Council workers will hold demonstration
School staff to protest against shake-up at rally today
School cooks, cleaners and janitors will be staging a protest today over a “botched” remodelling of essential services in schools.
The socially- distanced demonstration, which will be held outside Paisley Town Hall today, is calling on Renfrewshire Council to reverse changes made to these roles.
The local authority confirmed earlier this year that cleaners, cooks and janitors would be stripped of their titles and called ‘ facilities operatives’ in a move that would require them to work across all three services.
It has been claimed many have also been moved to different schools and given new shifts they don’t want, with a concern that some are now financially worse off.
Trade union GMB - which last night closed its ballot on industrial action short of strike - is hosting the rally to raise awareness of the issues with the wider public.
GMB organiser for Renfrewshire Kirsten Muat said: “It was these workers in schools who went into work every day over the past year so that vulnerable children and the children of key workers could be looked after.
“For Renfrewshire Council to put them through this stress and anxiety after that and in the middle of a pandemic is just unacceptable.
“That’s why GMB members will be meeting for this demo to hold Renfrewshire Council to account for what they’ve been through.
“The Renfrewshire community relies on these workers to keep our schools open, clean, and feed children.
“That’s why we’re encouraging people to come and show they’re support for these workers.”
This week, GMB and Renfrewshire Council failed to agree over Renfrewshire Council’s proposal to move janitors from 37 to 35 hours a week under the same remodelling.
Several workers had already notified bosses they were working under protest after the new working arrangements were imposed earlier this year.
A collective grievance submitted by GMB also highlighted the concerns of working parents and carers who were being asked to work shifts they simply can’t fulfil.
The Express also revealed last month how staff feel overworked and stressed because the facilities department across the council is hugely understaffed, with staff arguing the remodelling was imposed at the wrong time.
The demonstration, which begins at 10.30am, will feature a number of key speakers, including staff affected by the changes, GMB organisers and Neil Bibby MSP.
The Labour Party representative for the West of Scotland joined fellow MSPs Katy Clark and Paul O’Kane in meeting staff earlier this week.
Mr Bibby said: “Frontline workers in our schools and right across Renfrewshire have sustained our communities throughout this pandemic.
“They kept schools clean and safe and running as smoothly as possible in the most extraordinary of times.
“As a nation, we came together to applaud our key workers, but recognising their importance is about so much more than clapping.
“Renfrewshire Council must demonstrate it is listening to these workers and to their concerns about workload, stress and new shift patterns and they must take the necessary steps to resolve a dispute that could lead to industrial action in our schools.”
The GMB action has already won the support of teachers’ union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, which represents 1,700 people locally.
A spokesman for Renfrewshire Council said it remained committed to its shake- up of facilities services in schools, but insisted the wellbeing of its staff is a top priority.
He said: “We will always listen to concerns raised by staff and trade unions and look to resolve these as a matter of urgency.
“The refreshed, modern facilities management service has been welcomed by the vast majority of our staff, giving them improved opportunity for career progression, higher salaries and further training.
“Its implementation follows detailed work with our staff and trade unions over a substantial period and all trade unions, including GMB, supported these proposals.”
For the council to put them through this stress and anxiety in the middle of a pandemic is unacceptable