Shropshire Council staff back strike action
Tuesday 13th September 2011, 1:38PM BST.
Shropshire Council staff have backed potential strike action over a planned 5.4 per cent pay cut for employees and changes to their terms and conditions.
Trade union Unison this afternoon said 66 per cent of its members who work at the council and returned their ballot papers voted to take industrial action including a strike.
And the union said 86 per cent also said they were willing to take industrial action short of a strike.
The vote on the two questions attracted a turnout of 820 people, which union chiefs said represented 45.8 per cent of the members who had been balloted.
A meeting of Unison’s branch executive was taking place this afternoon where officials were deciding their next steps following the result.
Alan James, Shropshire branch secretary for Unison, said: “We had 45.8 per cent turnout which is very high for this type of ballot. This vote should show the authority there is a real demand amongst workers to have their voice heard.”
He added that he hoped a strike could be avoided and urged the unitary authority to return to the negotiating table.
“We don’t want a strike, we just want to represent our members,” he said.
The union has called for the council to offload non-essential assets in a bid to make savings rather than hitting staff in their pay and conditions.
Shropshire Council is proposing to dismiss all 6,500 staff on September 30. Workers will be rehired the next day if they agree to a 5.4 per cent pay cut and new terms and conditions.
Council leaders say they need to make £76 million of savings and that its wage-cut plans would spare it having to make up to 500 redundancies.
But Unison, which represents about 40 per cent of the workforce, says members are unhappy at the way they are being treated.
When the pay cut plans were approved by the council in June, council chief executive Kim Ryley said the changes were necessary as the authority does “not have the money to carry on paying the number of staff we have now at current rates”.
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How about the Star do some digging of their own instead of acting as the propaganda arm of Unison?
How many union members didnt bother to respond?
if 66% of 10% voted for strike action then that is not as overwhelming a majority as the comrades – sorry “shop stewards” would have you think…
Also, it would be nice to think that the militants in favour of this are the ones not signing for the new terms and will therefore be out on their backsides soon before they have the chance to do much damage.
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Just about 50% turn out. Most Councillors would pray for such a turn out in an election.
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I wonder what percentage your Tory cllrs were voted in with, I bet it wasn’t even 25% of the electorate was it? Get your own house in order before pontificating the usual blurb you lot seem to periodically throw up!
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But if my memory serves me correctly even a 100% union vote is far less than a majority when it comes to total staffing numbers, so whatever Unison say is quite frankly a minor influence. One thing’s for certain the mouthpieces will hardly be affected whatever the outcome compared with the members.
All animals are equal…………you know the rest
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Can we have this debate again when it’s the General Election? We had a national referendum, when the overwhelming result was “first past the post” is how candidates are selected. So the result that gets the most votes wins. Period.
So why is a union vote attracting such extreme scrutiny? Were you this worked up with the hanging chads debacle in the US elections? Or that the majority of the population didn’t vote for the current lot in the Government?
No – this is a politically motivated campaign to disregard the legitimate concerns of council workers.
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From the BBC Website
Unison is by far the largest union represented on Shropshire Council, with 3,700 members.
66% of that would be 2442 members for strike action
Out of how many thousands of staff working for Shropshire Council?
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Just cos they aint in unison dont mean they dont back the strike oswestrian
some professionals are capable of represeting themselves without a union agent and can still strike about cuts to pay and pensions when they are un negotiated like that
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Yes, 66% voted for a strike but that is from only 45% of those total union members who bothered to vote. That equates to 30% of the eligible membership or in other words 70% are against or can’t be bothered to vote.
Unison may be the largest union but are still in a minority in terms of total staff numbers.
I find comfort in the fact that these union people who throw their ‘successful’ voting numbers at us have no grip of the purse strings at the exchequer.
Lies, damn lies and statistics.
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Turnout for the election of Mr Barrow was only 36 percent and he only got 56 percent of those votes. As you pointed out, that means about 80% of eligible voters are against or could not be bothered to vote for him.
Presumably you are as alarmed that Mr Barrow holds the purse strings at Shropshire Council.
Statistics are great aren’t they.
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Well said julian, couldn’t have put it better myself,
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what percentage of the electorate turn out and vote for councillors in Oswestry – its a very small minority i tell you!
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In Keith barrow’s ward turnout in the last unitary council election, when he was elected, was 36 percent. Of those 36 percent who bothered to vote he got 56 percent. So maybe if he and Kim Riley continue to say that the union’s vote is undemocratic mr barrow should resign.
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Would I take industrial action?
As a council employee for the past ten years I have always took pride in saying that I work for the council, I work far more hours than my contract, I work evenings and weekends for no extra reimbursement, I have also been blessed with never taking a days sickness in all that time and I would even do my job for less money, yes even 5.4% less.( having worked previously in the private sector I am used to working hard for my salary).
My disappointment with the council leaders is that I have never been asked, politely, to take a pay cut. Rather I have been told and threatened that if I do not accept the new terms then your sacked.
I am not the only person in my department who is of this opinion and quite frankly we feel that a line has been crossed.
The leaders, by their aggressive and bullying attitude have stirred up the placid and middle of the road employees. The goodwill we had has taken one hell of a blow and I fancy that it has gone beyond repair.
So I along with many of my work colleagues have elected for safety in numbers and recently joined UNISON, something I thought I would never do.
The question still stands, would I take industrial action, which goes against my long tradition of loyalty….YES
If I am to go down it is with ALL guns blazing.
Mike
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Go on strike, you wont be missed
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So according to the Shropshire star article on the 2nd august, unison represents 40% of the workforce. So maximum turnout would result in just over 1700 voting for strike action. By the way 74% voted for strike just over a month ago, I wonder are they losing support.
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The facts are that about 500 of 2200 members have voted for striking. The majority (less than the indicative 26% vote)! In the meantimes about 10% of the UNISON members have switched to the GMB, who are actively working with the council to avoid the second tranch of 2.7% cuts to pay, by identifying other savings.
Unison need to stop focusing on the national October strikes and focus more on the welfare of local members by working on identifying alternative savings.
PS. why are local officials using the same hotel in Bournemouth for a one week conference next year, when they were condeming the leader of Shropshire Council for using the same hotel for three days last year?
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2100 returned ballots, this represents 45% of the union membership. 66% of those voted for full industrial action. Published figures. At the very least over 1000 union members voted for action.
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Your figures are clearly wrong, as you imply that they have about 4300 members out of a total of 6500 staff! I stand by my numbers.
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PH7 – you are totally wrong.
UNISON have informed the Chief Executive in writing of the results of the ballot.
As I have said elsewhere, less than 600 people voted for strike action.
In fact, less than 1000 people actually voted.
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Well they can strike and make a point , however many non union members will walk on through and work , bit of a lame duck if you ask me .
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Wrong – im not a union member but i wouldnt cross a picket line and if i have to i will donate my pay to the union in return
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Not a union member and not going in to work for a valid reason, then you leave yourself open to the sack.As for donating your pay to the union and crossing the line kind of defeats the point of a strike by the strikers .
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Whether in a union or not you have the right to withdraw your labour. I would email my boss stating that I was supporting the action and refusing to cross the picket line.
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The 3,700 figure is not accurate.
Less than 2,000 of the 6,500 staff affected by the changes to terms and conditions are members of UNISON.
I understand that less than 600 people actually have voted for strike action here. So less than 10% of the affected staff.
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You understand?? Or you made it up…??
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Am I missing something?
If they havent signed the terms by the end of the month arent they getting bulleted?
I’m pretty sure the DSS will just stop your benefits if you claim you are “on strike” while signing on…
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Yes, your missing something. Read the ACAS guidance entitled ‘Varying a Contract of Employment’. It’s on the ACAS website.
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Shropshire Council has tried to negotiate a settlement with the Union but they cannot agree. As such they reacted by sacking all staff!
Under the law the termination will be regarded as a dismissal and it will be
open to all eligible employees to claim unfair dismissal before an
employment tribunal – whether they refuse to accept the new contract
and leave, or are dismissed under the old contract and re-engaged.
The dispute will end up in court with the Council being named and shamed as an illegal and improper employer. All employees who were sacked will be eligable for up to £25,000 compensation.
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never happen .
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£25,000 is the limit in a tribunal. Staff have the option to take the council to the county court for breach of contract and damages are unlimited. Of course higher legal fees would be incurred in the county court and awards can be split.
As I understand the position, the Council proposed a cut in hours with a pro rata reduction in pay. Pay rates would have been left intact. The council unilaterally changed this proposal to a straight cut in pay rates and the unions were given an ultimatum of 7 days to agree or face staff being sacked and re-employed on the new terms. I doubt that a tribunal or court would look on this breach of procedure favourably.
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Those of you who think that it’s only council workers, think again. How long do you think it will be before your bosses decide to try the same tactic. There are many hard working people in the council who are currently working under a regime of threats and fear, whilst doing more work with less staff. Free speech and democracy seem to be stifled, any person, including councillors, who asks awkward questions is ejected from that meeting.
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Bovered
so the library will close for a day – well guess what i dont care – you can get books online for a penny now – frankly they can shut down the whole lot, so long as the bin gets emptied i wouldnt even notice the council even existed if it wasnt for the £1,500 + they rob from me each year
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Sorry Lee, but as a member of society you would notice if Shropshire Council disappeared. Like it or not, they do look after many of the most vulnerable in our community. If there is a child suffering from abuse, if there is an old person in hospital wanting to go home, if there is a disabled person needing support – the Council carries out the work. Parking restrictions are frequently moaned about, but without them our streets would be clogged by inconsiderate nitwits dumping their vehicles on the double yellows. Trading Standards and Environmental Health protect us all from food poisoning and umpteen other nasties. Council libraries provide a sanctuary for learning.
With the Council at work, our roads are mostly clear, our children are generally looked after, our disabled are cared for and our elderly are supported in their own homes. Other services the Council currently provides includes the crematorium, leisure centres and gypsy liaison (look at the mess in Basildon – Shropshire is very lucky).
I for one am very “bovvered”.
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Ask the people of Southampton if they have noticed the effects of the current ongoing action. I doubt many of them are not feeling the effects.
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ha – so what – wouldnt even notice if they did, for a single day it wont make any difference to my life, so what if there is no trading standards or policy managers or tax collectors or “walking to school managers” or climate change co-ordinators or planners or any of the beurocrats who impose their red tape on us every day, we would be better off without them, they are the lowest of the low
in fact the opportunity to see what they really do will be interesting, i hope the council us it as opportunity to see who is missed, who really adds value and who is just making up the numbers, if people can strike without it causing disruption then those jobs should be scrapped as clearly they are not neccessary for basic functions
typical winging public sector workers, all in a union because they are lefty labour loving tree huggers – i hope the council hold firm and just sack the lot of them
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I bet you would notice Red Bull. Lowest of the low eh? Well thanks for that, I do hope that you never require assistance from the emergency services or care in a nursing home when you get older. Oh wait a second, many care homes are now private; well we’ve seen the type of care some of them offer in the news recently haven’t we?
“Typical winging (sic) public sector workers all in a union”. Wrong – I’m not in a union, neither are many of my colleagues. As per usual with your type of poorly researched comments, why on earth would anyone want a simple thing like facts to cloud a good story?
All very sad really. Have a nice life.
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Well Red Bull, I hope that you never get food poisoning from eating out ( actually I don’t really care if you do ) or get gipped when buying a car, or anything else, or have an infestation of pests, such as a wasps nest, or need help from social services or education for your children or many of the other things that the council do.
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Clearly you were not provided with a good education by your local council – perhaps you resent that?
‘beurocrats’? Ye Gods…
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Enjoy emptying your own bin red bull and when your break your suspension on pot hole – tough luck
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@Lee:
That’s a very simplistic view as to what our Council actually does for our area. If you believe that you wouldn’t notice if the council and it’s staff were done away with is both naive and crude.
I’m sure you’d be in line to complain if our roads were left to get worse, we lose our sports and recreation facilities, and a lot of our most vulnerable residents were left without the support they need.
I for one hope that you are joking.
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I doubt that he is joking.
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good on them, someone has to stand up to the Condem bullies, for the sake of our nations economy they must be forced to u turn on economic growth policy or be forced out of power ASAP the more civil disobedience, strikes and agitation we can all deliver, the more likely we can get out of this stagflation and get the condems out
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Well lee and red bull – you sound just like the people who are running the council. So much anger, so little gravitas and less than one brain cell between you.
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So beautifully put.
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so we are all in it together, except the bankers, the tuc, and porthill boy
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80% of the people of Oswestry OVERWHELMINGLY voted against keith barrow, he is illigitimate them by his own rationale he should resign and seek re-elction – if he cannot achieve 50% as the lib dem AV would seek then he cannot be legitimate
right?
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call their bluff i reckon, do you seriously think professional carers wont turn up to feed the elderly for a day – i doubt it, they are too well “caring”, so just call their bluff i reckon,they wont dare really strike and if they do it will be bad PR for them so the public will turn against them
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viva la worker
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kim ryley and keith barrow – how to make friends and influence people you have DESTROYED staff morale and failed to lead ie bring people with you, you have damanged the councils reputation and reduced the qualuty and quantity of council service provision
nice one
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Good on them, we will be joining them shortly, i have worked 20 years to serve the public and always been proud to work for the government, the people, the queen, now with this government it is different, i feel like a peice of dirt on their shoe, they show us no respect, they are trying to tear up agreements which have been negotiated in good faith for years and the only way to show them that they cannot run a country without public servants is to withdraw our labour
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the unions arent helping people on low wages cant afford to lose a days pay this is just a negotiating tactic which will cost wrkers dear and wont change the councils mind
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as strikes are technicaly unpaid leave, well surely then the unions can afford to negotiate for less pay then?
its ludicrous to say we cant afford less, then strike, basically its a day off for no pay, same as negotiating reduced hours then
barmy!
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