Southampton’s main public sector unions have rejected the Council’s proposed changes to their working conditions (to include redundancies and large pay cuts) at a packed membership meeting this past Thursday, and have promised to fight against their implementation.
Hundreds turned up for the joint meeting of UNISON and Unite members, which was called to present the Council’s proposals to members and decide on what their response should be. The proposals were to the council workers in November, and meetings between management and Union officials have been ongoing since then.
In order to cope with cuts in central government funding by shaving £8.5 million , the Council indicated around 250 staff would have to be sacked and other staff’s pay reduced by 5.4%. In response, the unions described the cuts as ‘devastating’, and gave the Council a set of conditions of what the Council would have to do in order for the unions to work with them, which included commitments for no compulsory redundancies and that these reductions would be temporary.
However, the Unions claim that the Council has not met any of the conditions, and as a result the membership meeting rejected the Council’s proposals, saying that:
"Given that the Conservatives have not met the conditions set out by UNISON and UNITE in November, and given the contents of the Conservatives proposals, this meeting rejects them and recommends UNISON and UNITE members reject them in the postal ballot our respective unions are organising following this meeting."
Concerns about the lack of adequate information for staff due to become redundant in the next 6 months and the cutting of school support staff wages despite not being part of the budgets to be cut (and so are more to do with the council avoiding a legal bill with equal pay claims) were also raised.
The meeting also agreed to organise a protest at the Council’s budget meeting on February 16th (where next year’s budget will be voted through, including the controversial allotment measures), to organise industrial action if staff are dismissed with 3 months notice, to attend the national Trade Union Congress (TUC) demo on March and to support local Labour party candidates in the local elections in May.
Following this the members present then marched through the streets on to the Civic Centre, where they held a noisy rally outside the Chief Executive’s office.
The City Council say that they have little choice in the issue, with significant cuts in funding from the Coalition and a limit placed on council tax too. The next few months will most likely be turbulent for them though, with budget cuts coming through just as election season is starting to hot up.
In order to cope with cuts in central government funding by shaving £8.5 million , the Council indicated around 250 staff would have to be sacked and other staff’s pay reduced by 5.4%. In response, the unions described the cuts as ‘devastating’, and gave the Council a set of conditions of what the Council would have to do in order for the unions to work with them, which included commitments for no compulsory redundancies and that these reductions would be temporary.
However, the Unions claim that the Council has not met any of the conditions, and as a result the membership meeting rejected the Council’s proposals, saying that:
"Given that the Conservatives have not met the conditions set out by UNISON and UNITE in November, and given the contents of the Conservatives proposals, this meeting rejects them and recommends UNISON and UNITE members reject them in the postal ballot our respective unions are organising following this meeting."
Concerns about the lack of adequate information for staff due to become redundant in the next 6 months and the cutting of school support staff wages despite not being part of the budgets to be cut (and so are more to do with the council avoiding a legal bill with equal pay claims) were also raised.
The meeting also agreed to organise a protest at the Council’s budget meeting on February 16th (where next year’s budget will be voted through, including the controversial allotment measures), to organise industrial action if staff are dismissed with 3 months notice, to attend the national Trade Union Congress (TUC) demo on March and to support local Labour party candidates in the local elections in May.
Following this the members present then marched through the streets on to the Civic Centre, where they held a noisy rally outside the Chief Executive’s office.
The City Council say that they have little choice in the issue, with significant cuts in funding from the Coalition and a limit placed on council tax too. The next few months will most likely be turbulent for them though, with budget cuts coming through just as election season is starting to hot up.
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