Authority Imposes Cut in Redundancy Protection.

Despite the Authorities assurances that we have entered a bright new age of understanding between the employers and Unions, the Council have now imposed a new Redundancy Scheme which reduces the total level of protection for Council employees.

UNISON, together with the other unions set out a clear and consistent case for the Council introducing protection that would be at least as favourable as the scheme which ceased to exist at the end of March 2007 - this provided for a maximum protection equivalent to 66 weeks pay.

Demonstrating a clear intention that this was a sign of things to come over the Pay and Grading review, the Council initially stated that they would impose a maximum of 45 weeks protection if we did not immediately accept, on the day, their "best," offer of a 60 week scheme!

Now, I am sure that you can imagine how this discussion went.

UNISON spent the next few weeks lobbying the Employee Relations Committee and others alongside the other DMBC unions, setting out our opposition to these management tactics and to some extent this did bear fruit - the employers backed off from this position and took a proposal to ERC yesterday which was agreed to provide 60 weeks maximum protection.

Now whichever way you spin this it represents a reduction in protection for workers made redundant of up to 6 weeks pay!

All so the Council can make ongoing savings as they cut jobs!

These savings should not be understated. With the ending of enhancements to pensions and to lump sums, the council will make savings year on year on top of these cuts.

Doncaster UNISON expects that we will soon be given concrete details of how the Pay and Grading review will affect thousands of DMBC workers. If this is a sign of the approach the Council wants to take it does not bode well. Organise meetings in your workplace as soon as possible and invite a steward or convenor to address you and your colleagues.

Prime Minister Brown referred to his old school motto "I will do my utmost," last week as he continued to try to hammer home wage restraints on all public sector workers. Now, I was never a boy scout, but for all local government and DMBC workers, faced with a long summer with battles over Job Evaluation and over Pay looming, "BE PREPARED," seem like wise words to me!

watch this space.