I would like to explain why the council is asking its staff to sign new contracts ('Sign Or You're Sacked', October 21).
It follows from a national 'single status' agreement which brought substantial benefits to over 2,000 local blue collar staff (moving from a 39 to a 37 hour week without any loss in pay) at a cost to York's Council Tax payers - and I - of nearly £800,000 per year.
To avoid this increase in local taxation we have negotiated for over a year with the trades unions.
At the end of the day the local UNISON branch refused to accept an arbitration agreement which had been accepted by the union at regional and national level.
Therefore, having exhausted negotiations we were left with no alternative, if we were to save you and I from paying £800,000 more, but to issue new contracts to council staff.
In reality most staff will not be affected.
Because of the intransigence of the local UNISON branch York is only one of very few councils in England where agreement has not been reached - we negotiated in good faith and accepted arbitration. It is about time that UNISON in York followed suit.
Councillor Rodney Hills,
Leader of City of York Council.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article