UNISON condemns Quarriers threat to sack 2,000

UNISON has publicly condemned Scottish charity Quarriers' threat to dismiss all their 2,000 staff unless the union agrees to cuts in wages and conditions.

Quarriers - one of Scotland's biggest charitable organisations providing services for vulnerable children, homeless young people and adults with disabilities - has issued redundancy notices to all its 2000 staff in an attempt to pressurise UNISON.

The charity’s management proposed in May to cut staff night shift payments, and payments for public holidays and most drastically, to cut sick pay by a quarter for any worker with less than five years service.

Stephen Brown, Branch Secretary, of UNISON Quarriers Branch said, “I was horrified by this move by Quarriers. UNISON recognises Quarriers’ is feeling the financial pinch and have been prepared to negotiate seriously. I was very disappointed that Quarriers decided to fall back on gun boat diplomacy by threatening our members with the sack.”

He added, “Our members work very hard for the charity and provide an excellent service to some of the most vulnerable in society. Quarriers’ continually say that they value their staff but this threat shows how much they really value us.”

Meetings and negotiations are continuing (every two weeks) as both sides try to beat the 17 October deadline.

Regular newsletters, members meetings and using the virtual branch website www.quarriersunison.org.uk to consult and also for discussion.

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