing. Given a mandate, overwhelming mandate, everybody sacrificing but when we look at everybody sacrificing Jules, how is it that is going to happen? So, is it that I must sacrifice more than you? It's like we are at animal farm, so you are willing cut my salary by 10%, you are willing to remove my increment and I will not be given anything until the time of my retirement but you are saying you are willing to give up 10% but what else are you willing to give up and comparing your 10% to my 10% there's no way we can compare that. Yes, your 10 might be more but you can live off the 90 that you will be left with. The 10 that I will be taken away from me, is a 10 I would normally have to spend. So, it means that 10 I would have been spending, I don't have it anymore and I can't spend it anymore."
Jules Vasquez "Political power is real and those will political power in this country which is the governing administration see it like this, we just came off 2 massive mandates, unprecedented victory in the municipals, near unprecedented victory in the general election, we have the support of the people. They feel they have the support of the regular working people in the private sector who have taken loses to their wages, many have lost their jobs and they feel that the majority of populace out there supports them and at the end of the day, my experience is that they will say I heard you but here is what is going to happen, unno will get cut. Elena, what happens then?"
Elena Smith "Well Jules I think if you recall, when government come with these hard-line, they are consequences to those kind of behaviour and you can come and tell me as they would normally do, I consulted, they come and they tell you and that's consultation for them but at the end of the day while you were voted in overwhelmingly, we are the same persons and I'm talking about people in general, it was the populous who gave you that vote. You have to understand that you were given that mandate to work for us, it's not the other way around, we no the work for you, you the work for we."
