Public service workers facing job cuts and redundancy proposals will have their access to trade union advice and support curtailed, the Greens have warned.
They said that Labour-run Brighton and Hove City Council planned to cut trade union “facility time” in the budget next month. The proposals are due to be formally published on Wednesday (31 January).
The Greens spoke out after an urgent call to action from the Unison trade union, raising the alarm about proposals to dilute union support just as scores of workers face job losses.
Unison said: “Facility time is time off from an individual’s job, granted by the employer, to enable a rep to carry out their trade union role.
“In some cases, this can mean that the rep is fully seconded from their regular job, enabling them to work full time on trade union tasks.”
The proposed cut to facility time comes as the council is expected to make cuts totalling about £33 million in the budget.
The Greens said that this was “not the time to hack away at the advocacy and legal support that many staff rely on to manage the impact of cuts and defend their rights”.
The party said: “The news also comes amid ongoing strike action by adult social care workers in the council, calling for equitable pay on par with their child social worker colleagues.
“Unison took on over 500 pieces of casework for council staff in the last year alone, with the union also commenting that a full industrial action ballot will be on the cards should any compulsory redundancies be announced in Labour’s budget.
“The budget has yet to be published, with Labour rejecting a previous protocol that would have seen a draft of cuts proposals announced as early as December.
“Instead, budget papers will be made public on Wednesday (31 January), providing community groups, trade unions and councillors with less than two weeks to campaign or push for alternative proposals, compared to almost three months to scrutinise the budget in previous years.”
Green group convenor Steve Davis said: “I’m gobsmacked that at the exact time our public services face the biggest cuts this city has seen in years, with hundreds of jobs set to be axed, that this is when Labour would seek to hack at workers’ rights by slashing trade union time and resources.
“So much for the party of workers’ rights. The party built off the back of collective action by workers are now seemingly abandoning their principles exactly when people need trade union help the most.
“It’s telling that in previous years that this exact proposal was one routinely put forward by the local Conservative group – it used to be Labour and Greens jointly defending trade unions from attack. Now, this Labour group are taking a leaf straight out of the Tory playbook.
“This shock announcement also comes when we’ve heard nothing from Labour about how they plan to resolve the first ever adult social care worker strike in the council’s history and when staff at schools Labour are closing have mobilised in defence of their jobs.
“We need to know they’re engaging with people whose jobs are at risk, not hacking away at support for people on low pay and who face redundancy.
“We’re appalled and urge Labour to immediately review this proposal and defend our public services from attack.”
New new labour attacking working class people again. Never trust labour.
So how many full time union reps are paid for by Brighton and Hove City Council?
Perhaps they should be funded directly by and held to account by union members, rather than council tax payers.
Time for the council to stop wasting our money.
At a time when ordinary people, social carers, schools etc are facing cuts , unions officials are exempt
Last time I belonged to a union it was all about flogging me supposedly cheap insurance for being a member and getting me to go alone with all sorts of wokery.
They didn’t seem to care about saving jobs or getting us a better deal.
Only “500 pieces of casework” as a percent of
Mark Turner was recruited as a Road sweeper some 40 years ago whoops sorry cleansing technician never held a broom in his life due to being too busy on full time so called union duties return him to street sweeping and therefore less industrial action and cleaner streets 2 birds with one stone job done
I no longer take anything The Greens say at face value.
They may be right, or it might be a lie, there is no knowing.
Well if the GMB at city clean are anything to go by, it’s hardly a bad thing is it. The greens have caused nothing but black holes in the council budget and they have the audacity to say anything about the council that replaced them and did in 6 months what they couldn’t manage in 5 years lol
I think you raise a good point that the GMB at City Clean are going to tar every other GMB Rep. I don’t believe that’s particularly fair.
Why should council tax money be spent on unions? Surely they should be funded through their membership fees
The Greens wrecked our city, never forget this and never believe anything they say.
Yes, their current behaviour is reminiscent of school kids that are not getting their way.