The cutbacks in Mayo County Council’s roads funding is beginning to hit as highly skilled staff on fixed term contracts are being laid off and replaced by private operators.
That’s according to Labour councillor Harry Barrett who was contacted by four highly skilled council employees from the council’s architects department. The employees will be laid off at the end of June and they will be replaced by private operators on a needs basis.
Cllr Barrett stated: “These young men and women have mortgages and family commitments. If our roads funding was maintained they would still be employed. Instead they are let go without any negotiation or talk of retraining or redeployment. I find this very unsatisfactory.
“In addition, I have been made aware that Mayo County Council has recently signed contracts with private operators to carry out work that these employees were trained to perform. This is a trend that seems to be developing within councils that are strapped for cash: Fire temporary staff and farm out the work to private companies on a needs basis.
“This trend has to stop and temporary staff must be protected. Rather than sending people onto the dole and affecting the living standards of their workers, surely the council could redeploy people to administrative duties or offer part-time work rather than offering the work to private companies.
