Glasgow City Council drops public holiday changes
Glasgow City Council has dropped plans to convert six public holidays into annual leave for some of its staff.
Members of the GMB at Glasgow City Council had voted in favour of industrial action in protest at the proposal.
The union claimed staff who regularly receive enhanced payments would lose out by £500 a year on average.
The council said it withdrew the plan after making "significant" progress in achieving £130m of savings.
The holiday changes were put forward as a way of saving money in the council's budget in March.
The council's executive member for personnel, Martin Rhodes said: "The council is facing the greatest budget cuts in its history from the Scottish government.
However, our staff are making considerable progress in delivering the reforms and efficiencies that are required to protect frontline services.
"As a result, we are now in a position to withdraw proposals to make alterations to public holidays. This progress on budget savings will also allow the council to improve some elements of frontline services further in the near future."
GMB Scotland Officer Benny Rankin said: "We are pleased the council has listened to the concerns of our members and climbed-down from its imposition plan, which could have plunged thousands of low paid workers into the ranks of the working poor.
"Our campaign of resistance has protected our members interests but there can be no doubt that the swingeing cuts to local government funding means the road ahead will be tough for all local government workers across Scotland.
"GMB Scotland is calling on all our councils to engage positively with trade unions and their members and work with us to find alternatives to an austerity agenda that is punishing working people and their communities."