AN increasingly fractured relationship between sections of Thurrock Council's workforce and the authority's management has been highlighted by a controversial document 'leaked' to Thurrock Nub News.

However, the council says aspects of the report - which is a presentation by strategic lead HR, resourcing and improvement Mykela Pratt – have been doctored to give a false representation.

But it appears that the report does include the intention to cut the terms and conditions of some employees - including overtime payments, car and other allowances and reducing unsocial shift allowances.

Members of the workforce who leaked the document say the council is guilty of lying to them and the public - as the council had rubbished allegations that cuts were being considered.

Thurrock Nub News, which earlier this month reported on workers' concerns wanted to check the veracity of the leaked document and the council have confirmed a presentation was made as part of a consultation with the Unite union.

The report is entitled "Modernising Reward Project (MRP) – Pay Review Phase 2"

A major part of the report suggests that it wants to "change contracts to reflect smarter and more flexible ways of working within the council."

The council has declined to say which parts of the 'doctored document' are true and which are not.

A statement from the council says: "We cannot confirm the accuracy of the document as it has been amended by parties outside of the Council.

"In terms of the original document, this was a confidential document shared with our recognised trade unions to commence informal discussions about changes to the allowances the council pays to staff.

"It is extremely disappointing this document has been leaked to the media with potentially adapted content, clearly with the intention of undermining our collective agreement.

"Following a pay review in 2018 the Council introduced a new pay scale in April 2019 that will see over £19 million invested in council staff pay by 2023.

"As part of the signed collective agreement supporting that investment the trade unions committed to a review of our allowances to repay an additional £800k investment they requested in Year 1.

"Many of the allowances the council pays do not reflect a modern organisation or new ways of working and have already been removed by many councils.

"Our informal discussions have now concluded, we will be considering the feedback and making formal proposals to the trade unions in January."

The leaked report was sent to Nub News by a worker, representing colleagues, who says they are angry that the council has rubbished workers' claims that there is an attempt to cut their terms and conditions.

He claims the document is proof that the council have been underhand. A major point of contention between the two 'sides' appears to be a statement in a letter sent to workers by the council on November 5 which says there is no removal of shift allowances planned, nor a rewrite of terms and conditions including removal of contractual overtime.'

Speaking on behalf of colleagues the worker told Thurrock Nub News: "A few weeks ago I saw your article about the cuts that the council want to bring in on our terms and money. After that, the council denied they wanted to slash things like overtime, standby times and market subsidies etc.

They sent us out a letter saying our union was lying to us etc and they had never proposed removing these agreements.

"I've seen this document and it shows it's the council who is lying. They do want to cut our pay and this will cost the likes of a binman £2,000 a year, and a driver even more

"They're lying to us and they're lying to the people of Thurrock. It's not right, we've worked hard through this pandemic being clapped in the streets and now they're trying to cut money that we can't afford to lose. People should know the truth."