Category: News
Non UNISON news
Barnet UNISON AGM 7 February 4pm 2023
Breaking Good News: All Community Schools to receive £150 Cost of Living payment
Barnet UNISON announced that Barnet Council would be making Cost-of-Living payment of £150 to all non-schools’ staff on grades A-E. Unfortunately, at the time the offer was made we were informed that this would not be made to staff in community schools for whom the council is the employer.
Barnet UNISON believed this was unfair as many of these members are low paid. We asked for Barnet Council to financially support Community Schools to enable them to make this much needed payment to their staff.
We can now confirm that we have just heard that Barnet Council have agreed one-off payment to school support staff on Grades A-E.
Please note this applies to all school staff for whom the council is the employer.
List of Barnet Community Schools are below.
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Background
Cost of Living Crisis one off payment to lowest grades except in community schools.
Barnet UNISON solidarity to all strikers
Breaking News: Capita Re contract to be terminated early.
Back in 2013 Barnet Council signed two big contracts with Capita to deliver services.
On Tuesday 19 July 2022, Barnet Council made a decision to let Capita Re (a Joint venture with Barnet Council) expire at the end of the 10-year contract.
View Barnet Council report here
https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s73533/Review%20of%20Capita%20Contracts.pdf
This meant staff working for the following services would be coming back in-house to Barnet Council on the 30 September 2023
- Regulatory Services: (Environmental Health, Trading and Licensing Services, Pest Control)
- Regeneration
- Highways
- Cemetery and Crematorium
- Land Charges
- Building Control
- Planning and Development.
The Breaking News is that Barnet Council and Capita informed all staff working on the Capita Re contract that all services will be coming back in-house on 31 March 2023 six months earlier than planned.
“This is good news for staff, good news for residents and good news for the services. I welcome the decision and look forward to welcoming back all the services back into Barnet Council where they all belong.” John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON.
“The news that Barnet Council has agreed to terminate the Capita Re contract six months earlier than planned is very positive. It means that important services such as Regeneration, Highways, Planning and Development, Regulatory Services and Building Control will return to in-house provision. This is a big step forward in reducing outsourcing in Barnet and represents a failure of the Tories much maligned ‘Future Shape’ and ‘Easy Council’ model for local government.” Dexter Whitfield, Director, European Services Strategy Unit
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Note to Editors: Contact Barnet UNISON on or 020 8359 2088 or email: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
Background:
What does #Caxit mean for Barnet UNISON members working for Capita?
Cost of Living Crisis one off payment to lowest grades except in community schools.
Yesterday Barnet Council has announced in an email to all staff that it will be making a Cost-of-Living payment of £150 to all non-schools’ staff on grades A-E.
Whilst Barnet UNISON welcomes this payment for our lowest paid members, we are concerned that another group of low paid female members working in Barnet Council Community Schools will not be receiving this payment from the Council.
We have been informed that Barnet Council will be writing to all the Community schools to advise them of the payment.
Barnet UNISON has asked for Barnet Council to support Community Schools to enable them to make this much needed payment to their staff.
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A shift of a care worker in Barnet: The London Living Wage is not enough!
Barnet UNISON is in negotiations with The Barnet Group (TBG) about improving Pay and Terms and Conditions of our members.
One of our members, a care worker put together a list of work she does each day.
The list is enormous but it’s a critical service. The impact on the quality of life of residents is determined by the skill and professionalism of the care worker.
Whilst politicians will queue up to say that care workers are central to the delivery of care in the community they still refuse to commit to dealing with the ‘elephant in the room’ which is Pay.
Care workers have been subjected to outsourcing which has seen the pay and terms and conditions sink.
Considering the care work workforce is largely female it could be said that outsourcing of care work is an example of institutional misogyny within procurement and commissioning of care services.
Look at this list of tasks and ask yourself whether you think that care workers should be paid more.
As a Carers we do:
- Personal care
- Make bed and tidy up bathrooms and rooms.
- Put water in the jug.
- Give bedtime tea.
- Serve tea after personal care.
- Take all clothes, bed linens, towels to laundry to wash.
- Assist residents to go to the dining area.
- Support residents to walk with jimo frames. or in a wheelchair.
- Assist residents to sit on the chair.
- Serve breakfast and prepare tea and toast.
- Assist residents to go the toilet.
- Assist residents as required.
- Assist residents to go to the lounge or in their room.
- Make sure they have everything as needed.
- Take Covid Temperature and record.
- Clear dining area and set up for lunch time.
- Wash all dishes and serving pots and pans.
- Clear and sweeping floors.
- Medication administered.
- Assist and respond when is needed.
- Do daily logbook and record.
- Served 11 am tea or juices choices if residents.
- Change bed linen.
- Dealt with residents as different needs.
- Escort residents to their hospital appointment.
- Take samples of residents to GP.
- Support residents with hearing aids, glasses, dentures.
- Weigh residents regularly.
- Take BP regularly.
- Admin work monthly based filing all documents.
- Everyday take fridges temperatures and food temperatures.
- Daily logging and administration medication.
- Assist residents to go to toilet before lunch.
- Assists residents to sit on their chair to eat lunch.
- Bring food trolly from kitchen to dining area.
- Get ready to serve lunch.
- Served lunch and dealt with individual’s needs.
- Again scraped all dishes and take to the small kitchen to wash.
- Clear, sweep, collect and wash.
- Support and assist residents needs to go toilet, lounge, in their room.
- Empty bin and take to waste bin outside.
- Do daily logging book.
- Laundry to put way and hang in the wardrobe in the resident’s room.
- Teatime 3pm prepare tea and served tea and coffee and cakes.
- Take Covid Temperature.
- Do Menu for next lunch and supper ask individual what they would like to eat and explained to residents what is in the menu.
- Do shopping list for next day.
- Collect all cups and plates and wash them.
- Set up tables for suppers.
- Do daily logbook.
- Administration medications.
- We do behaviour chats, fluids records, bowels records, oral care records everyday morning and evening.
- Serve suppers bring trolly to the dining area.
- Do personal and oral care individuals.
- Scraped dishes and wash and clear dining area.
- After all personal care done take clothes and towels into laundry room and put them in the washing machines and clean kitchen.
- Medication administered.
- Serve bedtime’s tea.
- Put residents in beds.
- Empty dishwasher and put cutlery way.
- Collect all cups and mugs and put in washing.
- Do daily logbook.
- Check resident before finish shifts and handover.
- Go home.
64 reasons why £11.95 (London Living Wage) is not enough Pay for care workers.
End.
Simple Guide on how to vote in the National Pay consultation for next Year 2023
RPI a massive 19.9% in October! We have two Waste & Recycling (Bin workers) pay issues
The graphic above was taken from the Government website The Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The almost vertical rise in RPI is plain for all to see. The graphic shows RPI over a 30-year period.
We are unprecedented times which is why our members are angry and determined to get a pay offer they believe provides them with some respect.
Early next week UNISON and GMB are going into another round of talks to try and reach an agreement on two pay claims made on behalf of bin workers
At a mass meeting in the depot this morning our members are clear they want a better offer.
Our members worked throughout Covid and feel their contribution to the delivering services 52 weeks a year to Barnet residents is not recognised by their employer.
Warms words will not pay the rent, the food bills or the escalating energy costs.
Barnet UNISON will be reminding the employer that our members working in Waste & Recycling (Bin workers) had a 91% turnout in the National Pay consultation and almost of the Votes were to REJECT the offer and move to strike action.
See voting figures here
The next round of talks will take place on Monday 28 November 2022.
More later.
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Barnet Council: London Living Wage is NOW £11.95
Barnet Council includes the London Living Wage as a contract clause for some of the contractors that deliver services on behalf of Barnet Council e.g. Norse (cleaning contractor) ISS (catering in schools), Blue Nine (security services).
“The new Living Wage rates were announced on Thursday 22nd September 2022. Employers should implement the rise as soon as possible but by the latest 14th May 2023.”
https://www.livingwage.org.uk/calculation
Our members working for Norse, ISS, Blue Nine are currently earning £11.05 an hour.
The new rate is £11.95 and hour.
The worst Cost-of-Living Crisis in 75 years is having a disproportionate impact on the lowest paid which is why Barnet UNISON has called on Barnet Council to ask their contractors to update the London Living Wage for their staff before Christmas.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows RPI was 19.9% at the end of October (see graph below).
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