GMB Magazine GMB24 Centre Point Spring 2016 | Page 7

Visit GMB online at www.gmb-westmids.org.uk
HOW UNFAIR!
Birmingham City councillors
give themselves a pay rise.

Do we need a

COMBINED

AUTHORITY?

COUNCILLORS

reward
themselves
A 25 per cent pay rise in a
cuts crisis for councillors

SEVEN DOWN TO ONE?
GMB members protest
outside Sandwell Council.

Questions over West
Midlands Combined
Authority…

G

MB is asking for more information on an agreement to set
up West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which will
cover the seven councils of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley,
Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Gillian Whittaker, GMB organiser, said: “The possible combining of
local authorities in the West Midlands under the government’s so-called
devolution agenda is complex and far reaching.”
The key question is whether essential public services will be
protected and the jobs of those who provide these services maintained.
GMB wants urgent confirmation that a combined authority will not lead
to further cuts to services or job losses for members.

With members working in the public sector all across
the UK, GMB is calling on 15 Birmingham City councillors
to forgo a 25 per cent pay rise backdated to May. With
council workers losing their jobs, and levels of pay more
or less frozen, a rise for councillors is blatantly unfair.
The allowance for five committee chairs will rise from
£10,000 to £12,500 per year, while the allowance for
10 district committee chairs will increase from £6,000 to
£7,500 per year. The reason given is additional workloads.
Stuart Richards, GMB senior organiser, said: “Since 2010,
cuts to budgets have seen significant numbers of staff
being made redundant. As a direct result of this, those
staff still working for the council have seen their workload
increase to a point where services are at breaking point.
“The fact that councillors have given themselves a
25 per cent pay rise due to working harder is a kick in the
teeth for the people that actually deliver council services.
“If councillors want to acknowledge where the extra
workload and responsibilities are, they should look to their
workforce and not to themselves.”

No
work for Robert
Loyal employee dropped
after 23 years of service

Last year Robert Morgan was working on a major
Bidvest site when he suffered a heart attack. There was
a defibrillator there but no first aider, so it couldn’t be used.
Thankfully an ambulance crew was able to restart his heart.
Now it has been decided that Robert is no longer
employable. After 23 years of loyal service, he has been
given notice that his employment is terminated. This is
despite Robert saying he would undertake any type of
work available from Bidvest.
David Day, GMB organiser, said: “It appears however
loyal you are to Bidvest, to the company you’re just a
number. GMB will pursue this case in every possible way.”
www.gmb-westmids.org.uk 07

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