Union chiefs urge members to join demonstration

U N ION ch iefs have u rged members to take to the streets in protest against a new package of voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes being proposed by Dundee City Council.

Councillors on the policy and resources committee are due to consider the measures next week.

A report to members says executive directors will be asked to identify individuals who might be eligible.

GMB Dundee said the council was looking to encourage redundancies and described it as “an attack on workers’ conditions”.

Bosses are encouraging members to join a Dundee Against Cuts demonstration on Saturday, and to turn out at the council meeting on February 18.

GMB Scotland organiser Helen Meldrum said: “It looks like they will be strongly encouraging people to go into early retirement.

“They are cutting frontline services. If they push ahead with this, we will be consulting our members about industrial action.”

The GMB is particularly concerned about proposed changes to the flexible retirement policy, which currently has no end date.

Ms Meldrum called on council leader John Alexander to prove his priority is Dundee by asking the Scottish Government for more money for the budget settlement.

Mr Alexander insisted there was no redundancy policy and that the authority was simply trying to be flexible.

And he said he and three opposition leaders delivered a letter to Holyrood and Westminster on January 22, calling on the governments to “work with colleagues . . . to deliver a better settlement for local government”.

He also said that redundancy for workers “will remain a last resort”.