Employers
and unions have agreed to independent and binding arbitration to settle
disputes over ‘two-tier’ workforces in local government.
Under
present conditions, new employees can be hired under worse terms than those
transferred from the public sector.
Earlier
this year employers reacted angrily to government concessions that new workers
hired in services that are contracted out should receive terms and conditions
“no less favourable” than those who are transferred.
The
CBI described the new deal as “workable for business” while Michael Wing,
national secretary of Unison, called the agreement “the final piece in the
jigsaw” in ending two-tier workforces.
