Labour staff told of jobs scrapped under proposed party reorganisation

Labour employees are being told by senior management that their roles will not exist under a new proposed restructuring of the party to be presented at a staff meeting on Tuesday.

LabourList understands that staff are not being told they are being made involuntarily redundant at this stage, but instead being informed of what their teams will look like – and how the downsizing will affect their job.

A number of Labour staff members have been told their roles do not exist in the new structure determined by the Organise to Win process, which was launched by general secretary David Evans over a year ago.

When Evans wrote to staff in July 2020 about the review of Labour’s organisational structure, conducted with the help of former civil service head Bob Kerslake, he described it as “not focused on staffing levels”.

But the structure determined by ‘O2W’ will see roles disappear and the announcement on Tuesday will come after the party confirmed that it needs to cut at least 90 staff in order to repair its poor finances.

Labour gave employees a deadline of August 9th to express interest in voluntary redundancy and stated in a leaked Q&A document sent to staff: “We will only consider compulsory redundancy as a last resort.”

Describing the recent phone calls about the new structure, one staffer told LabourList: “I think they’re thinking it will increase their chances of getting the kind of redundancies that they want from the voluntary scheme.”

Employees wishing to remain anonymous have expressed concern that Labour is not accounting for the years of experience that will be lost and will have staff in key roles who have never worked during a general election.

Sources on the left of the party have said they are also concerned that Labour is keen to get rid of staff members associated with the Jeremy Corbyn era, even if they have valuable skills and knowledge.

LabourList understands that the first letter sent jointly by Unite and GMB prompted a response from the party, which resulted in Labour improving the initial redundancy offer in a bid to attract more volunteers.

While complaining about a “lack of communication and consultation”, the unions representing staff had asked for four weeks’ pay for every year served rather than three and for a minimum of £5,000 to be applied.

LabourList plans to reveal more about the teams most affected by the downsizing after the staff meeting has taken place on Tuesday, when the new proposed structure will be unveiled to employees.

The Labour Party was contacted for comment.