Unions dispute job cuts at council

Mar 11 2010 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

TRADE union officials have said they will stand by their members in the wake of the news West Lothian Council could be set to slash a thousand jobs.

The GMB Union, which represents a large number of workers within the council, has said services will suffer if the proposed wide-ranging cuts are implemented.

Union officials are currently involved in consultation with the local authority, who are looking to plug an anticipated £45million black hole in their budget over the next three years.

But a GMB spokesman said the union would oppose any potential compulsory job losses.

He added: “It’s obviously very worrying news for our members, because where are the job cuts going to come from? All these people provide vital services for the community.

“They are not the only local authority going through this but it does make for grim reading.

“They have no idea how big the cuts will actually have to be. It will depend on who forms the Government after the next election. It could be as much as 1,700 job cuts if you listen to some reports which say the budget will have to be cut by 20 per cent instead of 12.

“We will be fighting to keep the jobs of our members safe like any union.”

Several GMB members are currently involved in a dispute with the council regarding a pay row. The Courier told you in December how a number of waste services and street cleansing workers began work-to-rule action after negotiations between trade union and council officials hit problems.

Around 90 workers are still following service-standard health and safety rules to the letter of the law, causing disruption to bin collection services across West Lothian.

The GMB Union official said their members were about to be given 90-days notice of the termination of their contracts. They will then be immediately re-employed on new contracts, with around 50 GMB members each losing on average £2,500 from their salary. It will be the second time in three years binmen have had their contracts ripped up and the union believes it was the start of the cost-cutting measures at the council.

“It seems to me to have been a monetary thing from the start. It’s basically a cost-cutting exercise,” the spokesman added.

“They are telling us that our guys are not working generically but I can tell you they are not the only ones in that situation.

“The council has made no effort to train them up to the level they gave them job descriptions for. They will say they are doing this to fend off equal pay claims but the trade union put forward proposals that would have satisfied these concerns.

“However this would have involved training and keeping their pay at the same level but West Lothian Council obviously weren’t prepared to do that.

“I have got grave concerns about the future regarding this if they are going to deal with the rest of their workers like this.”

A council spokesman said: “We have a duty to comply with our pay equality duties and have no option but to implement new contracts for a number of employees.

“There will be no reduction in the number of council jobs as a result of the move to revised contracts.”