Mark Chiverton, his local Unison representative, Catherine Jackson and Unison regional organiser Andy Straker will be attending a meeting today with Isle of Wight council Chief Executive, Steve Beynon.
The meeting was arranged after a number of surprising events last week, when it was reported that Mark, the Island’s Labour Parliamentary candidate, was told to stand down from his candidacy or resign from his post at the council.
Steve Beynon initially denied this was the case, but yesterday publicly apologised for the misunderstanding making it clear that Mark would not need to stand down.
That all happening in the same week as the announcement of massive proposed budget cuts led to Unison members declaring a vote of no confidence in the Chief Executive and leader of the council, David Pugh.
At today’s meeting, as well as discussing the above subjects, it’s hoped that the issue of the cuts in council worker’s car allowance, a dispute which is now in its 11th week, can be raised.
Mark tells VB he’s been informed that whatever recommendations are agreed at Cabinet meeting tonight (which VB will be covering live from 6.30pm) there will now be an opportunity for reps of all the trade unions to meet with leading councillors and relevant senior managers at a special meeting over the next few days.
This will enable feedback to be made prior to the full Council budget meeting to which takes place on 24th February
We’ll let you know how the meeting went once we hear more.
