Dear Member,
In response to my letter in early December Mike More has agreed that the council should provide a framework around which staff will be able to influence the way the £14 million budget deficit will be handled. This is a significant development, one which we need to take full advantage of. As long as the mechanism put in place provides for an honest and forthright assessment of ideas put forward, swift implementation and management support; the opportunity to steer the council away from job cuts has presented itself.
We need to start thinking now about areas of wastage and opportunities to generate income or savings that we are aware of. The average member of staff at the council costs £45k a year (including on-costs) but every saving/income opportunity identified is a step closer to saving another job. With the combined knowledge of all our members across the City Council and it's contractors I am confident that we can show the council that there is an alternative to job cuts in times of financial stress.
That's one of our challenges for next year. Another challenge is emerging as I write this. Rumours are beginning to surface that the City Council will be putting plans forward to reduce the amount of compensation given to staff who are made redundant. This is of course a major attack on the very last piece of policy that supports staff who are forced to leave the council. Not only that but it would mean that any staff leaving as a result of Phase 3 of the reorganisation will be financially worse off than their colleagues who were made to leave as a part of Phase 2! This is intolerable and I will be seeking your support to take serious action on this issue if the rumour is confirmed early in the new year.
I am aware that it has been too long since our members have heard from us on the major job cuts process taking place. Christopher Smith (Assistant Branch Secretary for WCC) and I have taken part in a video updating members on the current state of negotiations. This will be available to view on youtube (there will be a link on our website in the next few days). As well as this Christopher, Gina O'Connor (Assistant Branch Secretary (contractors) and I will send out a more detailed written update in the new year.
We will be writing to you again very shortly with further information and the link to our youtube video.
On Behalf of everyone at the branch office I'd like to thank all of our activists (some of whom are no longer at the council) that worked hard over the last year to not only reduce the amount of jobs being cut but also represented individual members, assisted in the office and helped us keep the branch running.
Whatever you're doing, have a great time and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Regards,
Stephen, Gina, Chris, Linda and Jason
