Council workers hopeful of a breakthrough in a tense “fire and rehire” pay row had the door slammed in their face as they were turfed out of a high-stakes meeting.
Furious workers were kicked out of the gallery at Aberdeen’s Townhouse after attending to learn about the future of their livelihoods.
Council lawyers argued that legal options and contractual talks meant the meeting had to be shrouded from the press and public.
The summit had been called in a desperate bid to persuade top brass to rule out “firing and rehiring” workers as part of a contentious restructure, a practice soon to be outlawed by the Scottish Government.
Local authority chiefs refuse to rule out the “fire and rehire” policy, despite almost 90% of GMB Scotland members threatening to strike as a result of it.
During the short portion of the meeting available to the public, local authority bosses also confirmed that the chief executive of the council, Angela Scott, is impacted by the “fire and rehire” wrangle.
Employees who were removed from the gallery trashed the decision to hold the meeting in private – slamming the council for “denying them the right to know what’s going on with their jobs”.
‘Take fire and rehire off the table or we will lose even more staff’
Protestors gathered in the sun before today’s meeting, waving placards and holding aloft banners pleading for the policy change.
Sharon Smith, a team manager in children and families social work for the council, was there amid fears the row will worsen recruitment struggles.
“Our professional body have been excluded from the talks,” she told The P&J.
“We feel that our voices are not being heard in any of this process.
“Fire and rehire is a very, very difficult and emotive subject for our staff. I really worry about keeping staff and bringing staff into the profession.”
Why are council and union locking horns over ‘fire and rehire’?
Council staff are being asked to sign up to a pay freeze as part of a move to reduce their working week from 37 to 35 hours.
Union leaders say this will punish staff, while they also worry about extra work being piled on employees to make up for the lost hours.
They fear any such move will hit the lowest paid hardest, some of whom are already “resorting to foodbanks”, and it could last “for years”.
As a result of today’s meeting, the prospect of strike action is becoming more and more likely.
Birmingham City Council recently declared a “major incident” following strikes which have left a staggering 17,000 tonnes of waste in the streets.
This came following a similar row over cuts to certain roles and working hours.
The scores of Aberdeen workers who headed into today’s meeting at 1pm found themselves back out on the street about 15 minutes later.
Why was ‘fire and rehire’ meeting held in private?
The meeting would only be open to the public for a short spell.
The local authority’s top solicitor, Alan Thomson, kicked off the summit by explaining that the talks could only take place behind a veil of secrecy.
He told the chamber that this was due to the “statutory consultation” on the hour cuts, along with “contractual arrangements and potential legal options”.
This was done to “protect the council from any undue prejudice” according to the legal eagle.
Aberdeen’s Labour group issued a plea to take “fire and rehire” off the table, and to hold the meeting in public.
However, this was shot down by administration members – with SNP and Lib Dem members refusing to open the meeting up – and to rule out the unpopular policy.
What about Aberdeen City Council officers affected by ‘fire and rehire’?
One slightly awkward moment from the brief debate involved the council workers on the floor of the chamber.
When the crowd of workers were booted out of the viewing deck, councillor Ross Grant asked for clarity on whether employees who had to be there as part of the meeting would have to depart too.
Chief officer Vikki Cuthbert answered bluntly, stating: “I would just repeat my answer really…
“Officers who are supporting the meeting would have to remain in the meeting in spite of potentially being affected.
“That would just be an acknowledgement that we are in that situation, but we’re here to support the meeting.”
Amid this discussion, it emerged that the potential “fire and rehire” measure affects those right at the very top of the council.
Even council CEO could be hit with ‘Fire and rehire’
Even those at the top of the food chain, including chief executive of the local authority Angela Scott (who was paid £169,499 last year) could be affected.
Council officer Andy MacDonald revealed: “The officers within this chamber supporting the meeting today, including our chief executive, are all impacted by the proposals and part of formal consultation.
“I can confirm that all officers in the chamber will carry out their professional duties and are comfortable to be in the chamber.”
Once the dust had settled from the meeting shrouded in secrecy, the fire and rehire option remained on the table.
And outside the chambers, workers voiced their fury at being shut out from the talks which could potentially turn their lives upside down…
What do you think of the decision to hold the meeting behind closed doors? Let us know in our comments section below
‘Councillors should hang their heads in shame’
Union veteran Tommy Campbell voiced his fury as he accompanied dejected workers onto Broad Street following their removal from the meeting.
Mr Campbell lamented: “We made our position perfectly clear as we left the public gallery, I felt obliged to shout from the gallery to point out the hypocrisy to them.
“All the staff in that gallery are going to be taking pay cuts, so shame on those councillors who took the decision to throw them out.
“There’s an old saying, when you get yourself into a hole stop digging, but they’re continuing to dig and that hole is only going to get bigger for them – not us.”
One council roads worker, who wished to remain anonymous, called out the local authority for its “hypocrisy”.
The unnamed employee told The P&J: “There was a discussion of transparency within the meeting, but then because certain members of the workforce were in the gallery, we were asked to leave.
“Does that sound like transparency?
“They’re denying us the right to know what’s going on with our own jobs.
“They’re trying to hide the mess they’re in, otherwise they would have let us listen to the discussions.”
‘Council will be a cowboy employer if we go through with fire and rehire’
The council’s finance boss, Alex McLellan, defended his group’s decision, pointing out that half of the work force are already on 35-hour weeks, including all new starts in the past year.
He said the move to keep “fire and rehire” on the table was to “ensure the long term financial sustainability of the organisation” and “protect the workforce from redundancies”.
Although he refuses to rule it out, Mr McLellan was keen to stress that the authority had not “suggested dismissal and re-engagement during any consultation”.
Meanwhile, the Labour group were quick to bemoan the move, with councillor Deena Tissera saying the local authority risks becoming a “cowboy employer”.
The Hilton, Woodside, and Stockethill member added: “(The administration) have the power to prevent disruption to services and to end fire and rehire.
“Their refusal to act is a disgrace.”
You can view the meeting here.
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