27 July 2020
Dear Cllr Tony Newman,
Proposed redundancies at Croydon Council
UNISON met with Jo Negrini and the Executive Leadership Team on Monday 6 July where proposals were put forward for a staffing review.
UNISON understands that 410 jobs will be lost at Croydon Council. Of these 410 jobs 175 committed staff are to be made redundant. UNISON does not accept that these redundancies are necessary; UNISON believes that proposals to implement such severe cuts at this time are ill-considered.
As restrictions ease and life begins to return to some sense of normality committed staff, who worked tirelessly for Croydon Council and the people of Croydon during a global pandemic have been plunged into further uncertainty and fear for the future. Staff should be praised and rewarded, not hit with losing their jobs and livelihoods.
It is of profound concern to our members and to your constituents that a Labour lead council is embarking upon cuts of this scale in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis.
The Croydon Labour Party manifesto boasts of your pride at protecting Croydon from the government’s cuts to public services. Implementing these cuts would undermine the platform upon which constituents elected Labour councillors.
Croydon Council should be doing more to hold central government to account and demand that adequate funding is provided.
UNISON along with others have launched campaigns to demand further funding and would urge all councils to hold off on making such irreversible cuts until the funding situation is more clear.
UNISON is calling on Croydon Council to urgently convene a review of this matter.
Best wishes,
Louise O’Hara Yvonne Green
Regional Organiser Branch Secretary
Cc’d
Yvonne Green, Branch Secretary
Jo Negrini, Chief Executive
Sue Moorman, Director of HR