Trade union leaders have accused SNP ministers of “hypocrisy” over the threat to ‘fire and rehire’ council staff in Aberdeen.
Today members of all staff unions at Aberdeen City Council, including GMB, Unite and Unison, will demonstrate outside the council HQ at Marischal College after the local authority threatened to impose new contracts in a bid to cut wage bills.
GMB last week called on ministers to impose financial sanctions on the council after the it failed to rule out so-called ‘fire and rehire’.
But they say the Scottish Government is refusing to intervene in the row despite the government’s opposition to the practice – sparking “hypocrisy” claims.
In a letter to the union, Finance Secretary Shona Robison, confirms the government opposes ‘fire and rehire’ and it breaches government rules for good employers.
But she insisted it is up to individual councils to manage their own budgets and workforce, including any contractual changes regarding working hours.
Asked by the P&J last week whether keeping ‘fire and rehire’ on the table was fair, First Minister John Swinney said it was a matter for the city council to address with unions.
Staff are being asked to sign up to standstill wages as part of a move to reduce their working week from 37 to 35 hours and save £5 million.
‘It is hypocrisy’
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in the public sector, said: “We now have SNP ministers in Edinburgh insisting fire and rehire is unacceptable and SNP councillors in Aberdeen ignoring them.
“We have ministers accepting that threatening to impose new contracts on workers is a breach of their own Fair Work rules while refusing to encourage councillors in Aberdeen to obey them.
“Saying one thing and doing another is no way to protect workers in the public sector. It is hypocrisy.”
GMB has withdrawn its endorsement of the city council as a Fair Work employer and asked the Scottish Government to reflect this is in grant funding.
In response, Ms Robison said the government “opposes fire and rehire practices” as they “do not align with the criteria and expectations of Fair Work”.
But she insisted “wider employment and industrial relations issues should be dealt with separately”.
‘Must not interfere in process’
Aberdeen City Council SNP co-leader Christian Allard said the council is in the middle of negotiations with trade unions.
He added: “This matter is currently delegated to officers to undertake.
“As co-leaders, we are meeting the trade unions regularly and they understand that we must respect and not interfere in the process.”
A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “Dismissal and re-engagement has not been suggested by the council during any consultation, engagement or discussions that have been taking place.
“Whilst it is one possible lawful route to implementing a contractual change, the council would not consider dismissal and re-engagement without having exhausted all possible other routes.
“The goal is to reach an agreement through this consultation process with employees and trade unions, whose feedback has already improved and amended the original proposal.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government has been consistently clear that it opposes fire and rehire practices.
“We encourage continued consultation and meaningful dialogue between Aberdeen City Council, workers and their trade unions on this matter to reach a resolution.”
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