By the 31st July 2018, and annually thereafter, Councils are required to publish expenditure on Trade Union facility time.
In Dudley, Trade Unions play a significant role in maintaining good employment relations with its workforce and in the majority of cases, avoiding the disruption in services to its residents that can be created through industrial action. Locally, unions have been critical in securing a number of Collective Agreements relating to terms and conditions of employment, some that put us in a unique position, in an environment where financial pressures mean that we have to look at alternative ways of motivating and retaining our staff.
Although release time from work is a statutory entitlement, in Dudley, we recognise that investment in union facility time brings benefits to the workforce and the residents of Dudley through the provision of independent support and challenge and through working to avoid local disputes that would otherwise undoubtedly create a disruption in services for those served by the Council.