Members will decide on Aberdeen Single Status

Aberdeen City UNISON has reinforced the message that its members will decide, by postal ballot, whether Aberdeen City Council's latest proposals to implement Single Status are acceptable or not.

As thousands of affected employees received letters containing an indicative new grade and details of revised terms and conditions, UNISON joint Branch Secretary Karen Donnelly said, "At the moment, our primary concern is our members and how these proposals affect them.

"Stewards are actively engaging with members in order to measure the impact of the proposed grades and changes to conditions of employment.

"We want to know what it means for individual members and their personal circumstances.

"We are already aware of significant groups of staff who are facing financial detriment if the new grades are implemented.

Funding

"We are also aware of areas where there appear to be anomalies in results and are pursuing all of these issues with the Council."

The Branch was disappointed that the Scottish Government is still not adequately funding Single Status.

"Hard working and often low paid workers are facing financial hardship as a result of it," said Karen.

"In many instances, these key workers provide vital services to some of the most vulnerable in our community."

Preparations are underway for a full postal ballot of all Aberdeen City UNISON members covered by Single Status. This will not take place until everyone has received job evaluation outcomes and has had an opportunity to consider the entire package including the terms and conditions.

Meetings

Karen added "This is too important to be rushed. Our members deserve to make an informed choice, based on information which they have had time to fully consider - our members will decide."

As we went to print, the branch was holding meetings of members to discuss the Single Status package.

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