Dismissal letters sent to 6,500 Shropshire Council staff

Dismissal letters have been sent to about 6,500 Shropshire Council employees in a bitter row over a proposed 5.4 per cent pay cut, it was revealed today.

The letter states that all employees will be dismissed on September 30 but they will keep their jobs if they agree to the pay cut and a new set of terms and conditions.

The authority says it has to make £76 million of savings and that its wage-cut proposals will spare it having to make up to 500 redundancies.

Staff who do not accept the pay cut will not be able to take redundancy and will therefore not receive any severance package.

The dismissal notice comes after the council and Unison failed to reach an agreement over changes to the pay and conditions of staff. Unison is expected to ballot its members on industrial action over the dispute.

Alan James, branch secretary of Shropshire Unison, today said: "They are basically saying accept the pay cut or you will lose your job.

"We have been inundated with phone calls from people who are genuinely scared and it has engendered panic, it's definitely intended as a shot across the bows."

Mr James said the union was urging staff not to reply to the letter until they had had time to consider it in detail. He said the union was consulting its lawyers.

Jackie Kelly, head of org- anisational development at the council, said: "Despite a 90-day consultation period and a series of negotiation meetings, we have been un- able to reach a collective ag- reement on these changes with the trade unions.

"Therefore, council has decided, reluctantly, to make these changes by way of terminating the contracts of all current staff, and then making all staff an offer of immediate re-employment on new terms and conditions with effect from October 1."

By Russell Roberts