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Response to Aberdeenshire council school cleaning consultation

Comments on proposed changes to cleaning provision within schools.

  1. Removal of the 5 day, Summer Holiday clean from summer 2019.
  2. Removal of the 5 School “in-service” days cleaning from August 2019.

The proposals to remove the ten days of work from cleaning staff working in schools is effectively a 5% reduction in hours and consequently a 5% reduction in salary for the members of staff affected. It is a credit to the staff involved that what I have heard again and again over the consultation period is not only concerns about the financial implications on themselves but also fears for the service users welfare should the levels of hygiene drop which they inevitably would under these proposals.

Many staff would feel compelled to perform unpaid work as they feel it will not be possible to carry out some tasks (stripping and scrubbing floors etc) during the suggested new hours.

On behalf of GMB members concerned by these proposals I cannot agree to, endorse or support the changes suggested in this consultation and ask for other ways of reducing budget to be explored, that do not affect so drastically the lowest paid, part time and mostly female members of staff.

Posted: 18th June 2019

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