{"id":892239,"date":"2026-03-18T02:08:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/union-threatens-strike-over-telematics-and-outsourcing\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T02:08:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:08:27","slug":"union-threatens-strike-over-telematics-and-outsourcing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/union-threatens-strike-over-telematics-and-outsourcing\/","title":{"rendered":"Union threatens strike over telematics and outsourcing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Unite<\/p>\n

\n

Workers at a local authority\u2019s construction services team are being balloted over potential strike action over vehicle-tracking policies and the potential outsourcing of services.<\/p>\n

Unite has launched a consultative ballot among members at Dundee City Council over what it described as \u201cserious concerns\u201d.<\/p>\n

A consultative ballot is a non-binding survey gauging whether members would be interested in taking industrial action.<\/p>\n

Unite industrial officer Bob MacGregor said: \u201cWe are asking our members whether they would be prepared to take action over a number of serious concerns we have over outsourcing, the telematics policy which essentially tracks the movement of workers, and issues relating to the grievance procedures and the behaviour of management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to engage with the council but they have been told in no uncertain terms that unless the concerns of our members are swiftly addressed then moving to a strike ballot will be inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Telematics systems typically monitor the operations of vehicles and plant, and can keep tabs on things such as routes, mileage, idling and fuel use.<\/p>\n

The Evening Telegraph<\/em> newspaper<\/a> reported that the union told members it believes Dundee council management has not provided a safe working environment because it has failed to address allegations of bullying in a timely manner and accused management of fostering a culture of bullying through their inaction.<\/p>\n

Dundee Council has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Its spokesperson told the Evening Telegraph<\/em>: \u201cWe are aware of this situation and continue to engage constructively with trade unions on all matters raised.<\/p>\n

\u201cDundee City Council is actively engaging with council staff regarding any matters of concern that are brought to our attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, Costain chief executive Alex Vaughan told Construction News<\/em><\/a> that using telematics on hired plant on HS2 had helped reduce inefficiencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to improve productivity by 40 per cent by managing lorry movements to suit excavators and plant routes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prize for me is thinking time. If you give people live data and remove some of the admin, they make better decisions. That\u2019s how you improve predictability.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Ian Weinfass<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Workers at a local authority\u2019s construction services team are being balloted over potential strike action over vehicle-tracking policies and the potential outsourcing of services. Unite has launched a consultative ballot among members at Dundee City Council over what it described as \u201cserious concerns\u201d. A consultative ballot is a non-binding survey gauging whether members would be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":892242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24351,1668],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-892239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-threatens","8":"category-union"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}