The Chief Executive acknowledged that the City Council should have consulted with unions before attempting to bring in a new 'clocking in' system that requires staff to have their finger prints scanned. The Big Brother proposals, which have caused widespread anger amongst UNISON members, were not properly thought out. Even the Human Resources Director, Graham White has conceded that they will not force staff to provide finger prints, or discipline staff who do not comply.
Due to the huge embarrassment following national media coverage of the story, the City Council is now saying that the machines are for secure door entry. The photograph on the right hand side of this page delivers a further blow to Council's weakened arguments, as it can be clearly seen that the machines have been installed inside the buildings - meaning that they would be useless for door entry purposes!
Phil Vaughan Westminster UNISON Branch Secretary said, "We are pleased that the City Council has acknowledged that ignoring their duties to consult with UNISON is not acceptable, and only serves to damage industrial relations. It is now clear that these machines are part of a Big Brother policy to monitor staff, and have nothing to do with their security or the safety."
Westminster UNISON members are organising for mass non-cooperation with any finger printing system that is based on the mistrust of staff, and shall be holding open meetings with members across Westminster. "The City Council have got to physically get our finger prints from us. We believe that hundreds of our members will refuse to provide their finger prints, rendering the system useless." said Stephen Higgins, Westminster UNISON Assistant Branch Secretary.
Phil Vaughan wrote to the leader of Westminster City Council, Cllr Barrow (CON), setting out the reasons why UNISON oppose finger printing. The Conservative Party themselves oppose finger printing within the Governments proposals for ID cards, and therefore Westminster proposals appear to be at odds with central Tory policy. We are still awaiting a response to the issues raised in this letter.
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