An attempt to award every Dumfries and Galloway Council worker a bonus £500 payment for their efforts during the pandemic was rejected last week.
Socialist councillors Willie Scobie and Tommy Sloan insisted that every employee should be treated equally and handed a pandemic payout.
This comes after most of the workforce missed out on a £500 bonus that was paid to colleagues in some departments, just like NHS workers, while teaching staff also received a £400 payment.
At last week’s full council meeting, councillors were united in praising their workforce for “putting their lives on the line” during the Covid crisis.
However, Stranraer and the Rhins Councillor Sloan said: “Workers put their lives in danger – and are still doing today.
“But the problem is, ‘you can’t eat, thanks very much’.
“The NHS saw fit to give a token gesture to their staff that put their lives on the line.
“I think we should do, at the very least, what they did.”
A motion was put forward at the meeting by Councillor David McKie expressing thanks to every council employee for their vital work in the most challenging circumstances over the past two years.
Elected members echoed his sentiments, however Councillor Willie Scobie called for the local authority to go one step further.
He said: “In order to show our gratitude, the council should make a similar ex-gratia payment as made to the NHS to those council workers who risked their lives working on the frontline delivering services during lockdown.”
Annandale South Councillor Ian Carruthers, leader of the Conservative group, responded: “Willie, we really need to see some figures with the financial implications.
“I’d be interested to see what that is, especially with our budgets going forward over the next few months.”
With around 6,500 employees in the council workforce, the bill could be in the region of £3 million – depending on how many workers have already received a Covid payment.
There were also concerns raised that there could be legal issues as it may interfere with pay negotiation agreements already made with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
Annandale North Councillor Adam Wilson said: “I do agree with Tommy and Willie that we can thank our staff as much as we like, and that words can only go so far.
“I do agree with that sentiment, but I would like some governance advice.
“Without the firm costings and indeed, I’d like to understand the legal position because there have been pay negotiations and I understand the £500 was a factor in those negotiations.”
Council legal chief Vlad Valiente said: “It hasn’t been costed by officers and doesn’t have the full implications, which also include any potential considerations that were had at COSLA level in terms of the pay negotiations and settlement.”
Councillor Scobie then asked for the payment to be agreed in principle and then the details worked out at a later date, however the proposal was defeated on a 37-2 vote.
