Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council – with 45/70 seats Labour-held - has told its workers to sign new contracts or face redundancy. The GMB union has warned members not to sign new contracts, but to "stand firm in the face of this threat".
The RTC's diktat took the form of a "collective redundncy notice" - summarily issued by the council's HR director, Tony Wilkins - meaning all 10,000 workers are sacked and offered 'new' jobs with worse pay and conditions. The union walked out of the talks, insisting that it would only return if the threat of a lockout was lifted.
Gareth Morgan, South Wales GMB officer, said the union accepted the financial challenge facing the council and was willing to "consult meaningfully" on reducing its budget deficit of £20m each year for the next three years.
He continued: "GMB is aware that some Tory and Lib Dem councils are treating their staff like dirt... using a legal device of pretending to make all their workforce redundant and offering some of them re-employment on worse pay and conditions. Now Rhondda Cynon Taff in the Labour heartlands are resorting to this lock out tactic. It is totally unacceptable."
But Labour council leader Russell Roberts washed his hands of the problem, saying it was a matter for council officers and the unions. Having voted through the cuts, the Labour council then ceded negotiating power over terms and conditions to the chief executive!
Faced with the treachery and hypocrisy of Labour councillors who criticize the ConDem cuts, but enforce them locally, we must demand Labour-controlled councils refuse to implement the cuts.
With or without the support of Labour leaders, the cuts will only be halted by a massive anticuts movement, ready to take action of the same type and on the same scale as the French workers and youth.
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