Cheshire West and Chester Council workforce gears up for a fight

Feb 24 2011 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

A UNION has detailed the action it may take if Cheshire West and Chester Council puts staff on ‘worse’ terms and conditions.

Letters to 10,000 employees, excluding teachers, explain the proposals, which the authority says aim to harmonise contracts across the four predecessor authorities.

But Unison says the council is driven by its desire to save £5.5m by making changes such as reducing mileage rates and premium payments for weekend working.

A statement to members says: “In truth, the council’s method of negotiation has been to say: here are £5.5m of cuts we want to make to your terms and conditions, and some other proposals relating to cutting redundancy pay, pay protection and linking pay to performance – which are you going to agree?

“Not surprisingly, with nothing offered in return the joint trade unions have not rushed to agree these cuts and changes to your terms and conditions.

“Instead we have patiently explained our response in the hope that the council might revise or drop some of their proposals. However, they haven’t.”

Unison says any action would target the terms being cut and be subject to specific ballots. The statement adds: “That might mean all car users refusing to use cars, or staff stopping all voluntary overtime.

“It might mean refusing to do voluntary sleep-ins. For other staff it may mean refusing to work weekends or other times when premium payments are due to be removed. This could involve library staff or street scene workers.

“Social care staff need to take a tough approach to these issues – because they are in the front-line on these cuts. There can be no question of exempting staff who work with vulnerable clients if we take industrial action.”