A UNION official has claimed that most of his members would not be happy on temporary contracts.

Brian Smith, Unison Glasgow branch secretary, made the claim after it was revealed that more than 1,600 council workers are on temporary contracts across the city.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have shown that there are 1022 women and 597 men on non-permanent employment agreements.

But Mr Smith insisted that if staff are needed for certain jobs, permanent contracts should be made available.

He said: “I think very few of our members would be happy in temporary roles.

“Having temporary staff means that if budgets go then it’s easier to get rid of folk and there’s not much we as a union can do other than put political pressure on.

“In terms of the balance of the workforce at Glasgow City Council, that’s around 70 per cent female, which is reflected in the number of women on temporary contracts.

“Over the last six months through pressure from ourselves and the GMB union we’ve managed to get a number of temporary staff from land and environmental services and social services made permanent.

“If the need exists for jobs to be done then there should be permanent positions for people to carry them out.

In its Freedom of Information response, Glasgow City Council said: “We can advise that there are currently 1619 Council employees on temporary contracts. Of this figure, 597 employees are male and 1022 female. These figures are taken from the Workforce Profile Report as at 31 March 2018.”

A spokeswoman for the council said: “These figures are proportionate to the breakdown of the council workforce as women make up 70 per cent of our staff.

“Staff will be on temporary contracts for a variety of reasons and will of course have the opportunity to apply for any permanent council roles.”