All out attack on staff at Welsh council

All 10,000 council workers at a south Wales council have been threatened with the sack unless they accept worse pay and conditions under new contracts, union officials have revealed.

The GMB general union said the Labour-controlled Rhondda Cynon Taff council had issued all its members with redundancy notices and would only re-employ those who accept cuts to their wages, sick pay and car allowances. The council is trying plug a £60 million budget gap over the next three years.

Union officers have walked out of negotiations and demanded that the threat of a “lock-out” be lifted before talks continue.

GMB officer Gareth Morgan advised all members to “sign nothing and stand firm in the face of this threat”. And he accused employers of “holding a loaded pistol to people’s heads to force them to accept detrimental change or be out of a job with no compensation.

“This sort of gunboat diplomacy has no place in industrial relations, particularly when dealing with a Labour-controlled authority.”

Morgan said GMB was aware of the financial deficit facing the authority and was willing to hold meaningful discussions, but only if the council agreed to withdraw all redundancy notices.

Public sector workers elsewhere have also been threatened with similar action by employers and include: Birmingham City Council, Walsall Borough Council, the London Fire Authority and Sheffield City Council.

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