Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), employed through the Scottish Parliament as Caseworkers, Researchers and Parliamentary Assistant’s for the SSP group are now involved in an industrial dispute with Tommy Sheridan MSP and Rosemary Byrne MSP.

The dispute has been officially sanctioned by the National Executive Council of the NUJ. It is also fully supported by the IWW. We will continue the months of negotiations to try and come to an agreement. The dispute has been caused because the two MSPs have ripped up a collective agreement with the workers and have unilaterally broken a contract agreed to in May 2005.

On the 18th November 2006 the National Executive Council of the Union gave full backing to the workers involved in the dispute. Workers in the NUJ Chapel will now be asking for support from the wider labour and trade union movement. This dispute needs to be settled quickly before the eleven workers involved face the prospect of being issued with redundancy notices.

Davy Landels, Father of the Chapel, said

In 2005 the SSP Group and SSP Parliamentary Workers signed a collective agreement where individual workers would no longer be employed by individual MSPs. Money was taken from each of the MSP’s Allowances and deposited in a collective pool to pay workers wages. From that date workers were employed under a joint contract of employment with all the MSPs.

Three months ago Tommy Sheridan MSP and Rosemary Byrne MSP resigned from the Scottish Socialist Party and the Parliamentary Group. They then withdrew £24, 000, previously deposited into the pooled resources of the Group. This was done with the connivance of the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body who had originally advised all parties in how to set up the contract in the first place.

By withdrawing this money from the pool Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne have breached their contract of employment with the workers. The shortfall means that there will not be enough funds to pay workers their wages for March and April 2007. Effectively Sheridan and Byrne are forcing workers into redundancy. They have rejected offers to solve this dispute and come to an agreement that would mean the continued employment of all the workers involved. They have refused to replace the money from their allowances to pay workers they previously employed.

To comply with employment legislation the SSP Group may be forced to issue redundancy notices within the next month. This will make eleven workers unemployed in February 2007. Two months before their contract would normally finish. The contract was agreed after taking advice and direction from the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB). Whilst the Chapel recognise the main dispute is with Sheridan and Byrne who have broken their contract of employment with the workers, the Chapel also believe that the Scottish Parliament must recognise and take responsibility for their role in the process which has led to the current situation.

Pete Murray, NUJ National Executive Council member explained “The SSP staff Chapel at the Scottish Parliament has issued a demand that management officials and the two MSPs, who unilaterally withdrew from a collective agreement covering staff salaries, offer an acceptable formula to make good on the financial shortfall which has created the threat of redundancy for eleven NUJ members of the chapel.

“Scottish National Organiser, Paul Holleran is seeking further information from all sides in the dispute, but says he is making progress towards a settlement.

“This is in line with the call from the NUJ National Executive earlier this month. The NEC wholeheartedly and solidly backed the chapel in their fight to secure their jobs. It called on the National Organiser to negotiate on behalf of the chapel with the two MSPs, Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne and with the Parliamentary Corporate Body, with a view to securing a settlement that lifts the threat of redundancy from the SSP staff. ”

Davy explained that “Although the remaining SSP MSPs who make up the group may be put in the intolerable situation of issuing redundancy notices the NUJ members are in no doubt who has caused the situation. They are in no doubt who their dispute is with. They are in no doubt who can resolve the situation. Rosemary Byrne and Tommy Sheridan must put aside petty political squabbles and honour their agreed contract with the workers. Workers are suffering as a consequence of their intransigence. It is ironic that the two MSP boast about their support for trade unions and workers in struggle when they are riding roughshod over the pay and conditions of trade union members.

“The NUJ Chapel in the Parliament would like to make it clear that they this is not about the political differences the two MSPs have with the SSP. This is purely a trade dispute. It is about guaranteeing the pay and conditions of workers. It’s about ensuring collective agreements are honoured.

“This dispute needs the support of the wider movement. The NUJ Chapel have appealed to trade unionists and supporters. ”

To send messages of support

[email protected]

Messages of protest should be sent to

Tommy Sheridan MSP, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
[email protected]

Rosemary Byrne MSP, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
[email protected]

George Reid MSP (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament) Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
[email protected]