Birmingham housing staff face dismissal
Unions have warned that Birmingham council’s housing staff could lose their jobs as the authority looks to make financial savings.
All 23,000 non-school staff were last week sent formal legal notices warning their contracts of employment are to be changed and cuts in pay and conditions imposed. Union GMB is organising a meeting for members next week to discuss possible industrial action, and is worried that failure to accept the new deals will result in dismissal from the council.
Birmingham chief executive Steven Hughes told staff that no job at the council was safe. He said the council remained committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies if possible, and that the notice was a legal requirement and did not necessarily mean that thousands of staff would be sacked.
However he added: ‘If individual agreement to any cabinet-approved proposals cannot be reached, then dismissal and re-engagement may be unavoidable.’
He said staff refusing to accept job changes would have their contracts ripped up and new ones imposed.
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: ‘The section 188 notice issued last week was the start of a consultation over possible changes to the terms and conditions under which staff are employed. This section 188 notice will not result in anyone being made redundant.
‘The chief executive Stephen Hughes gave his annual report to the council’s scrutiny members last Friday. This is in the public domain for inspection. During the session he acknowledged the findings of the staff survey and reiterated his ongoing commitment to communicating more effectively with employees.’
