June 2025 – Stirling UNISON

Stirling Council Organisational Change Policy

UNISON Slams Stirling Council’s Redundancy Plan: “Race to the Bottom” That erodes Workers Terms and Conditions

STIRLING, SCOTLAND – 27^th June 2025 – UNISON today vehemently disputes Stirling Council’s now agreed Managements proposed changes to its Organisational Change Policy, warning they will pave the way for redundancies and strip vital employee protections. The union condemns the plans as a “race to the bottom,” prioritising cost-cutting over service delivery and workforce well-being.

UNISON highlights a severe lack of meaningful consultation, with critical concerns raised since February 2025 consistently ignored. The Council has failed to provide essential data or rationale, crippling UNISON’s ability to engage in informed collective bargaining.

“Stirling Council’s approach is an insult to its dedicated workforce,” said Lorraine Thomson, UNISON Branch Secretary. “They’re pushing drastic changes that make it easier to cut jobs and force loyal employees out, all while refusing basic information.”

“We are in no doubt given the on-going lack of fair funding to Local Authorities by Scottish Government that existing staff will be left with further work pressures and will essentially be left to carry the load.

“There needs to be a viable alternative to statutory redundancy payments should posts be at future risk. However, what’s being proposed here lacks detail and has no financial commitment around funding, which is essential to make it work. Sadly, that seems to have been ignored as it was voted through by the SNP in an unholy coalition with the Conservative elected members, and one Independent elected member. Only Labour and the sole Green elected member voted against this,” said David O’Connor, UNISON Local Government Lead Officer.

David O’Connor continued, “In a bizarre twist, the council also voted through the need for staff to sign a settlement agreement at the cost of £600 to £700 per agreement that waives their rights and includes a gagging clause to receive a statutory payment.”

Staffs Key Concerns:

Erodes Retirement Security: Eliminates “up to three added years of pension”, disproportionately affecting women with caregiving career breaks and means that displaced employees of a certain age will leave without any added years to their pension, facing significant challenges in retraining or securing future employment. This outcome is simply unacceptable and demonstrates a complete disregard for the loyalty and experience of long-serving staff.
Dismantles Ill Health Protections: Removes conservation for ill health and allowances, a significant step backward for vulnerable staff.
Mandatory Severance Barriers: Forces mandatory settlement agreements for Statutory Redundancy Payments, creating unnecessary hurdles and costs.
Unsubstantiated Policy: Appears based on speculative future projections, not current needs, deemed “unnecessary” at this time.
Crippling Lack of Transparency: Council refused to provide crucial financial data or rationale for “unaffordable financial costs” and anticipated savings.
Divisive “Two-Tier” Approach: Creates differing policies for employee groups (e.g., teaching vs. other council staff). Lorraine Thomson states: “It appears some are valued more than others.”
Reduced Redundancy Payments: Forces employees out with only statutory minimum, or even no, redundancy payment.
The paper that went to Council : references 5 other Local Authorities that have taken this approach, however they declined to reference this when asked the question by the Green party elected member, however suffice to say 26 other Local Authorities have not taken the decision to go down this route.

UNISON asserts that an effective policy must be transparent and committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies. The current proposal “falls far short,” risking demoralisation and reputational damage.

“We need genuine commitment to the workforce,” added Thomson. “We urge Stirling Council to immediately revisit this flawed policy . Only a collaborative approach benefits both the organization and its vital staff.”

“UNISON have no alternative now but to lodge a formal Grievance/Dispute and consult our members on further action”, say Lorraine Thomson

Contacts:

Lorraine Thomson, UNISON Stirling Branch Secretary, on 07826903559

David O’Connor, UNISON Scotland head of local government, on 07958121861

UNISON represents over 2300 member

Organisational change policy update

Organisational Change Policy – Final Draft

It is with profound sense of disappointment that we are writing to inform you of a significant policy change made at today’s Stirling Council meeting. The Stirling SNP and Conservative elected members have voted to approve managements revised Organisational Change Policy.
This decision, pushed through despite our serious and well-communicated concerns, clearly shows a council imposing change on its employees without adequate consideration or transparency. Frankly, it makes us question if staff are truly valued.

Over the past few days, we’ve shared our deep reservations, particularly about the lack of meaningful engagement throughout this process. To see for yourselves how your elected representatives voted, you can watch the full debate here: https://stirling.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcasts.

We want to assure all members that we will not accept this decision lightly. We intend to lodge a formal grievance and pursue all available avenues to challenge this outcome. Despite our extensive lobbying efforts and the concerns we raised directly with elected members and various parties, the SNP and Conservatives chose to vote through management’s proposal. This was done without even having sight of crucial details or a budget related to the proposed redeployment and “talent pool” initiatives. This lack of transparency only reinforces the feeling that our concerns are being ignored.

We are especially concerned about the impact on our more experienced staff. This policy change means that displaced employees of a certain age will leave without any added years to their pension, facing significant challenges in retraining or securing future employment. This outcome is simply unacceptable and demonstrates a complete disregard for the loyalty and experience of long-serving staff.

We are in no doubt given the on-going lack of fair funding to Local Authorities by Scottish Government that existing staff will be left with further work pressures and will essentially be left to carry the load without any viable alternative other than statutory redundancy payments should their post be at future risk. Again we reiterate the Redeployment/Talent pool alternative has yet to be backed by funding or detail, yet this was still voted through by the SNP elected members and the Conservative elected members regardless.

We will continue to update you on our progress and the next steps in challenging this detrimental policy. This fight is about ensuring our voices are heard and that staff feel truly valued.

National Conference 2025

UNISON’s annual National Delegate Conference (NDC) is the union’s ruling body. Every year delegates from all over the country take part in debates to choose our campaigning priorities and policies. This year, NDC is taking place in Liverpool.

Every UNISON branch elects reps to attend annual conference and vote on behalf of their local branch members. Scotland has about 200 delegates.
If you’d like to read more and see some of the reports go to https://unison-scotland.org/national-conference-2025/

Local government staff to be balloted on new two-year pay offer, says UNISON

Council staff are to be balloted after unions received a two-year pay offer from local government employers Cosla, says UNISON today (Friday).

The new offer is for 4% this year and 3.5% for next (2026/27). UNISON’s local government committee has met to discuss the offer and has decided to recommend to members that they vote to accept.

UNISON Scotland head of local government, David O’Connor said: “The threat of possible strikes by council employees has forced Cosla back to the table.

“But it should not have taken the possibility of staff walkouts closing services to get Cosla and the Scottish government to listen to the workforce.

“Local authority workers were due a pay rise in April. Despite the delay, this is a sensible offer. The union will be putting the new amount to council staff over next few weeks, recommending that they accept.”

for more information see https://unison-scotland.org/local-government-staff-to-be-balloted-on-new-two-year-pay-offer-says-unison/