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Friday, January 20, 2012
Reporting local life since 1854
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TREAT YOUR FAMILY TO A SEASIDE BREAK
SEE PAGE 27
COUNCIL WALKOUT THREAT
Unions say strikes ‘cannot be ruled out’
BY ALEX CAMPBELL
alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
THOUSANDS of council staff face having mileage allowances and weekend payments slashed in a £2 million attack on pay and perks. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is targeting staff contracts as part of £24 million cuts. More than 4,500 Unison members were called to two meetings at Stoke civic centre yesterday to discuss the move. Members of the Unite and GMB unions, which represent a total of 1,100 workers, will meet next week. Sources today confirmed to The Sentinel that industrial action is being considered. Plans by the authority, which cut 700 jobs last year and will shed 358 in 2012/13, include: ■ Forcing council workers who currently have free parking spaces to pay for them; ■ Scrapping time-and-a-half payments for working weekends and unsociable hours;
■ Cutting mileage allowances to 45p-per-mile. Expenses to claim meals and costs while travelling are also under threat. Mileage allowance cuts would see casual users driving cars with engines bigger than 1.2 litres lose 20p every mile, while essential users would lose 5.5p. Bin men are also understood to be furious at plans to cut £500,000 by forcing them to switch from working Monday to Friday to three-day weeks made up of 12-hour shifts. Unions say bin collectors will have to work evenings and weekends without extra reward – and could lose £50-perweek in a job re-evaluation. Public consultation on citywide cuts finished last week, but staff have until February to respond. A union source told The Sentinel: “Anybody who doesn’t ride a moped is going to be hit by the mileage changes. “Strikes cannot be ruled out.”
Unison officials are now collating members’ views before deciding their next move. A Unison spokesman said: “Employees need to understand they will have to fight to retain their existing terms and conditions of employment. “A message needs to be sent to the employer that members see this as a very serious issue.” The Sentinel revealed in August how council chief executive John van de Laarschot had ordered a review of staff terms and conditions. The authority needs to make the savings from April this year. A council spokesman said: “We are in discussions with trade unions regarding terms and conditions for staff and it would be inappropriate for us to discuss the detail at this stage.”
Are you affected by the planned cuts? Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk
Picture: Wesley Webster VISIT: MP Chris Grayling.
Minister hopes to help jobless EMPLOYMENT minister Chris Grayling was due to visit Stoke-on-Trent today. The MP told The Sentinel he is coming to Hanley to get a grip on the challenges facing people looking for work here. He said: “I’m going to talk to JobCentre Plus staff about the economic situation and the labour market situation. “I hope that discussion will be helpful to me in having discussions with colleagues in Government about what we can do to help the city.” The Sentinel reported yesterday the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Stoke-on-Trent had risen above 8,000 for the first time in eight months.
Entrepreneur in new TV role BUSINESSMAN John Caudwell is putting £500,000 of his own money on the line to support would-be tycoons. He is to star in a new TV show where he puts entrepreneurs through their paces before deciding whether to trust them with the cash. See Page 29
NEW POWERS TO TARGET DOG OWNERS SEE PAGE 5
SPORT
Vale’s Richards delays ankle surgery: Back Page
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