WARRINGTON’S new Labour administration is on a collision course with Town Hall unions Unison and GMB, according to union bosses.
A joint statement issued by the two unions says there has been a breakdown of informal discussions.
Union officials say they are angry and disappointed that their proposals to address this year’s budget deficit were dismissed by Labour.
Their statement says: The Labour administration has been in control of Warrington Borough Council for a mere two months and is already on a collision course with Unison and GMB following the breakdown of informal discussions.
“We were disappointed when their proposals to address this year’s budget deficit by April were dismissed and it became clear the administration’s preferred option was effectively an attack on employees’ terms and conditions despite pre-election promises and rhetoric to the contrary.
“The Trade Union proposals are realistic and would meet the required deficit with no impact on the frontline 
workforce who have already suffered in terms of reductions in the workforce which has resulted in increased workload.
“The Trade Unions made it perfectly clear pre election that in the event a Labour Administration was returned to office there would be no time to lose and it would be a case of hitting the ground running
“The honeymoon period is over and it is time to deliver, not dither, on proposals and not at the expense of our members.”
Deputy leader of the council Mike Hannon, (pictured) who is leading the negotiations with the unions said: “I am surprised at these comments from our colleagues at Unison and the GMB about what have been just initial discussions.
“During the election campaign we promised that we would work within the tight budget we inherited and we are committed to keeping this pledge. But we cannot escape the fact that we face very difficult times. Everyone knows that the Coalition government has slashed our funding by around £28.50p per head of population, meaning we have no choice but to find a massive £50 million of savings from our budgets. We are working hard to ensure most of these will come from service redesign and only around £2 million has been provisionally ear-marked to come from the work force efficiencies.
“The Labour Administration has been in control of the Town Hall for just nine weeks and our new executive board members are uncovering the truth about the mess the Tories and Lib Dems left the council in.
“We hope to have a true picture about the finances by the Autumn and so in the meantime we will continue to meet with the unions and our other partners to constructively discuss a wide range of options. I want to stress, we have not ruled out any of the unions’ suggestions and my door is always open for them.”
4 Comments
The unions clearly need to accept the cuts are necessary to ensure above inflation pay rises for senior executives.
What a shame that staff are being damaged by Labour – the damage was exposed here on worldwide and the Guardian that all was not well within the ranks of the Trade Union and Labour – May be RED Ed will come up to talk them around.
all i will say is they cut the staff, the work keeps coming in and no one now to complete it, we need more staff not less! far to many bosses and so called supervisors.
This is to be expected since WBC have not yet grasped the fact that they are bust! Why is that the Chief Executive and others have been awarded, for their inefficiency, inflation busting pay rises? No explanation for this has yet been forthcoming from the new Labour administration. These chief officers ought to be setting the example by agreeing to, say, 10% reductions not seeking pay increases. Itr is clear that there are many more Chiefs than Indians at WBC. Is the reduction in “Management” on the agenda? Looking around at the state of the Town it certainly is an urgent request for more “workers” on the front line that is required. It is now only a short time since Labour took control at the Town Hall and they have a very experienced amn leading the negotiations in Mike Hannon. Time is running out and I look forward to hearing the results in detail of a thorough investigation into the “mess the Tories and LibDems left the Council in”.