Prospect meets First Minister
Despite the current uncertainty in British politics Prospect and the other civil service Unions were able to hold our annual meeting with the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at Bute House last week.
It’s clearly an indication of the commitment of the First Minister and the Scottish Government to positive industrial relations that the meeting went ahead.
We were able to raise with the First Minister issues relating to Brexit, Public Sector Pay, Extending Fair Work, Scottish Prison Service Audit and the change of the May Day holiday to commemorate VE Day.
We were able to share with the First Minister our concerns about Brexit and the need to ensure that staff changes resulting from emergency preparations are as voluntary as possible.
On Public Sector pay we spoke about the need to ensure that the current split approach to pay based on salary does not continue, as we believe it send a signal that some public servants are more deserving than others, whilst the meeting was not a negotiating it was good to hear the First Minister state “no public servant is underserving”.
There were positive conversations about Fair Work and about how we address the change to the May Day holiday too, and we will continue to update members on these issues.