‘Enough Is Enough’ - East Dunbartonshire Council Staff To Strike
‘Enough Is Enough’ - East Dunbartonshire Council Staff To Strike Against ‘Unacceptable Cuts’ Proposals
Severe disruption to local services in East Dunbartonshire Council is imminent after members of GMB Scotland voted overwhelmingly for industrial action today (Monday 23 April) against ‘unacceptable cuts’ to staff terms and conditions.
Plans by the council to scrap overtime allowances, impose a three day reduction to annual leave entitlement and reduce redundancy benefit to lowest of any Scottish local authority has sparked outrage among staff.
But following the end of a two week ballot process, 97 per cent of GMB members on a 75 per cent turnout voted for strike action to defend their terms and conditions.
The result delivers a clear legal mandate - one of the most significant in the history of Scottish local government - for staff delivering local services like bin collections, street cleaning and home care to withdraw their labour in defence against the ruling Tory – Lib Dem administration’s cuts.
GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “Our members are sick and tired trying to make ends meet while doing more for less and this latest instalment of austerity shame is the final straw.
The Tories and Lib Dems have rode roughshod over the recognised trade union bargaining forums and played gutter politics for the last six months to try and pick over one million pounds from the pockets of their employees.
I doubt any of them have a clue about what it’s like working on the bottom rungs of local government pay nor will they understand the importance of these terms and conditions to our members and their families.
And against the backdrop of a really unequal pay offer for Scottish local government workers this year, the message to this out of touch council could not be clearer: Enough is enough.
GMB will re-enter proper negotiations with the council if they recognise the vital contribution our members make to local services and step-back from this shameful cash grab on hard-pressed staff.”
Ends
Contact: Hazel Nolan, GMB Scotland Organiser, on 07921 885786 or Peter Welsh, GMB Scotland Communications, on 07976 447077.
