The former teacher spoke after reflecting on the pay dispute and the strikes that caused months of disruption in the Island.
A number of one-day strikes took place with eight during the month of May, as teachers battled for a better pay deal with the States.
In the end a compromise was reached, which was described by NEU president Brendan Carolan as like ‘getting a 0-0 draw away from home’.
The deal, agreed by the NEU on 10 June, included a 2.1 per cent rise above inflation for 2020, along with other payments for 2018 and 2019.
Civil servants are still to agree a pay award and further strikes by civil service union members are due to take place this month.
Looking back on the teacher strikes, Deputy Perchard said: ‘The government should in the future do anything it can to prevent the teacher strike action we had from happening again.
‘I think it is a straightforward thing to do now to plan for increases in line with the cost of living, and plan to increase pay with that and not to freeze salaries.
‘Everyone wants to avoid strikes in the future and by planning for the future it will avoid that situation again.
‘No teacher ever wants to have to go out on strike because their students are their number one priority, and the workload that they have to catch up on is huge, even if they just have one day off.
‘I would like to think overall there has been planning within budgets for staff costs and rises in cost of living, not just teachers but other civil servant roles.’
The Deputy’s comments come as the Island’s civil servants prepare to go on strike.
Earlier this month the JCSA Prospect and Unite unions announced that more than 60% of members who had taken part in a ballot had voted against their latest three-year pay deal, which was offered in May by the States Employment Board.
The offer was a 1% pay rise for 2018 and 2019, 2.1% in one-off cash payments over the two years and a 1.3% above-inflation pay award for 2020.
Many civil servants are dissatisfied that the offer does not match current inflation levels, with the most recent RPI recorded at 3.6%.
