Overtime ban threatened – but no one knows effects

Showing the sort of blue skies nonsense we are becoming familiar with under FÜHRER FERGO’s regime of red-trousered lunacy, a clique of overpaid senior managers has decided to SLASH overtime payments to a huge section of council employees.

The measures, put to the Human Resources Committee at its last meeting, were submitted as ‘information’ – but it’s clear that the councilors on the HRC, which is supposed to oversee all changes to terms and conditions for BCC staff, haven’t a clue what to do.

The overtime ban the bosses want in place will initially affect those on pay grades BG11 and above – hitting mostly middle managers – but sure as shit rolls downhill, it won’t be long before those on lower wage packets suffer too.

Chaired since May by Labour’s MIKE LANGLEY, ably assisted by his Brislington East wingman MIKE WOLLACOTT, their party colleague BILL ‘IN THE ARSE’ PAYNE, plus duff Lib Dems FI HANCE and GLENISE SWEETING ‘SOUR’ MORGAN and rounded out by Tory buffoon DICK EDDY, the HRC has so far BOTTLED the issue. It’s not as though it is the first they have heard about it – the ‘no overtime’ policy was brought up at a fractious full council meeting in February.

You would think that in the half-year since then some detailed costings would have been offered, or research started into the effects of such major cutbacks… But this being Bristol City Council, there has been nothing of the sort.

Instead, it appears the committee members are following the lead of the very people they are supposed to be directing: the CUTS-HAPPY TOP BOSSES running the council from the shadows, seemingly to please the increasingly temperamental and aloof GEORGE FERGUSON.

Unions have asked for a financial breakdown, and an explanation of how the changes will affect service delivery, only to be told that senior managers have ‘considered’ this – but that there are no actual figures or even minutes of meetings to back this up. Funny, that…

The usual lame promises that ‘this will not happen again’ were offered, plus the announcement that a full report on savings, and service delivery will be forthcoming at sometime in the next six months to a year.

The clear result of this policy will be the GRINDING TO A HALT of a vast array of out-of-office-hours services, from building security and maintenance of the docks system to public health inspections and support for vulnerable people – because no one in their right mind would work for nothing. Perhaps that’s the aim – for all we know Mayor Ferguson, the HRC and their senior officer chums want us all eating horsemeat burgers and the city flooded.

That would make more sense than the excuses they’ve offered so far.