Aberdeen City Council to make up to 900 staff redundant

Aberdeen City Council aims to cut £120m from its budget over five years

Up to 900 staff at Aberdeen City Council are facing compulsory redundancy, it has been revealed.

It comes after unions rejected plans to ask workers earning more than £21,000 to take a voluntary 5% one-year pay cut.

The council had hoped the pay cut would fund voluntary severance packages for hundreds of workers.

Unions have already warned of industrial action over compulsory redundancies.

They claim the pay cut deal was not a proper offer and would not have paid for a full voluntary scheme.

Aberdeen City Council earlier approved plans to cut £120m from its budget over the next five years.

In a letter, staff representatives were told that after the proposed 5% pay cut was rejected by the unions the proposal would be withdrawn.

The council official added: "In accordance with the decision at council this means that voluntary severance/early retirement in terms of the council's discretionary scheme will not be applied and all redundancies will be compulsory.

"Where the option is a stop or closure all employed in an establishment/unit or defined service will be those selected for redundancy.

"The staff in the selection pools will be briefed on the process, as will be the managers."

'No alternative'

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman later confirmed: "Aberdeen City Council must reduce the size of its workforce because of reductions in central government funding for the public sector and because of budget decisions to deliver our services in different ways in the future.

"The city council has offered voluntary severance and early retirement packages to staff annually for the past three years.

"The recognised trade unions have, however, rejected the option of a 5% pay reduction for staff earning more than £21,000 a year in order to help fund a further round of voluntary severance.

"In line with the council's decision last month, there is therefore no alternative but to move to compulsory redundancies."

Conveners and vice-conveners representing Aberdeen's ruling SNP/Lib Dem administration recently agreed to take a pay cut themselves, in line with what was controversially proposed for employees.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The employment of council staff is a matter for local authorities.

"Aberdeen City Council has had a better than average settlement in 2009-10, 2010-11 and will again in 2011-12."