Aberdeen UNISON calls on city council to do the right thing and keep services in house

Date: Wednesday 14 March 2012

Aberdeen City UNISON has called on councillors to keep vital public services in house and abandon flawed privatisation plans . The city’s powerful Finance and Resources committee meets tomorrow (Thursday 15 March) to decide on a report which recommends abandoning the Alternative Delivery Model – in other words outsourcing to privateers –  and keeping the services in house instead.

UNISON Branch Secretary Karen Davidson told councillors:

“The ADM project is at a critical stage – you must now decide whether to plough on with it or back staff and management proposals to make efficiencies in-house.

“If services are retained in-house there will be no management time wasted on managing relationships and contracts with multi-national companies. There will instead be continued direct, democratic control of services. And you will be able to keep savings achieved for re-investment in public services, rather than providing private sector profits for multi-national companies that are not based in Aberdeen.

“UNISON is urging you to do the sensible thing and back the in-house option. Please now dump ADM, and show trust and confidence in us – your Council staff.”

ENDS

.

‘Listen to the Scottish Government - come and talk to us’ UNISON tells Aberdeen City Council

Friday 28 January 2011

Aberdeen City UNISON has welcomed the Scottish Government’s intervention over Aberdeen City Council’s proposal to make more than 900 people compulsorily redundant. UNISON says its door is always open to the Council if it has new proposals to avoid compulsory job losses in the city.

John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, said today that it is "important" that Aberdeen City Council should "fully consider" the Scottish Government’s approach to avoid compulsory redundancies. Mr Swinney said he was working on a framework agreement that provides an assurance of no compulsory redundancies based on the delivery of flexibility in the workforce.

Karen Davidson, branch secretary for Aberdeen City UNISON said: "We have always been willing to talk about other ways to achieve budget efficiencies rather than sacking people. Over the last three years UNISON has co-operated with Aberdeen City Council to achieve reductions in staff numbers and cut spending.

"We have been very disappointed at the Council’s recent refusal to discuss realistic alternatives to compulsory redundancies - I hope that the Council will now listen to the Scottish Government and enter into meaningful talks with us.

"Obviously any proposals have to be acceptable to our members, who’ll be fully consulted on any new ideas that the Council comes up with to save money but also save jobs.

"UNISON wants to protect public services in Aberdeen and we need a financially stable Council – we do not think that sacking over 900 people will achieve either of these things so we’re willing to talk to our employer about alternatives."

Mike Kirby, Regional Secretary of UNISON said: "John Swinney said today that the Scottish Government’s priority is to maintain headcount as far as possible in the public sector. Throwing more than 900 hard working, dedicated council staff out of their jobs in Aberdeen flies in the face of that.

"UNISON and other unions have been working hard with the Cabinet Secretary and COSLA to reach agreement on avoiding compulsory redundancies and we’ve made good progress.

"Aberdeen City Council is very isolated at the moment in their approach to this issue but UNISON is still willing to engage positively with them. I hope that the Council will knock on our door soon with some reasonable new alternatives to compulsory job cuts."


ends


Note for editors: 


What John Swinney said in Parliament
Friday 28 January 2011
In response to a question from Lewis Macdonald, MSP for Aberdeen Central, in the Scottish Parliament today, Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "I am working on the creation of a framework that will provide an assurance on the avoidance of compulsory redundancies based on the delivery of flexibility in the workforce to enable us to manage the financial constraints we face. The priority and aspiration for the agreement I am working to secure is to ensure that we can maintain headcount as far as possible in the public sector... On Mr Macdonald’s specific point about Aberdeen City Council I have of course discussed with the council the issues that have been raised publicly over the last few days. It is a matter for the Council to consider, but it is important that it fully considers the approach the Government has taken."



.

Aberdeen: Employer has treated staff 'with contempt'

Commenting on Aberdeen City Council's announcement of 900 compulsory redundancies, UNISON Branch Secretary Karen Davidson has said: "We have already started the process for potential industrial action. There have been no negotiations. It was a political decision to demand this 5 per cent pay cut. It was either we accepted it or rejected it and our members have rejected it."

"The workforce are deeply disappointed and disillusioned by the council's decision. The employer has treated them with contempt and it looks as if we are bound for confrontation with the council." http://www.scotsman.com/news/Workers-threaten-to-bring-Aberdeen.6702250.jp

Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight Scotland, UNISON Regional Organiser Sarah Duncan said, "We will challenge them (the council) at every opportunity on the extent and number of redundancies".

She added, "Staff  are unsettled and  unhappy and extremely demoralised". She stressed that this was not a blueprint for other councils which may be 'better managed' than Aberdeen and pointed out that Aberdeen had already been through previous rounds of voluntary redundancies

Commenting on the council's previous attempt to break workers' contracts of employment by abolishing increments, she said "No other council has been foolish enough to propose that. No other council has been foolish enough to ask staff to take a pay cut to pay for job cuts".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007rhvm

UNISON Scotland's 'Public Works' campaign challenges some of the myths put forward by David Watt of the Institute of Directors Scotland on the programme. For example...

Public service job cuts affect the whole economy
For every one job cut in the public sector at least one is lost in the private sector. (Treasury report Guardian 29 June) Cuts don’t just damage essential services, they damage the whole economy.

About 70p of each £1 a public service worker earns is spent in their own community. Pay cuts and job losses will damage local businesses and local jobs. Not just services lost but at least 900 less people in Aberdeen paying taxes and buying in the local shops.

Cuts don’t just mean job losses.
They will mean cuts in the quality of our children’s education and the standards of our health service. Cuts attack the fabric of society.
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks/tellapal.html

Anger at unnecessary 900 compulsory redundancies in Aberdeen

900 compulsory redundancies in Aberdeen: Anger from UNISON who says job losses unnecessary. See Newsnight Scotland tonight - full report tomorrow 25 Jan 2011

“Support your child’s support assistant” says Aberdeen city UNISON

Aberdeen City UNISON has launched a campaign to defend threatened Pupil Support Assistants ahead of a crucial council budget meeting on 10th of February. The branch are urging parents and citizens to write to their councillors defending the education service. The campaign also has an online petition.
Details of the campaign can be downloaded here (pdf)

‘Now we can concentrate on defending services’ says Aberdeen’s largest public sector union

Date:  2 November 2010
UNISON, Scotland’s largest public sector trade union, says it is relieved that the long running increments row with Aberdeen City Council is now resolved, and wants to get on with defending public services in the city in the face of crippling budget proposals.

Aberdeen city councillors voted to approve the deal brokered by ACAS which means that all council staff due a pay increment in April 2010 will now receive it.  The unions and the council are hopeful that all payments, including back pay, can be made before Christmas.  The unions and the council have agreed to enter into immediate and meaningful talks on a range of issues connected to the Council’s budget proposals.

Karen Davidson, Branch Secretary of Aberdeen City UNISON, said: “We are relieved that council staff will now get the agreed rate of pay for their job and we are glad that this distracting issue is behind us.  With-holding the increment was a breach of our contract and it affected hundreds of low paid workers who were entitled to an increment for the first time this year.  Individuals will not get huge amounts of money out of this – a personal carer helping someone to stay in their own home will get £9.99 more a week after a year in the job, when she has got more skills and experience which enables her to give a better service to her clients. 

“We have established a vital principle here – that employers cannot use the current tough financial climate as an excuse to break contracts of employment.  Our members stood up for their rights this year and carried on doing their jobs in very difficult circumstances.  Our employer now knows that they must work with their staff and the unions to achieve savings.”

Karen continued: “UNISON knows there are difficult decisions to be made in Aberdeen about the vital services that we all depend on.  We want to be fully involved in the decisions about what our services should be in the future.  It’s not buildings and equipment and complicated processes that ensure people get care, receive high quality education, can enjoy parks, libraries and leisure centres and have their bins emptied – all of this comes down to the commitment and effort of council workers.”

ends


.