4,500 city council workers to be given 90 days' notice

The letters, giving recipients 90 days' notice, mark the latest stage of the council's pay shake-up.

It means

that the staff, spread across most areas of the council, could lose their jobs by early October, though they will be given a last chance to retain their positions by signing a new contract containing the controversial terms and conditions.

If they sign it within the 90-day notice period, the dismissal notice will be withdrawn.

The council has admitted that one fifth of staff will have a lower salary as a result of the changes but insists it will "do what it can to support these staff". Some workers, such as emergency hours social workers, will lose out as a result of changes to unsociable hours pay and public holiday pay. The council said anyone losing money will have their current pay protected for three years.

Around 9,500 workers have already signed up to the new terms and conditions voluntarily but the way that the changes have been forced upon staff has angered unions and politicians.

John Stevenson, president of the Edinburgh branch of Unison, said: "We would have preferred a negotiated settlement and could have arrived at that if the council had funded this to anywhere near the levels of other councils in Scotland.

"Our clear advice to members has been, to protect their legal rights and not sign (voluntarily). Our advice now – which will go out to members – is to acknowledge this second offer or they are out of a job.

"We want them to pursue the engagement and we will look at appeals and other things further down the line."

He added: "If we get to the end of the road and there are still people that are adversely affected we will look at industrial action."

Councillor Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour group on the council, added: "The letters that have gone out before have warned that this would happen but, no matter what has been said, if you get a piece of mail saying 'sign this or lose your job' it will be deeply unsettling for people.

"I think it is regrettable that there was not able to be a negotiated settlement with the unions and I do not think this issue has been handled well by the local authority."

Staff were initially asked three weeks ago if they were willing to volunteer to new terms and conditions of employment, which are being imposed in order to satisfy fair pay legislation and protect the council from further potentially expensive claims from staff.

Council chief executive Tom Aitchison

said: "4,500 staff, who have not voluntarily agreed to the proposed changes to their terms and conditions, will receive a letter on 5 July giving 90 days notice of termination of their current contract of employment. This will be accompanied by an offer of immediate re-engagement on the new terms and conditions.

"The trades unions advised their members not to sign up at the voluntary sign up stage but to ensure they sign up at the notice of dismissal and re-engagement stage.

"We are urging the remaining staff to take this opportunity to accept the offer of re-engagement and continue their employment with the council."