UNISON propose 24 hour strike in Barnet Commissioning Council on 7 October

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Barnet UNISON propose 24 hour strike on 7 October

Barnet UNISON members who still work for Barnet Council (excluding community schools) will begin a 24 hour strike action on Wednesday 7 October

The dispute involves social workers, coach escorts, drivers, occupational therapists, schools catering staff, education welfare officers, library workers, children centre workers, street cleaning & refuse workers, all of whom have made it clear they want to remain employees of Barnet Council and don’t want to be outsourced.

Barnet Council is about to agree a number of outsourcing and cuts across a number of council committees over the next four months which would see the number of staff employed by the council reduced to less than 300.

The outsourcing of services is Barnet Council’s response to austerity policies which have resulted in council budgets being cut by 40% by 2020. It is a deliberate ideological attack on public services which punishes our members and limits access to public services for the most vulnerable in our society. Barnet Council announced a few weeks ago that Meals on Wheels will cease as from 1 April 2016, which is another sign of how pernicious austerity fundamentalist policies are to those in most need http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34310729

On 2 October the Council will publish a report on the future of the library service which is seeking to reduce the staff budget by 68%. This will, in effect, destroy our wonderful public library services.

At our recent Kids4Libraries march Jeremy Corbyn, now Leader of Labour Party said: ‘First I want to add my apologies to the event and the huge admiration for Barnet UNISON. I want to send a message of support to John Burgess & the Save Barnet Libraries campaign for their tireless & inspirational community campaign to protect their local Library service. I would encourage everyone to join their Kids4Libraries this Saturday 12 September. Barnet Council are determined to outsource all of their services I salute Barnet UNISON & the community campaign for their ongoing fight to defend public services.’

Picket Lines will be:

· Barnet House from 7 am.

· Mill Hill Depot—Starts 6 am onwards.

· East Finchley Library—Start 9 am onwards.

A rally will be held outside Barnet House at 12 noon

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: “Our members want to work for the Council, they want to be directly accountable to the residents of Barnet. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will have to place the shareholders’ legal demands before local residents’ needs. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which uses zero hours contracts. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which will not pay the London Living Wage as a basic minimum. Our members don’t want to work for an employer which won’t allow their colleagues to belong to their Pension Scheme, and our members don’t want to work for an employer which will take jobs out of the borough. That’s why 87% of our members working for the Council voted ‘Yes’ to taking strike action. So far the Council has failed to come close to agreeing to any one of these demands. One of our members has written and produced a music campaign video called “UNISON Army” which pretty much sums up the mood of our members take a look https://youtu.be/9AcYT2YTFLE

End.

Notes to Editors.

Contact details: John Burgess Barnet UNISON on 07738389569 or 0208 359 2088 or email: john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk

Background:

Six years ago Barnet Council introduced a policy known as Future Shape which morphed into ‘easyCouncil’*.This imposed a series of tariffs on residents wishing to access a range of services. A basic service would be offered to residents at a fixed price, but ‘fast track’ services might be available if you paid extra.

This approach was quickly abandoned by the consultant driven One Barnet Programme, which led to the following Council Services being outsourced/privatised in the space of three years:

1. Social Care for Adults with disabilities to Your Choice Barnet

2. Housing Options to Barnet Homes

3. Parking Services to NSL

4. Revenues & Benefits, IT, HR & Payroll, Pensions, Health & Safety, Finance, Estates, Property Services, Procurement, Projects all now part of Capita CSG

5. Environmental Health, Planning, Building Control, Hendon Cemetery & Crematorium, Highways, Trading Standards & Licensing all now Capita RE

6. Legal Services

7. Registrars & Nationality Services

8. CCTV

9. Music Trust

10. Public Health

11. Mortuary Services.

Over the past three years our members have seen hundreds of colleagues transferred to other employers. This has often meant redundancy as the new employer moved jobs out of the borough and Greater London to places as far afield as Belfast, Carlisle, Coventry, Southampton and Darlington.

Barnet has branded this final phase as the ‘Commissioning Council’.

On 3 March 2015 Barnet Council agreed its next Five Commissioning Plans all of which are looking at ‘Alternative Delivery Models’, jargon for working for a different employer.

The Council Services now at risk of outsourcing are:

· Early Years – 13 Children’s Centres

· Library Services

· Adults & Communities services

· Street Scene Services e.g. Waste & Recycling, Street Cleansing, Parks and Transport

· Education & Skills and School Meals services.

2. Disappearing Council – short animation https://youtu.be/YQ5t63fSu-s

3. “The easyCouncil Loco-motion” https://youtu.be/Wi0bdgofsmM

 

“We leave no members behind”

“We leave no members behind”

This is a commitment I am finding myself increasingly saying in meetings with members who work for a number of different employers. Whether it is our council housing repairs workers who work for Mears or members working for Capita, NSL, Barnet Council, Barnet Homes, Your Choice Barnet, Barnet College, we are all facing attacks both in the workplace but at home and in our communities as a direct result of austerity.

Austerity is responsible for our terms and conditions being attacked and that there have been no pay awards to address the increasing cost of living.

Austerity has made housing a major issue not just for our members in terms of cost but for our children who cannot afford to leave home.

What is clear, is that we cannot fight for each struggle alone, we need to support each other.

This Saturday 12 September we have organised Kids4Libraries march. The main march begins outside Church End Library and it is going to be big and it is going to be fun.

  • “In the Thick of it” actor Rebecca Front and children’s author Alan Gibbons will be on the march.
  • Durham Miners are coming to join the march
  • Lesbian and Gay Support the Miners are bringing their banner to the march.
  • London Metropolitan Band are leading the march.
  • Open Top Red Bus decorated and available for those who are unable to march.
  • Trade Union branches and community campaigns will be there.

However, more importantly it is about all Barnet UNISON members pulling together and in this case in support and solidarity for Library workers.

One of the proposals is to reduce staff by 65%!

I do not think it is right that we leave Library workers behind to fight this alone.

This is why our branch is calling on all of our members to spare a few hours this Saturday to come down and show solidarity for our fellow UNISON members.

Venue: Church End Library (5 minutes from Finchley Central Tube station).

Time: Assemble from 11 am.

See you there

John Burgess

Branch Secretary

 

Barnet UNISON

Big thanks to UNISON branches for their support

Our members who still work for Barnet Council now face a critical moment as five outsourcing projects are due to make decision in the next five months.

The UNISON family has showed us tremendous solidarity through messages of support and donations.

We began our second phase of our campaign by launching news of our Kids4Libraries march on Saturday 12 September.

We have issued a social media campaign called Thunderclap on Twitter and Face Book and asked supporters to join by clicking on this link and signing up to support.

http://t.co/KFsIocB6mF

Here is a list of UNISON branches who have sent donations to our branch.

South Tyneside UNISON

Portsmouth UNISON

Mid Yorkshire Health UNISON

Southend UNISON

Bolton UNISON

Kingston & Chelsea UNISON

Doncaster, District & B Health UNISON

Royal Devon UNISON

Rochdale UNISON

Stoke-on-Trent UNISON

Mendip UNISON

West Midlands Fire UNISON

Burnley UNISON

Hert Community Healthcare UNISON

Tower Hamlets UNISON

Tunbridge Wells Borough UNISON

City of Edinburgh UNISON

Thurrock UNISON

Barking, Havering & Redbridge Health UNISON

Barking & Dagenham UNISON

North Yorkshire UNISON

Carmarthenshire County UNISON

Hillingdon UNISON

Norfolk County UNISON

North Somerset UNISON

Somerset County UNISON

Calderdale UNISON

Lothian Health UNISON

New Forest DC UNISON

Manchester UNISON

Wirral Health UNISON

Wiltshire UNISON

Charnwood Borough UNISON

Sandwell UNISON

Bath Health Care UNISON

Newcastle City UNISON

Stockport Metropolitan UNISON

Western Isles LG UNISON

East Lancashire Health UNISON

Scottish Healthcare UNISON

Hackney UNISON

West Sussex UNISON

Essex County UNISON

Barnsley UNISON

Tameside UNISON

Milton Keynes UNISON

Ashford Borough LG UNISON

Salford City UNISON (£50) & collection (£50)

Camden UNISON

Dudley Hospital Group UNISON

Falkirk UNISON

Swindon UNISON

North Tyneside UNISON

Leeds LG UNISON

Redcar & Cleveland UNISON

Pembrokeshire UNISON

Aberdeen UNISON

Southampton District UNISON

Kirklees UNISON

Cardiff & Vale UNISON

Durham County UNISON

Mid Yorkshire Health UNISON

Bournemouth & Christchurch UNISON

Kensington & Chelsea UNISON

Gateshead LG UNISON

Wolverhampton UNISON

Orchard Health UNISON

Southwark UNISON

Hemerton UNISON

South Lanarkshire UNISON

Woking UNISON

Rotherham UNISON

York City UNISON

Croydon UNISON

Bolton Salford Trafford Mental Health UNISON

Southend UNISON

Hull City UNISON

Central Bristol Health UNISON

Knowsley UNISON

Portsmouth Trades Council

Cardiff County LG UNISON

Liverpool City UNISON

Sheffield Metropolitan UNISON

Cambridge City UNISON

Dundee City UNISON

Lothian Health UNISON

Leeds LG UNISON

South Manchester Hospital UNISON

Surrey County UNISON

Dorset Health UNISON

Hounslow UNISON

UCL Hospital UNISON

FBU London Region

East Renfrewshire UNISON

St Helens & Knowsley Health UNISON

Southwest UNISON

Environment Agency UNISON

Winchester City UNISON

Northwick Park & St Marks UNISON

Greenpark Health UNISON

Hull & Lincoln Universities UNISON

Fenland District LG UNISON

Bolton Metro UNISON

Warwick District UNISON

South Somerset LG UNISON

Whittington Hospital Health UNISON

Dorset UNISON

Camden UNISON

Hastings & Eastbourne UNISON

United Utilities UNISON

Cumbria County UNISON

Sefton Health UNISON

Oxfordshire County UNISON

Isle of Wight LG UNISON

Fareham Borough UNISON

Environment Agency Thames UNISON

GLA UNISON

UWE UNISON

Ealing UNISON

Hillingdon UNISON

Cambridgeshire County UNISON

 

If you want to donate to ur campaign please email our branch at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

Press Release: Support #Kids4Libraries march 12 September

Barnet UNISON Press Release: 2 September 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Support #Kids4Libraries march 12 September

On September 21st the Council will vote whether to accept one of three options for the future of Barnet Libraries. This will be an important decision for Barnet as libraries promote literacy and learning for all, provide access to information and enable people to engage as citizens in their local and wider communities.  But this vital contribution is threatened as the Council’s proposals appear to have been designed not to safeguard our libraries but to wreck them.

The Council’s proposals include;

Library staffing budget to be cut by up to 68%. It likely that even staffed libraries will not have enough workers available to maintain a sufficient level of service.

Two or six Libraries to close

Most remaining Libraries to be reduced in size. They could no longer house adequate book collections, or a sufficient number of computers for the public to use.  There will not be enough study space to meet the needs of students.

Libraries will be privatised or run by a “Mutual”. There will be no guarantee they will be run for public good and not for profit.

Libraries will be unstaffed for two thirds of their opening times.   Library users will have to rely on self-service machines and volunteers (if any can be found) for help. As a result of not having staff on site, children will be denied entry to the libraries for most of the day.

Adoption of any of the current options will be an act of vandalism, resulting in Barnet Libraries no longer being an inclusive, efficient and loved public service, as the accessibility and quality of the service will suffer.

This destructive plan has seen the emergence of a Save Barnet Libraries campaign which is made up of Barnet UNISON, residents and Library users.

Our next action is the Kids4Libraries march on the 12th September. More details can be found here

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: The current proposals would in effect have meant the end of a comprehensive public library service for the residents of Barnet. It is impossible to view these disgraceful proposals in isolation from what is going on across Council services across the UK. Councils have had their government funding cut by 40% since 2010, which is a deliberate attack on local democracy and public services. Our march is attempting to raise awareness within our community and wider afield of what is at stake. Our message to the Council is think again, Libraries are beacons within our communities which must be allowed to flourish.

“Notes to Editors.

Contact details: John Burgess Barnet UNISON on 07738389569 or 0208 359 2088 or email: john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk

Background:

Barnet UNISON launch Thunderclap in support of 12 September march.

https://www.thunderclap.it/my/stats/30839-join-ourkids4libraries-march

Kids4Libraires march video

https://youtu.be/gb6R7M-0Kgo

“Inappropriate, over the top, dire, painful, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, restrictive and unimaginative”

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1625

Barnet Council – Why is this happening to us?

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1627

Local authorities ‘cannot cope with further cuts’

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/01/local-government-association-cannot-cope-further-cuts

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