Wirral Council Terms & Conditions Update
20 January 2016
Consultation meetings are ongoing with management around terms and conditions budget options. The branch leadership IS STRIVING to obtain the best possible deal given the current predicament we find ourselves in. Once we have reached that point the intention is then to present this to members to make any final decision.
We hope to be in a position to provide further information by the end of next week (29th January) and will look to hold meetings with members the week after. These member meetings will be to discuss any potential outcome. We would want these to be well attended, be honest, open and transparent. We would rule nothing in and certainly rule nothing out. We have always said that no decisions will be made without the support of the membership.
We have vigorously defended the terms and conditions of our members during these meetings. We simply cannot allow some members to fall off the cliff, with between 15-20% net pay reductions if these changes are implemented. In some cases we have members that could lose a 1/3rd of their pay packet !! These people WILL have to put their houses up for sale, make no mistake about it.
As well as staff suffering, day to day duties and the efficiency of services will also suffer with ANY changes to enhanced pay or the loss of essential car allowance. Any further unpaid leave WILL have a detrimental effect on our pensions, a detrimental effect that, unless members opt to buy it back, will compound losses year on year. This CANNOT happen.
We have a severance multiplier in place that, although eroded over the years, gives some protection to staff and allows us to mitigate any compulsory redundancies with volunteers. We simply CANNOT give this up.
We have not buried our heads in the sand; we all know these savage cuts have been imposed from a Conservative government hell bent on destroying the public sector. But most of our staff live on The Wirral, under a Labour-led authority, responsible to that said electorate. Elected members NEED to take this on board when making budget decisions.
Paddy Cleary Sue Kellett
Branch Secretary Branch Chair
Published on: January 20, 2016