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The union said workers must be protected as the government moves forward with proposals that will see two-tier areas and “smaller or failing” unitaries regroup under mayor-led strategic authorities representing combined populations of around 1.5 million people.
The government has insisted that no council workers will be compelled to leave their jobs.
Interim plans drawn up by local areas are due to be submitted to the government imminently, with full proposals expected by the end of November.
Six areas – Greater Essex, Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Sussex & Brighton and Hampshire & Solent – have already been selected to join the devolution fast track under the government’s priority programme.
But the union said that the abolition of lower-tier district councils will put thousands of local government jobs in jeopardy.
Existing pay deals may also be lost if workers move to new authorities and find themselves reemployed on different contracts, it added.
Calling for ministers to ensure no compulsory redundancies as a result of reorganisation, Unison said wages, pensions and benefits, such as sick pay and leave, must be protected when workers are transferred to new organisations.
Current arrangements allowing unions to negotiate centrally with a national body over pay should also be preserved, it said.
“Local government reorganisation cannot be used as a convenient cover for job cuts,” said Unison’s general secretary, Christina McAnea.
Councils were under severe financial strain following years of austerity, but communities should not lose the expertise that allowed authorities to support their residents, she said.
“It would be a travesty if crucial public services are shut down, outsourced or sold off in pursuit of further savings across a sector that's already suffered savage cuts for many years,” she said.
“Councils are long overdue a multi-year funding settlement that stabilises local services, ensures residents can access the support they deserve and protects staff.”
A fair pay deal, including for care workers, must be part of the solution, McAnea said.
Although workforce reductions are not addressed directly in the government’s English devolution white paper, the document says the new unitaries “must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks”.
It also includes a commitment to establish a local government workforce development group.
This group will “identify practical solutions to help resolve and improve workforce issues and promote the sector as a great place to work, while ensuring the workforce is set-up for the future”, it says.
In Surrey, modelling work has been undertaken to assess the costs and benefits of rival proposals to reorganise the area into two unitaries – the option backed by Surrey County Council – or three unitaries, the preference of the other district and borough councils.
Analysis by Surrey County Council puts the cost of redundancy and early retirement under the two unitary model at between £11m and £15.6m, while a move to three unitaries would reduce that cost to between £5.7m and £9.4m.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “We are clear that under employment laws, council workers will not be compelled to leave their jobs because of reforms to local government structures.
“Under our reforms to local government structures, council workers will be transferred to new organisations and are covered by protections under long-standing employment law. We will be engaging closely with trade unions to manage this process.
“This government is focused on rebuilding the sector to make councils more sustainable, so we can create a more accountable system which will streamline the local delivery and give taxpayers the services they deserve.”
