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.
Stirling UNISON 