Breakthrough? UNISON postpones lobby of crunch finance meeting

‘Our mandate from our members remains. Industrial action remains a real possibility in the event of compulsory redundancies.’ – UNISON lead negotiator Tom Connolly

UNISON has postponed its lobby of Edinburgh Council’s Finance and Resources Committee tomorrow following assurances from senior councillors that privatisation plans will be dropped and redundancies delayed for further talks.

Amanda Kerr, Edinburgh UNISON branch secretary, said: “Following concerted UNISON pressure, we welcome this re-think and the dropping of privatisation plans. We also welcome the delay on redundancies, however we still have a long way to go and we will be building for a lobby of the next Finance and Resources Committee on 29 October.

“Our campaign has brought this to the public eye and that campaign will continue. We warned that the level of cuts envisaged would be devastating for services. After years and years of cut after cut, no council can sustain even more massive cuts.”

Lead negotiator Tom Connolly added: “This is an important victory. The damage privatisation would have caused cannot be overestimated. The union will focus on protecting jobs and conditions, engaging with our members and building towards the lobby on 29 October. Our mandate from our members remains. Industrial action remains a real possibility in the event of compulsory redundancies.”

Last week, UNISON warned that up to 3000 jobs could be lost as the council aims to balance it’s books, and councillors are set to consider a number of key proposals to address a £126m budget shortfall over the next four years at tomorrow’s meeting.

Councillor Alasdair Rankin, Finance Convener, said: “We are very clear about the scale of the financial challenge that the Council is facing. The Council is experiencing greater demand for services than ever before, with a growing population in Edinburgh and increasing numbers of older people and younger people, while our overall budget remains the same.

“We need to take action in order to achieve the necessary savings to meet this demand, and we are making every effort to do this in a way that will safeguard frontline services for the people of Edinburgh.

“We want to invest in the services that are important to the public but must also look to rationalise our spending where appropriate. We recognise that some of these proposals may involve tough decisions, including a reduction in Council jobs, particularly in middle management. But while this won’t to be easy, savings will allow us to prioritise the things that matter most to people.

“Our aim, as ever, is to improve and enhance the city for residents, and this package of measures is the next step to achieving this. Councillors will consider these proposals and we are looking forward to the discussions. ”