Council workers in the UK face the danger of job cuts, ironically owing to the recent recommendation of a higher increase in pay by Acas.
The local government staff of more than a million workers including librarians, teaching assistants, refuse-collectors and dinner ladies has been awarded an increment of 0.3% over the last salary hike of 2.45%. The hike was the result of a two days strike in July in which garbage collection stopped and some schools had to remain closed.
The decision was not well received by councils, who were not expecting the raise and were disappointed with it. The Chairman of the Local Government Association, Margaret Eaton, said that the increase in expenditure due to pay hikes cannot come from the taxpayers in this period of recession, which leaves the councils with the only alternative to cut their workforce. A similar view was echoed by the chairman of the employer’s side of the National Joint Council, Mr. Baldwin, who warned of large-scale job losses to manage the added strain on the sector. More on coshh training
More bad news was revealed by an LGA survey, which informed that around 130 local authorities have already laid-off employees, while 70 % are to start terminating jobs anytime soon. However, GMB’s national secretary for public services, Brian Strutton expressed surprise at the councils’ reaction to the decision by Acas, and has criticised them for not taking the hike in their stride. He also expressed regret at the indications of potential job losses and predicts overall disappointment for the council workers.