Shropshire Council bosses in talks plea to workers
Thursday 14th July 2011, 11:22AM BST.
Shropshire Council chiefs today issued a plea to union bosses to return to the negotiating table over proposed industrial action about staff pay cuts.
Council chief executive Kim Ryley said the “ball is now in Unison’s court” and he would meet the union “without delay”.
Union leaders are pushing ahead with a ballot for strike action after the council told its 6,500 employees they would lose their jobs unless they agreed to a 5.4 per cent pay cut.
Letters have been sent by the authority to all staff stating they will be dismissed on September 30 and re-hired on October 1 if they agree new terms and conditions.
But in a letter sent to staff and Unison chiefs today, Mr Ryley said the authority still hoped for an agreement.
In his letter to Unison’s Shropshire branch secretary Alan James, Mr Ryley said: “As you know from our recent negotiations with the trade unions, we have taken this approach very reluctantly, and would still prefer to reach agreement on the way forward.
“But we could not delay putting the changes in place, because to do so would mean that we would have to find the resulting shortfall in agreed savings from cuts to jobs instead.
“This would involve redundancy for some of our staff, which is not what we want to happen. We also needed to ensure that all staff received the required notice period ahead of the new terms coming into effect on October 1.”
In response to Mr Ryley’s plea, Unison regional organiser for Shropshire Rick Tudor, said: “We have never closed the door on consultation with the council on this or any other matter.
“I don’t think it is helpful for Mr Ryley to copy this letter to staff when the council is talking about negotiating directly with Unison.”
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Just a few months ago he was giving a speech to his union about defending chief executive salaries. Perhaps Mr Riley could actually spend more time in Shropshire and actually personally face his staff and listen as well as issue letters of dismissal rather than hiding away
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Well that’s incredibly reasonable of them – perhaps it might have been wiser to agree to further negotiation before sending out the infamous letters?
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As the Council has already issued notices dismissing staff, what is there to negotiate about. \perhaps Mr Ryley should have carried out proper consultation with the unions prior to sending the letters?
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Bit late after the dismissal letters have gone out.
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Whilst recognising that the proposed downgrading excercise may preserve jobs and services in the county I am puzzled that there appears to have been no effort to explore the numbers of staff who would volunteer for redundancy.
Also, I have not seen any justification for what appears to me to be a scheme to avoid paying redundency compensation. Surely, if staff are being dismissed because their jobs no longer exist under the terms of their contracts they are being made redundant?
If it is legal for employers to offer alternative employment with reduced pay and benefits on a take it or leave it basis, there is a gaping loophole for unscrupulous or desperate businesses to avoid paying redundancy compensation.
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