A trade union has launched an astonishing attack against Labour run Kirklees Council.
Kirklees Unison has issued a long tirade against council chiefs’ cuts amid the huge reductions in income from the Government.
Council leader David Sheard has repeatedly blamed the Conservative government for the £170m of cuts Kirklees has made over the past five years.
But left-wing union Unison has accused the council of shedding its responsibilities and outsourcing services, knowing there are no council elections in 2017.
The Huddersfield based branch of Unison has hit out after the transfer of 500 council staff from the building services department to Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH) – a subsidiary company owned by the council – was completed on October 17.
The move was agreed by Kirklees Council’s Cabinet last February in an attempt to mitigate a £24m reduction in the council’s housing rental income caused by a Government ruling.
Councils across the country were told to reduce social housing rents by 1%, saving the Government millions in housing benefit payments in the process.
KNH was formed by the council in 2002 as an arm’s length management organisation.
As a limited company it does not enjoy the same protections as the public sector.
A Unison spokesman said Kirklees Council now had no building maintenance staff of its own for the first time.
They said: “What will happen to these staff in the future is anybody’s guess.
“Many staff have been transferred out of the council in the last 15 years and have suffered, often shortly after their transfer.
“The promises by new employers to protect the pensions and pay of transferred staff are virtually worthless.
“The council is still shedding jobs/responsibilities at a growing rate. It often seems more interested in the sale of land, finance or assets to the private sector than providing services.”
Kirklees Unison’s two-page statement also criticises the council for not paying the full living wage of £8.25 per hour. Kirklees has set its own living wage at £8.04 – 84p more than the Government’s minimum wage for people aged 25 and over.
The union also attacked the council for its decision to offer loans to the HD One scheme, close museums, axe libraries and shut childrens centres and youth clubs.
Unison said: “Councils across West Yorkshire are blatantly cutting services this year knowing there are no council elections in 2017, getting rid of services when there is no public comeback and then blaming the public for voting for austerity.
“Some councillors in Kirklees are voting to close council services and then demonstrating to keep A&E open in Huddersfield.
“Neither the public nor council staff want austerity. We want decent public services, provided by staff on decent pay.”
Council leader, Clr Sheard, said he was disappointed that Unison had issued a press release without sharing it with the council but said Kirklees was not alone in having to impose huge cuts.
And he said there was no truth in Unison’s claims that the council was capitalising on an election free year to make more savings.
