Shropshire Council and unions in talks over changes
Wednesday 9th February 2011, 11:25AM GMT.
Bosses at Shropshire Council have started talks with staff and trade unions on plans for sweeping changes to job terms and conditions.
They claim the move will save the cash-strapped authority £7 million over three years.
The council today warned the alternative would be to make hundreds of members of staff redundant.
But Unison, which represents the majority of staff at the authority, is preparing a legal challenge.
A number of changes have already been agreed, mainly on mileage and business allowances.
Big cuts have also been made to the senior management structure. But the latest changes will affect thous- ands of staff. They include a shorter working week and a cut in sick pay entitlements.
The council is pressing ahead with moves to create a more flexible workforce and will change its opening hours from 9am to 5pm five days a week to 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.
But staff will see holiday entitlement rise by five days after five years’ service.
A consultation with staff and unions will last 90 days. It is proposed to implement the changes from September. Lou Gladden, assistant branch secretary at Unison, said members would meet solicitors on Monday to start the formal negotiations.
“We will be looking at the proposals with solicitors to see which we can legally stop and which we can’t,” he said.
“From this position we will look to do an indicative ballot of all members to see what people are prepared to do — whether it is striking, working to rule or working to contract.”
But Kim Ryley, council chief executive, said today: “We are a responsible empl- oyer. It is not in the public interest to make large-scale redundancies and we are doing all we can to avoid them.”
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