THE LABOUR opposition leader on Cheshire West and Chester Council believes the Tory administration is deliberately spoiling for a fight with the trade unions.
Cllr Justin Madders was speaking ahead of a strike over the Easter bank holiday weekend by council staff, including librarians and carers, who are unhappy at no longer being paid overtime rates for unsocial hours.
This follows a three hour strike on Valentine’s Day and library strikes over the preceding two weekends.
Cllr Madders said: “No member of staff takes the decision to strike lightly. The fact that so many have taken the decision to do so again demonstrates a complete failure on the part of Cheshire West and Chester Council to engage with staff and the unions.
“As Labour leader, I believe that the Tory administration needs urgently to sit down face to face with the unions and find some common ground.
“The impression I’m getting at the moment is that the Tory administration is seeking confrontation. The changes to terms and conditions the Tories are set on bringing in are as much about ideology as they are about savings.
“This represents a lack of responsible leadership. They are not listening and they are not showing any understanding of or respect for the council’s staff,” Cllr Madders concluded.
The Tory-led council says the new contracts, which save the council £4m a year, are necessary to harmonise terms and conditions between employees of the four legacy authorities which were replaced by CWaC in 2009.
Staffing committee chairman Cllr Alan McKie said: “We are extremely disappointed that the unions have chosen to take this industrial action.
“The new contract – necessary to harmonise the varying terms and conditions of the four legacy authorities – has already been agreed by 100%of the council’s workforce.
“Some of the striking workers have already accepted a one-off special payment made to staff earning less than £17,000 per year.”
