Category: Solidarity
Emergency HGV drivers depot meeting 1 February 5.45 am
Barnet UNISON carried out an informal ballot of our members on the offer of 10 % Recruitment/Retention for our HGV driver members.
97% of members rejected this offer.
Barnet Council has been paying social workers in Family Services Recruitment/Retention payments up to 20% for the past 5 years.
In the worst Cost of Living Crisis our members believe they are worth more than 10%.
We are calling a meeting of all drivers to discuss what happens to our claim. It is important that all drivers turn up to the meeting
Wednesday 1 February, 5.45 a.m.
End.
Emergency Barnet UNISON schools members meeting and advice
Dear Member
Early this week the National Education Union (NEU) announced that they have successfully completed a strike ballot for industrial action.
The NEU have announced the strike dates which will impact on Barnet Schools:
- Wednesday 1 February (England and Wales)
- Thursday 2 March (London, South East, South West)
- Wednesday 15 March (England and Wales)
- Thursday 16 March (England and Wales)
Our branch has already begun to receive communications from our members working in Barnet Schools as to what this means for them.
Today, Thursday 19 January 2023, we have received advice from UNISON National Advice.
Now that we have the advice we have decided to call an emergency Barnet UNISON schools meeting at which we will have speakers from the NEU. We have UNISON speakers ready to take questions on how we are going to support our members on these strike days.
The Barnet UNISON meeting is on Thursday 26 January 6-7 pm please click on the link below to join the meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85006232648?pwd=TC9lUWpWUWUyOTY1WjM3STBxQTk1Zz09
Meeting ID: 850 0623 2648
Passcode: 960864
Below is the UNISON advice to our members. We have highlighted in bold and underlined some key parts of the advice.
“UNISON Advice
UNISON respects the rights of other trade unions to take industrial action and supports the other unions’ strike action. We urge members to support legal protests and rallies organised by NEU that take place outside your contracted hours of work.
However, UNISON members in schools and sixth form colleges have not been balloted for strike action or action short of strike action on this occasion and are therefore advised to continue with their normal duties and responsibilities. UNISON members should not take on any additional responsibilities being given to them directly as a result of other unions’ industrial action.
Support staff should not be expected to provide cover for, or take classes, where this would normally be done by teachers who are taking action. Staff should not be moved from the duties they would normally have carried out in order to cover work and frustrate the industrial action of colleagues. This includes any staff employed as either HLTAs or Cover Supervisors. In Cymru/Wales, in workplaces where NEU members who are support staff are taking strike action, UNISON members should not be moved to cover those colleagues’ duties either. Members who are under pressure to provide cover for striking colleagues should contact their UNISON rep, branch or region for further advice and support.
Members are reminded that due to industrial relations legislation only those employees who have been involved in a legal ballot are allowed to take industrial action.
HLTAs and Cover Supervisors
Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) should only do ‘Specified Work’ with the support and/or supervision of a Qualified Teacher. Cover Supervisors supervise students who are working to a lesson prepared by a Qualified Teacher, usually a classroom teacher. If you are in either of these roles you should not be expected to take whole classes on the day of a strike if the teacher that normally supervises, supports or prepares your work is on strike.
DfE Guidance on Industrial Action in Schools (England only)
The DfE have updated and recirculated their guidance on industrial action in schools. The guidance is non-statutory, this means that schools are not obliged to follow the guidance.
Handling strike action in schools – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The advice makes clear that for maintained schools the decision on whether to close a school or not is the responsibility of the headteacher, and for academies it rests with the Trust. However, this decision is usually delegated to the headteacher.
The guidance is aimed at headteachers advising them on ways that they can try and keep their school open. This includes guidance on the recent government legislation allowing agency staff to cover strike action. UNISON is currently challenging the legality of this legislation and it is not accepted by many agencies. If you are aware of any instances of agency staff being brought in to cover striking colleagues, please report this to your regional office.
The guidance also suggests that schools can use some of the emergency measures introduced during the Covid pandemic to keep schools open, including asking staff to provide remote learning. We do not that accept this would fall within the definition of normal work for support staff and they should not be called on to deliver remote learning on strike days.”
If you have any questions or concerns please contact the Barnet UNISON office on email to contactus@barnetunison.org.uk or ring and leave a message on 0208 359 2088.
I look forward to seeing you all at our UNISON schools meeting next week on Thursday 26 January 2023.
Best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary
Barnet UNISON
Barnet UNISON AGM 7 February 2023
How to register for Barnet UNISON AGM 7 February 2023
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.
End.
Background
Cost of Living Crisis one off payment to lowest grades except in community schools.
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
End.
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.
End.
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.