Letter: Cut Shropshire Council pay, not Shropshire Council jobs

Letter: I understand the concerns of Shropshire Council staff at the pay cut plans from personal experience, having been made redundant during previous recessions. However, I can testify that, given the option, I would have accepted a pay cut rather than general job cuts.

Unemployment, even for a few months, destroys any personal capital built up by individuals and the reality is that it is much easier to get another job while in work than it is once out of work.

Fairly or not, unemployment/redundancy, except possibly where a whole company closes, still carries a stigma for those affected.

Private sector companies such as Honda, have shown the way during the recession; by a combination of short-time working and pay cuts, it has protected the long term future of the company and its employees.

It is unclear whether the proposed pay cuts affect a) teachers or b) the top management. Given the quantum of the council's budget spent on schools, if teachers are excluded from the cuts then this is patently unfair as it means that the cuts falling on the remainder are probably twice as bad as they might have been.

If top managers are excluded due to some spurious argument about contractual terms, they are undermining their entire argument, as management means leading by example.

Andrew Whyte

Shrewsbury