THOUSANDS of council jobs in Glasgow are to be axed because of the credit crunch and public spending cuts.

Up to 2500 posts may be axed as budgets hit by cuts and recession

THOUSANDS of council jobs in Glasgow are to be axed because of the credit crunch and public spending cuts.

Council bosses are planning a major workforce review in light of the massive squeeze on the public purse, with the overall aim of radically reducing its staff levels to save much-needed cash.

Although the council cannot put a figure on how many workers leaving the authority would help it balance the books, union sources have put the figure at around 10%.

That could mean as many as 2500 staff leaving or losing their jobs within the next three to five years.

Major question marks are also hanging over the authority's arms-length agencies, which provide home care, cleansing, janitorial work and catering, repairs and maintenance work, and which run the city's museums, libraries and sports centres.

Cordia, City Building, and Culture and Sport Glasgow are faced with the need to make combined savings of around £7million.

With huge percentages of the arms-length bodies' budgets being taken up by workers' salaries there have been claims staff may also have to be shed here.

Council sources put the number of expected redundancies at Cordia at between 600 and 700.

The council says it does not intend embarking on a campaign of mass redundancies and hopes older staff will take up the option of early retirement.

Recruitment freezes, it says, will also help reduce the number of staff it employs.

Even then, packages to persuade workers to quit would run into millions of pounds, with the Evening Times understanding the council may have to borrow to pay workers off.

The profile of worker expected to be targeted would include engineers, planners and architects currently employed by development and regeneration services, who, as a result of there being little capital projects planned in Glasgow over the longer term, are "reaching the end of their life expectancy".

For the first time the council will also prepare a policy for compulsory redundancies. Previously, staff have left voluntarily when savings were being sought.

Workers were due to be informed of the review in the next couple of weeks before the Evening Times uncovered details of talks between senior officials and union leaders.

A council source said: "In the coming years there will be thousands fewer staff at the council than now.

"How many exactly we don't know, but with a turnover of staff of 9% and a recruitment freeze, as well as now offering early retirement, we think we will get the numbers. But it is all very, very early."

Mike Kirby, the Scottish convenor of the Unison union, said the impact on local government in Scotland as a result of the economic collapse was worse than at any time in the 35 years he had been involved in it.

He added: "The pressures on public sector finance arose from the banks and the cost should not be borne by the public services and least of all by low-paid workers.

"We understand the difficulties facing the council and will work with them to avoid any compulsory measures, but employees of the city council should not bear the brunt of economic difficulties."

Martin Doran, of GMB, said: "We will work with the council and go along in making sure no stone is left unturned if that means the salvation of jobs.

"But that is a different story altogether if we are talking about compulsory redundancies.

"If there is talk of redundancies at Cordia, where the bulk of staff are GMB members, we would be insisting on talks at the earliest opportunity."

Alex Dingwall, the council's opposition SNP's spokesman on finance, said: "The proposed review asks real questions about how this will be funded within departments and if there is an appetite for staff to go on a voluntary basis given the numbers the council is looking for.

"Any guarantees against compulsory redundancies will be difficult to maintain."

What Glasgow MSPs say...

Bill Aitken (Tory): "I will continue to push for a recognition of Glasgow's metropolitan status. The city has been the poor relation for many years and I intend to highlight this in the course of the Budget debates.

Robert Brown (LibDem): "Glasgow is hit by the outrageous decision to cancel the long-awaited Glasgow Airport Rail Link. This would have provided a high-quality transport link to visitors arriving in the city, not least for the Commonwealth Games.

Bill Butler (Lab): "This Government has already shunted Glasgow Crossrail into the sidings and now has completely derailed the Glasgow Airport Rail Link."

Margaret Curran (Lab): "I am shocked at the decision to cancel the GARL project and I know that serious questions are being asked about the figures used because there are suggestions that the project was robust."

Bob Doris (SNP): "The cost of the GARL project had spiralled too far from the original costing to represent value for money at a time when Downing Street is slashing the Scottish Budget."

Patricia Ferguson (Lab): "Glasgow deserves special recognition in light of its health and employment statistics but there is nothing in this Budget for Glasgow. Instead we're being robbed of £120million investment threatening 1300 jobs."

Charlie Gordon (Lab): "This cancellation is a major blow to Glasgow and Scotland; the fight over the issue has just begun."

Patrick Harvie (Green): "Fastlink is not a substitute for the true public transport improvements that the GARL project would have brought, especially for Paisley residents and others commuting into Glasgow."

James Kelly (Lab): "I am furious that the GARL has been cancelled. This penalises those who stay in the central belt and will cost 1300 jobs directly and many more indirectly."

Bill Kidd (SNP): "The full project couldn't be completed because Labour and the rest have insisted that Edinburgh will have an expensive tram system which has taken £500m away from Glasgow and the rest of Scotland."

Johann Lamont (Lab): "It is a cruel and irrational decision to cancel GARL. That project was not just about creating a faster link to our airport but critically about providing real investment and real opportunities for families across the West of Scotland."

Paul Martin (Lab): "I will take every opportunity to call for a Metropolitan Supplement for Glasgow. The current economic climate makes it more urgent.

Frank McAveety (Lab): "The last Labour Government provided a cities growth fund which was fairer than the SNP's Capital City Supplement only for Edinburgh."

Anne McLaughlin (SNP): "Despite the savage Westminster cuts imposed on Scotland by London Labour, the SNP government is increasing spending on Glasgow's NHS by nearly £50m."