UNITE drivers at Edinburgh City Council’s housing services will be balloted for industrial action as a dispute over worker “surveillance.”

About 100 drivers in the department were already subject to monitoring through telematics — agreed with the union to improve driving standards and safety — to improve driving standards and safety.

But in June, the council proposed the introduction of “exception reports” detailing when a vehicle had been used for more than an hour before or after a shift.

The union raised concerns that those reports could not only lead to disciplinary triggers for commutes of over an hour, but could also allow the system to be abused by management.

Launching the ballot, which will run from Friday November 21 to January 5, Unite industrial officer Graeme Smith said: “Management continue to ignore our calls for dialogue.

“The proposed change to the tracking system’s use are designed to do one thing only and that is to further increase the surveillance on workers.

“New technology is being introduced without sufficient controls to ensure its use is fair and reasonable.”

Edinburgh City Council was contacted for comment.