Tuesday, April 20, 2010

EXCLUSIVE Tax payer funded union activity.

With all the hot air being spouted by politicians and wannabe politicians about spending cuts and 'protecting front line services' I thought it only right to publish the following information that I have been sitting on for a couple of weeks.

In a nutshell, I have listed all the councils in Scotland and how many employees each council have who do nothing but union activity.

Yes, you read it right. Employees of the councils funded from the public purse who do no constructive duties for the council. They are full time union reps funded by you and I, the tax payer.

This fact is nothing short of an outrage in this time of fiscal prudence. Those responsible for this must be held to account.

It has taken me weeks to gather the information via FOI legislation. Some councils were very quick to answer, others took their time. The only council to fail to respond was Edinburgh City Council. Shame on you for failing in your legal duty.

For those of you south of the border, I suggest you submit your own FOI request. It's very quick and simple, log on to your local council website and their should be a FOI link. I suspect that the situation will be very similar in England and Wales to the one up here.

Anyway, read it and weep...

  • Aberdeen City............................... 6
  • Aberdeenshire.............................. 5
  • Angus............................................... 0
  • Argyll and Bute............................ 0
  • Clackmannanshire..................... 1
  • Dumfries and Galloway............ 3
  • Dundee City................................... 0
  • East Ayrshire................................ 1
  • East Dunbartonshire................. 3
  • East Lothian................................. 2
  • East Renfrew................................. 3
  • Edinburgh City.............. Failed to respond
  • Falkirk............................................. 1
  • Fife.................................................... 8
  • Glasgow........................................... 0
  • Highland......................................... 1
  • Inverclyde...................................... 2
  • Midlothian..................................... 1
  • Moray............................................... 1
  • North Ayrshire............................. 0
  • North Lanarkshire..................... 0
  • Orkney............................................. 0
  • Perth and Kinross....................... 2*
  • Renfrewshire................................. 1
  • Scottish Borders.......................... 1
  • Shetland......................................... 0
  • South Ayrshire............................. 0
  • South Lanarkshire..................... 5
  • Stirling............................................ 2
  • West Dunbartonshire............... 2
  • West Lothian................................ 1
  • Western Isles................................ 2
*Perth and Kinross, one of the posts is part funded 40% by UNISON.

All figures correct as of March this year.

Spread this story far and wide!

15 comments:

schlumpf23 said...

Great work Rab! I must say I'm surprised that Glasgow didn't have any...

Anonymous said...

Where-by in the private sector, companies are asking their employees to do a little more every year, because the margins are becoming ever tighter. Yet here we learn that in the public sector, Socialist employees are living off the fat of the land, I.E. the British tax payer.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you the near 30% of the electorate that still intend to vote Labour, come what may.

RantinRab said...

I was also very surprised that Glasgow haven't got any.

For what it's worth, I don't believe them. I think they deliberately misunderstood my question.

Corrugated Soundbite said...

Excellent post Rab. I've posted a link to it on the UKNewsNetwork blogspot site.

The Last Of The Few said...

WTF do Fife need 8 for ???????

Something to do with the PM's home council ?

cynicalHighlander said...

Glasgow's answer nothing to do with us guv, they are maybe 'employed' on there ALEOs.

McGonagall said...

I find this hard to believe and think perhaps a fundamental error has occurred. My wife was a local union leader for many years and as such her sole function was the administration of her local. She did this in a large government facility and received her paycheck from the government although she had no work responsibilities. However, The government was refunded at the provincial level for all those in her position accepting a paycheck from their employer.

Could it be that a similar arrangement pertains in Scottish councils?

RantinRab said...

Scunnert, my question was very clear and specific. There is no error.

McGonagall said...

I accept your word for that Rab and, as a union man, condemn it out of hand. It's disgraceful!

Administrator said...

Well done Rab.

You'll love this, for many years the local branch manager of Unison in Dumfries was also head of personnel for Dumfries and Galloway Council...

Nikostratos said...

Its a disgrace Rab you clearly reveal the extent of the Unions under representation within the public sector .

Dark Lochnagar said...

Well done Roberto. I ken't Killy would have one!

2Mac said...

Rab,

I think there should be a campaign to change the name from local Council to local Cuntcil.

After all they are heavily involved in fucking the taxpayer and they like to employ dicks to make a total mess of things.

Anonymous said...

Bugger - I dugg it but it now has OH4MP on it. D'oh!

http://digg.com/d31PDO4 for those interested.

Fitalass said...

Just read your latest post on the Edinburgh update, and then followed the link here. Is this a new phenomena or did it occur under the last Tory government and before devolution? Its totally incredible when you consider the millions the Unions give the Labour party, and while Gordon Brown funded the Union Modernisation fund. I think there is more to come out.