John Swinney has been warned against pushing through "barbarous" public sector job cuts in order to plug a £5billion blackhole in the Government's finances.
The First Minister will arrive in Aberdeen for the SNP's annual conference today amid mounting concerns over his plans to radically reform the NHS and local government.
Centralisation drive
Swinney announced last month his intention to slash the number of health boards and councils across the country as part of a cost-cutting centralisation drive - but firm details on what the proposals will mean have yet to be revealed.
Scotland's most senior trade unionist is now calling for workers to share their views on how the public sector can be reformed without the need for mass lay-offs.
Workers' Inquiry
Roz Foyer, STUC general secretary, hopes the public's views will help develop a set of worker-led demands for public service improvements as an alternative to the Scottish Government's proposals.
The union chief has warned that the Scottish Government's reform agenda could see "reckless" changes to the way public services are delivered - with the potential loss of up to 20,000 public sector jobs.
The Workers' Inquiry will form the basis of public service improvements that invests in services, values the workers who deliver them and improves outcomes for communities – without using what trade unions have labelled as a "barbarous programme of public sector cuts".
The consultation will close on November 30 with the findings used to develop trade union demands and recommendations for the Scottish Government throughout the campaign.
Union demands
The STUC is calling on SNP ministers to engage meaningfully with the Workers' Inquiry and to put worker experience and the needs of communities at the heart of its approach to public service reform.
Foyer said: "We have been clear that trade unions will not allow 20,000 jobs to be thrown on the scrapheap in a barbarous programme of public sector cuts."
"The Workers' Inquiry is our alternative. We are reaching out to workplaces and communities across Scotland to ask the people who deliver our public services every day what needs to change, what works and what doesn't and what a better future for our public services should look like."
"We want to build a worker-led vision for public service improvements – one that values, not cuts, the people who deliver our services, strengthens provision and builds world-class public services for everyone in Scotland."
The Scottish Government has said that trade unions must have a meaningful role in shaping its reform agenda. The STUC intends to hold them to that commitment, with Foyer adding: "If ministers are serious about improving public services, they should welcome this consultation and publicly commit to encouraging workers, employers and public sector agencies to take part in the campaign."
"We do not accept that the only way to reform public services is through job losses, cuts and closures. Investment, proper planning and using the experience of Scotland's public service workers offer a better way forward."
"The clock is ticking. As SNP Conference gets underway in Aberdeen, trade unionists are mobilising across Scotland to show the party of government that investment, not cuts, is the way to build public services we can all be proud of."
