The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Arts group acting in bad faith over jobs, say staff
PERTH: Employees claim redundancy talks ‘a joke’, with 120 roles under threat
Employees at Horsecross Arts have slammed ongoing redundancy talks with the organisation as “a joke” as 120 jobs hang in the balance in Perth.
Fed-up staff at the body behind Perth Theatre and Perth Concert Hall claim they are being forced out of their jobs amid a restructure at the organisation.
Last month concerned workers said they were alarmed that Horsecross had made no attempt to reopen the bars, cafes or restaurants at their venues, despite lockdown restrictions easing.
The senior management team at Horsecross were also accused of ignoring employee suggestions during the consultation.
Now more staff members have come forward to back up the claims of their colleagues.
One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Courier: “The consultation process is a joke.
“Questions are rarely answered. Numbers provided by the company often don’t add up.”
Another worker claimed staff were denied access to information on how the organisation would look following any redundancies as staff accused the arts body of using the pandemic as a “smokescreen” to restructure.
They said: “Senior management at Horsecross have asserted the proposed redundancies are purely financially driven, merely a radical reduction in staff headcount, and are not motivated by or concerned with restructure.
“They have used this reasoning to deny staff access to any structure charts or proposed structure changes during the redundancy consultation process.”
Further accusations of some employees being asked to take up new roles with inferior terms and pay have been strongly denied by Horsecross.
Horsecross Arts said they were continuing to “follow employment law and good practice”.
Nick Williams, chief executive of Horsecross Arts, said: “Horsecross Arts – along with many other arts organisations across the UK – has been forced to enter a consultation process with staff over potential redundancies entirely due to the temporary closure of our venues.
“We’ve worked closely and constructively with employees throughout this difficult process and these open discussions have helped us find solutions to retain roles in some departments.
“I would urge any employee who has questions or concerns to bring these directly to the management team so that we can clear up any misunderstandings as part of our internal process.”