LABOUR CUT WAGES OF COUNCIL STAFF

Labour Councillors have voted to cut the pay protection period offered to staff who lose out on Equal Pay regarding from the four years offered by the SNP while in control to.

So far the senior trade union officials who organised the protest marches against the SNP just prior to the elections in 2007 have been silent on the betrayal of low paid staff by their Labour / Tory colleagues. However, with hundreds of council staff about to lose out those same officials are about to be put under the spotlight by unhappy grass roots members.

In a detailed report considered in private by the council the Labour Administration voted to.

• Cut the pay protection period for staff losing out on the regarding exercise form the four years offered by the SNP to three.
• Reject a call from trade unions to re-instate weekend enhancement allowances despite promises to do so.
• Enforce a settlement of blue collar workers even if they vote against the package due to be implemented in February 2010. This involves sacking all of the existing employees and re-engaging them on new terms and conditions, something the Labour Councillors said they would never do.

During the debate Councillors heard how some staff with an annual salaries of £18k are losing as much as £3k a year under the Labour proposals with no promise of re-training to maintain existing salaries.

Said Cllr David Alexander,

"Those Labour activists who are also trade union leaders who organised the protests against the SNP and campaign to return Labour to power in Falkirk should apologise to their members.

Platforms for Labour Councillors were created and the outcome has been betrayal of the staff whose hopes they raised for Labour's own ends with an election looming at that time.

In contrast the SNP were honest with the workforce, kept them informed and consulted on the Equal Pay issues and also worked to ensure that every effort was made to reduce any negative impact. Labour in contrast have used and abused those very same staff.

What we have seen on this issue is that there are no depths Labour will not sink to in order to obtain power for powers sake."