UNISON confirm strike in East Dunbartonshire

UNISON Media release
Immediate release

UNISON to strike in East Dunbartonshire

All out strike action in East Dunbartonshire Council and East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust will go ahead on 21, 22, 25 and 26 June, UNISON Scotland can confirm.

East Dunbartonshire Council have confirmed that all schools will be closed.

Trade unions served formal notice on East Dunbartonshire Council and East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust on 12 June, for four days of strike action.

The dispute is over proposed cuts to workers’s terms and conditions

Previous press release and background details about the strike can be found here:

https://unison-scotland.org/2018/06/12/unions-serve-notice-of-strike-action-on-east-dunbartonshire-council/

Notes to Editors:
1.    The cuts to terms and conditions arise out of the council’s decisions on 09/11/17 and 20/03/18 to make the following cuts to employee Terms and Conditions:
•    Removal of three days annual leave. Meaning less time off for members to spend with their family and friends – this is effectively a pay cut  and means staff work longer for the same money
•    Increasing the notional working day (i.e. reducing time when unsocial hours’ premium payments apply – from 7am to 9pm to 6am to 11pm). Less pay for working unsocial hours to provide vital services. It is well known shift and night work has a detrimental impact on health, the council wants to cut what they pay for this work
•    Removal of enhanced overtime from 1 April 2019. This reduces the earnings of those who work additional hours to keep services going – a kick in the teeth for employees who are in effect going the extra mile to support service delivery, and means yet more money out of workers’ pockets
•    Cut Redundancy Payments Framework (from up to 10 added years to 3, potentially 66 weeks redundancy pay to 30 weeks and introduce a two year claw back). This poorer offer means less people will volunteer, therefore making compulsory redundancies more likely.

UNISON Contacts
•    Simon Macfarlane, UNISON’s regional organiser, on 07703 194 132