Category: Health and Safety

27 days of strike action as strikers re-ballot for more strikes!

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Disability, Health and Safety, News, Report, Solidarity, Trades Dispute

Today is our last day of strike action. Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers have taken 27 days of strike action which equates to at least 405 LOST working days to Mental Health services. Our members estimate that these days lost mean that at least 4,050 contacts for Mental Health services users have been lost.

It has been 162 days (six months) since UNISON notified Barnet Council of the intention to strike, yet senior management refuse to negotiate despite the obvious serious implications for service users.

Senior management are defending the indefensible they have lost control of the service, and they are doubling down on a strategy that is dragging the Councils reputation into disrepute.

Key points about our campaign.

  • Mental Health social workers support adults who experience mental ill-health to live safely and with dignity.
  • The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says 4 – 6 weeks is a reasonable wait time for a needs assessment under the Care Act 2014. In Barnet mental health services, the wait time has reached 17 months.
  • 20 staff have left the adult social work teams in the last 18 months, and another has handed in their notice. Despite this, the council refuses to apply the same recruitment and retention payment to adult social workers that it applies to children’s social workers who are in teams with better staff retention rates.
  • Mental health social workers in Barnet are calling for the council to provide a safe service, no waiting lists and fair pay.
  • Mental Health Social Workers have taken 27 days of strike action (we estimate this works out to 405 LOST working days or 4,050 service user contacts LOST for Mental Health service users) since September 2023 but the Chief Executive of Barnet Council still refuses to negotiate.

End.

5 things you can do to support Barnet Mental Health social worker strikers

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Disability, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

What can supporters do?

 

  1. Visit our picket lines all week commencing 5-9 February

between 8- 10 am see details on our web site here https://rb.gy/bwlesx

  1. Please sign Barnet UNISON email campaign to Barnet Council Chief Executive Please click on the link and follow the instructions. https://action.unison.org.uk/page/135744/action/1 Let us know when he replies.
  2. Please write by email or by letter to:

John Hooton, Chief Executive of Barnet Council John.Hooton@Barnet.gov.uk

Address: London Borough of Barnet; 2 Bristol Avenue; London NW9 4EW

Cllr Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council Cllr.B.Rawlings@barnet.gov.uk

Address: London Borough of Barnet; 2 Bristol Avenue; London NW9 4EW.

 

  1. Please send a solidarity message to our strikers by emailing our office at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

  1. Make a donation to the Barnet UNISON Industrial Action Fund. Email the office at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk for details.

Solidarity Kingsley

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Disability, Health and Safety, Local, News, Recruitment, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

Over the past few years Barnet UNISON has been working to increase the number of UNISON reps and Health & Safety reps.

One of the services we have targeted has been Street Scene services.

Kingsley is a good example of how our branch has begun to grow the UNISON reps not just for the present but the future. Kingsley works in Ground Maintenance and they use heavy machinery and equipment to carry out their work across the borough. Kingsley is eager to learn more about his Health & Safety role in order to keep his work colleagues safe.

That is why our reps are sending solidarity to Kingsley.

 

 

Solidarity from Liz Wheatley Camden UNISON

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Demonstration, Disability, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Liz Wheatley Camden UNISON Julia Mwaluke UNISON Vice President Helen Davies Barnet UNISON

 

Dear Striking Social Workers in Barnet UNISON,

We want to send further solidarity greetings from Camden UNISON whilst you are taking more strike action over the way you are being treated. It’s outrageous that your team isn’t deemed worthy of the same retention payments as other teams and services in Barnet – we know that there’s a real problem recruiting and retaining social workers across London, and a Council that doesn’t treat you properly will lose you.

For far too long, public services have been seen by Tory governments as a waste of money – they have grudgingly given as little as possible each year. However, we know that in reality, the services we provide are a lifeline for millions, and are what makes society function – where would we be without school support staff, refuse workers, housing workers, library workers and of course social workers?

We also know that you get the service you pay for – the kind of support you provide really needs continuity, it needs providers who aren’t over-worked and stressed, who have the time to find the best for their clients, and who simply have the time for their clients. So for your bosses to not even discuss how they can solve the retention crisis in your team is a real disgrace.

Not least because the money is there. A recent report from Oxfam this month has highlighted that the five richest people in the world have more than doubled their wealth since 2020. Their wealth has increased by more than £11 an hour. At the same time, the world’s poorest 5 billion people have been made poorer. So it’s not about no money in society, it’s about who has it.

Your strike is part of a bigger fight from our class saying that we should have more of the money available – for us, and also for those we provide a service to. That’s why it matters that you win, and if we can help you by bringing solidarity then we will. Last year, some members of our branch here in Camden took indefinite strike action for 59 days, and they had a huge win – they increased their pay by £5,000 this year, and above inflation rises for the next 2 years as well. The lesson that they teach us is that if you fight, it’s possible to win!

Solidarity to you all,

Liz Wheatley (Branch Secretary) and Jacqui Wallace (Branch Chair)

Camden UNISON

Liz Wheatley

Branch Secretary

Camden UNISON

7 things you can do to support Barnet Mental Health social worker strikers

Austerity, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

What can supporters do?

  1. Visit our picket lines all week commencing 15-19 January between 8- 12.30 pm see details on our web site here

 

  1. Please sign Barnet UNISON email campaign to Barnet Council Chief Executive Please click on the link and follow the instructions. https://action.unison.org.uk/page/135744/action/1

  1. Please send a solidarity message to our strikers by emailing our office at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

  1. Request for your name to be added to the Barnet UNISON Mental Health Social Worker Strike Solidarity Wall https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/28/barnet-unison-mental-health-social-worker-strike-solidarity-wall/ by sending an email to contactus@barnetunison.org.uk requesting for your solidarity message to be added to the Solidarity Wall.

 

  1. If you are on social media, you can help by liking/sharing or commenting on our many posts. Here are our social media sites.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/barnet_unison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarnetUNISON

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnetunison/

  1. Please write by email or by letter to:

John Hooton, Chief Executive of Barnet Council John.Hooton@Barnet.gov.uk

Address: London Borough of Barnet; 2 Bristol Avenue; London NW9 4EW

Cllr Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council Cllr.B.Rawlings@barnet.gov.uk

Address: London Borough of Barnet; 2 Bristol Avenue; London NW9 4EW.

 

  1. Make a donation to the Barnet UNISON Industrial Action Fund. Email the office at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk for details.

 

Please let the branch know what you can do in solidarity for our Barnet UNISON strikers.

Solidarity

Barnet UNISON.

 

Come along to Solidarity Fundraiser for Mental Health social work strikers 12 Jan

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

I want to give a big thanks to UNISON Young Members – Greater London Region for organising a “Strike Fundraiser for Barnet Mental Health Workers!” It is truly both humbling and inspiring that our UNISON Young Members are prepared to take the time to organise this event. (John Burgess Branch Secretary Barnet UNISON).

 

Please click on link to register.

https://www.outsavvy.com/event/17466/strike-fundraiser-for-barnet-mental-health-workers

 

Read about  details below.

Our comrades, the Mental Health Workers at Barnet Council, have been on strike over poor pay and dangerous working conditions that put the lives of the people they care for at risk. There were also new colleagues who wanted to join the strike but council management has blocked members from taking action. We commend our brave comrades and Unison Young Members – Greater London Region are hosting this fundraiser to support them whilst on strike.

Join us at Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road and expect some great music with live DJ’s, a raffle and some cheap food and drinks.Event kicks off at 6:30pm until 11pm. Let’s party and dance in solidarity with the brave strikers! 💃

Tickets are £7 advance and £10 at the door.

Striking workers go free! ALL funds going to directly to strike relief fund.

The event space has level access. There is a gender neutral accessible bathroom available for use directly next to the event space which does not require a radar key.

There is no parking at the event space, the nearest Blue Badge parking is on Parmiter Street, approximately 965 metres away, where there are 2 on street bays, with a 3hr maximum. We can open the gate to let a car through with advance notice, but it is not normally possible to park a car there for the duration of an event.

Hasta la victoria siempre!! ✊

Organised By UNISON Young Members – Greater London Region

Organiser of Strike Fundraiser for Barnet Mental Health Workers!

 

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