Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

84 jobs “safeguarded” after toilet cleaning contract returns to council control

Post Thumbnail

Highland Council has been praised after taking its contract for cleaning and servicing its public toilets back in-house – a move hailed by union chiefs as helping secure 84 jobs at a time of uncertainty.

The transfer back to council control comes 10 years after it was handed to a private contractor, to the fury of GMB Scotland.

The union has welcomed the move, claiming it would safeguard jobs and also result in better pay and conditions for the workers.

Liz Gordon, GMB officer for Highlands, said all 84 employees will now receive a pay increase of at least £1.25 an hour.

They had previously been on the national minimum wage, but will now earn the UK living wage under the local authority.

She added: “The news is really good. We are delighted the council has made this decision to bring back in-house a contract they had outsourced in a bid to make savings.

“There is always a concern when a contract is outsourced about job security and pay and conditions.

“For us this move is all about job retention.

“The council has transferred the 84 workers in-house, where the workers will hopefully enjoy more job security and better working conditions, including pensions, at a time of uncertainty in the country.”

Mrs Gordon praised the council for looking to return outsourced contracts back in-house, adding the employees would benefit by having their pay increased to the living wage.

A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “The contract went out in 2007 to Vacman and then transferred to VPS in 2010.

“We are currently in the process of transferring staff onto Highland Council terms and conditions.”