Hundreds face axe in council U-turn
HUNDREDS of workers at a city council face the sack if bosses reverse a policy of no compulsory redundancies.
City of Edinburgh Council announced in September that 2,000 jobs – 12 per cent of the workforce – are on the line in a bid to save £126million.
Only 1,200 staff have come forward to accept voluntary severance packages on offer.
Now the council will vote next week on whether to approve compulsory redundancies.
The move has outraged union leaders, who say it will bring the city to the brink of strike action, with a possible ballot on Monday.
John Stevenson, a spokesman for public services union Unison, said: ‘There are a lot of questions to be asked about this.
‘We don’t think the compulsory redundancies are necessary – they only became necessary because the report seeks to foreshorten the period over which the cuts will be made.’
But finance committee convener Councillor Alasdair Rankin said: ‘We want to maintain frontline services to the best of our ability within the resources that we have.
‘We have nowhere else to go. We cannot continue employing the number of people that we do. We obviously hope to get to that 2,000 figure by voluntary release as far as possible.
‘If we need to do more, then we will do it by looking for compulsory redundancies. That is very much a last resort.’
However, there are fears even more jobs could be cut. On Thursday, the Labour and SNP coalition running the authority said that redundancies were based on the Scottish Government’s council tax freeze being lifted.
Unison estimates that 3,000 jobs may have to go if it continues.
North Lanarkshire Council this week announced that 1,100 employees face redundancy.