Row ahead of vote on council IT move

CONTROVERSIAL moves to privatise all local government IT in Glasgow face a decisive vote as a row brews over claims staff are being offered inducements to sign up to the plans.

The council’s executive committee will vote tomorrow on whether to progress with a £400 million plan to outsource control of its computer networks to Canadian multi-national CGI Group and spend £750,000 on a business case.

But, with staff already being balloted for strike action and protests planned for this week, the Labour-run authority faces fresh turbulence after both CGI and the council’s chief executive contacted affected staff this week.

On top of promises over job security and maintaining terms and conditions, CGI has told IT staff they can become shareholders of the Montreal-based firm if the deal goes through.

Unions have written to political leaders on the council, claiming the decision “to allow CGI to directly communicate with our members” was “outrageous” and amounted to attempts to instigate the transfer of staff.

The council has said the letters were about giving assurances to workers.

One senior Labour source said: “I’d expect this to go through but ... this is far from over. There’s strong feeling ... about this, along with real concern not enough work has been done on other options.”

Unison, which has complained that the plan is being progressed as “the only show in town” and a fait accompli, has written to all councillors ahead of the vote.

CGI said that on top of protecting terms and conditions, there would be no compulsory redundancies if it won the contract. It added: “Our employees are called members because everyone who joins CGI has the opportunity to be a shareholder.”

Council leader Frank McAveety accused union leaders of scaremongering. RIO Olympics gold medallist Callum Skinner swapped two wheels for thousands of poppies as the cyclist launched the Scottish Poppy Appeal in front of travellers at Waverley station in Edinburgh.

The Scot, whose great-grandfather Alfred Skinner fought in the First World War, joined service personnel at poppyscotland’s launch of the annual appeal as part of the run-up to Remembrance Sunday, which falls on November 13. Skinner said this made him only too aware of the sacrifices made by soldiers in conflicts around the world.