Half-per cent rise ‘deplorable’

A LOCAL union boss has painted a bleak picture of working life for the 9,000 people employed by Oldham Council.

Bullying, violence and verbal abuse is badly hitting morale, and job losses, growing insecurity and increased stress are making the problem worse.

The revelations come in a new report from Unison, compiled from a survey of 3,500 local government workers across Britain.

It claims that services are stretched to breaking point and morale has sunk to an all-time low.

The report criticises a pay offer of 0.5 per cent as “nothing short of a disgrace,” saying it will give the lowest paid a rise of only 3p an hour.

Wendy Bradbury, Oldham branch chairman of Unison, said the local situation mirrored the national picture.

She said: “People think local government workers are the binmen and those who work in the town hall, but there are many more such as dinner ladies, and school crossing patrols who are low-paid.

“To offer them a 0.5 per cent rise is deplorable.”

She also said: “Bullying from managers happens in Oldham, but people are afraid to say anything because they want to keep their jobs.

“And there is a lot of stress which is down to the situation in Oldham at the moment, with the budget and huge deficit.

“Almost every department is restructuring, and there are still people on the at-risk register who don’t know if their jobs will go.”

Most of the 3,500 people questioned in the survey, which included social workers and teaching assistants, said they were having to work overtime, while one in three had witnessed job losses.

Heather Wakefield, Unison’s head of local government, said local authority services across the country were stretched to breaking point.

She said: “Tough jobs are made even tougher by violent incidents and abuse.

“It is time to finally recognise the vital role local government staff play in our society with better pay.”

Employers have warned that 0.5 per cent is all they can afford this year as councils cut staff and try to maintain services in the face of recession.

Unison and other local government unions have rejected the pay offer.