Hundreds of Dundee City Council employees are expected to return to work today, after staging a wildcat strike.
But the threat of more industrial action by the contract services workers remains, with disputes over the use of satellite tracking technology and whether temporary employees are entitled to permanent contracts still unresolved.
Council management described the walkout, which followed a mass meeting, as “misguided and unreasonable” but the UCATT union insisted that its members were fighting for what they believed in.
Contract services carries out a wide range of repair and maintenance work on council properties. Emergency cover had to be arranged on Thursday as around 350 workers took part in the one-day strike, with a picket staged outside the Clepington Road depot.
One of the key issues they were protesting about was their claim that management has reneged on a deal dating to 1996 to give permanent contracts to workers who have completed two years on temporary contracts.
UCATT shop steward Steven Geekie said, “We are not here to be dictated to and, at the end of the day, this might well move to official strike action. Obviously, we will have to speak to our full-time officers and take advice. Everything is open to negotiation but this issue has not been negotiated at all.”
He was backed by Dundee West MP Jim McGovern, a former union official himself, who said he recalled the council’s chief executive giving a firm assurance that the two-year trigger point would be honoured.
“If the current management are unhappy with this arrangement then they should be prepared to negotiate with the appropriate trade unions rather than ignore a recognised agreement,” he said.
However, a council spokesman said, “We are not aware of any formal agreement with trade unions at Dundee contract services regarding automatic entitlement to permanent contract following any period of temporary employment.
“Consequently, this action is both misguided and unreasonable in the circumstances. Management will be meeting with the unions as soon as possible to look for a resolution.”
The other issue in dispute is the use of the GPS satellite tracking system to monitor the location of contract services’ vehicles when they are out on a job.
Mr Geekie said, “The decision the guys have taken on the tracker is not to accept the protocol or procedure. Like everything, we are willing to sit and discuss it.”
Councillor Jimmy Black, who is convener of the housing, contract services and environment services committee, said, “The tracker system is an issue that has been in discussion and one that we are trying to find a way forward with.
“We are absolutely clear that we would not be using this to check up on workers, although we would if someone was accused of misusing council transport. It is not a monitoring system to see where people are or what they are doing.”
The council spokesman added that GPS tracking had been used for several years and was “standard practice” within the industry.