Unions representing workers at the City of Edinburgh Council are today urging councillors to resist plans to abandon a scheme that allows staff to prepare for retirement. The scheme allows paid days off in the last year of work but the council now want to heap the cost on to employees. This could cost a cleaner £3,000 in their last year before retirement.
UNISON's Tom Connolly, speaking for the joint unions, said: "A positive change in legislation is being used as an excuse by the council management team to attempt to hive off the cost of the transition into retirement entirely onto employees."
He slammed an HQ bias which ignores the "psychological, emotional, social and other issues facing thousands of low paid Council staff - staff who have often spent decades looking after and caring for the most vulnerable children, young people elderly and disabled members of the community, we also have the manual workers who ensure our environment is kept clean and our public parks and gardens are well kept, all the above tending to be seen as low status, often physically demanding work."
"Some of the lowest paid staff in the country. Out in all weathers providing services to the public, home care, refuse, residential child care. These staff give years to the public sector reserving very little in return. Working above and beyond their contracted hours. The council management team is out of touch with the grass route staff."
And when it comes to cost, the council is ignoring the millions it saves by staff who regularly work 'above and beyond' in unpaid overtime to keep services going. TUC figures show that more than a quarter (27.4 per cent) of public sector staff did unpaid overtime of almost eight hours a week in 2013.
The full text of the submission being made today by Tom Connolly follows:
