Much of the anger was directed against council leader Mike Bird, who argued that local government unions should follow the example of Labour Sheffield and work two days without pay in a bid to save the authority money. ALMOST 20,000 Sheffield council workers last week voted to accept a 3.5 per cent pay cut in exchange for a bosses promise to put 1400 sack. ings on hold.
Only the works department, which employs some 2000 manual workers, is holding out, after paignad for a no vola. Nogoliations with are condnuing. Teachers are excluded from the because their berms and condi. bons are settled nationaly.
The wage slash more - at a time when ure ones are wyne to wmpcou a national 1.5 per cent public sector par the once-radical Labour council has decided to comply with a government-imposed spending limit of C366m and set a logal budget for 1993-94.
At Christmas, it wamed the unions that it neoded to sack 1400 workers, in a city already suffering from 14 por cent unemployment, in order to balance the books.
NALGO, dominated locally by Democratic Left, successfully hree days unpaid leave instead. The money saved was spent on enhancing voluntary redundancy packages. move contributed to the climate which ed to the curtent deal Having secured the formal consent of 61 per cent of the workdorce, employers are proceeding to impose it on everyone. The package gives everyone either an hour off the workin; wook or seven days' extra leavo enö! loment.
This 3.25 per cont reduction in working hours ostensibly cancels out the pay out. But workers struggling to manage on current take home pay are unonly to see things this way.
he counail has guaranteed to pay his year's nabonally agroed pay mik with sottlement date due in July, but depended on savings being implemented.
Each union in the authority balted operately, with results revealing sign cant discrepancies. NALGO voted 6!
cent and TGWU 51 per cent. Many lower paid workers said they voted against because they simply cannot afford to see their take home pay viciously slashed Labour MP Jeremy Cortyn argued that ministers are trying to turn the dock back to the 1930s, when workers look wage cuts to save their jobs. It did When and it will not work now ins un economics or uid ta house.* Mr Bower has pledged to slash managerial and supervisory jobs despite the sacrifoe, arguing: * *We nood to cut he cost of services without cuang te services."
He has received congratulations from the Sheffield Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce. the Cutters' Company cutlery bosses dub and the city's two universities.
CON Public Sector Alliance Teachers in Leicestershire staged a half-day strike on March 3 against threatened cuts in services and ob losses. Over 1,000 NUT members walked out across the county, and vented their anger in a rally outside County Hall.