COUNCIL staff are in disbelief after councillors pressed on with plans to cut the wages of nearly 150 staff while voting to give themselves a 17 per cent pay rise.

They say the council has acted like “Scrooge” and appears to be getting ready for panto season early this year.

A motion calling for Worcestershire County Council to reverse its fire and rehire policy was rejected by Conservative councillors at a full council meeting last week.

At the same meeting, members voted unanimously to increase their basic allowance by nearly £2,000 after the May 2025 elections.

Unions and opposition councillors had criticised the council for its use of the discredited employment practice, which Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to ban.

But deputy council leader Marcus Hart said fire and rehire was a “legal and lawful mechanism” and it was “nonsense to say we can stop this”.

Affected employees, who are among the longest-serving at the authority, will have their 37-hour contracts terminated next month and, if they turn up to work the next day, be given new 35-hour contracts.

This equates to a 5.4 per cent pay cut.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, staff said they were in “disbelief” following last Thursday’s meeting.

They were already sceptical over claims by council bosses that the fire and rehire process would save £500,000, but now believe any savings that might have been made will be cancelled out by the councillors’ pay rise.

According to the council’s independent remuneration panel, which advises on member allowances, the additional annual cost of the pay rises for councillors voted through last week will be £96,900.

Staff said they are also concerned about the impact cutting hours will have on front line services including highways maintenance, flood response and school funding.

They said: “The council seems to be getting ready early for pantomime season this year.

“They have the selfishness of Scrooge, the integrity of Pinocchio and the business acumen of Widow Twanky.”

Last week, shop workers’ union Usdaw won a Supreme Court battle with Tesco over plans to fire and rehire staff at distribution centres.

A spokesperson said the council's position remained the same and that there were a number of reasons why the proposals were considered, with financial savings being just one of them.

“A wide range of information was considered pre, during and post consultation to inform the decision,” they said.

“We have engaged in consultation with approximately 150 staff, less than six percent of the workforce, on the council’s reduced working hours strategy which was first introduced in 2011.

“Officers first commenced consultation in December 2023 and have been in dialogue with staff affected by the proposed change and the council’s recognised trade unions, both prior to and throughout the process in accordance with the council’s policies."