Dear reader,
Just been told the Council’s letter to staff about new contracts and conditions has been “paused”.
Yet another piece of nonsense from this basket case Council.
We’ll update this when they finally decide what they are going to do.
They won’t tell us, of course, since they don’t speak to us.
And when they don’t speak to us, they don’t speak to you.
Bill Heaney, Editor, The Dumbarton Democrat.
In the way this curmudgeonly council works, however, they have spoken with the Dumbarton Reporter.
A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Council told one of their reporters: “We are committed to ensuring equality for all employees.
“We are confident our approach to addressing a historical difference in public holiday entitlement is consistent with these principles and have been consulting with trade unions since December 2022 to agree the best way forward.
“Feedback from trade union colleagues this week provides an opportunity to continue discussions we previously thought had been exhausted, and so we have agreed to pause this process to engage in further negotiations with them.
“Our shared priority is to ensure all employees are treated fairly and equitably, and we remain hopeful we can come to a suitable agreement for the benefit of the workforce.”
He said: “This decision was made with cross-party support and came about following two years of consultation with the trade unions, as well as feedback from the workforce which showed the large majority preference was to retain or reduce public holidays.
“We value the trade union movement’s efforts to represent employees and always strive to work in partnership with them. I therefore welcome this week’s indication that they are willing to continue negotiations on this pressing historical equality issue.
“Fair and equal pay is a priority for all of us, and I am hopeful that by temporarily pausing the public holiday’s process, a resolution can be identified that not only results in equity across the workforce but also takes into account the financial challenges facing local government.”