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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “Its official Barnet Council UNISON members to take 24 hour strike action on 2 November”

Barnet UNISON members who still work for Barnet Council (excluding community schools) will begin a 24 hour strike action on Monday 2 November

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.

In November 2015 a number of Barnet Council Committees will be making decisions about the future employment of staff working in

· Education and Skills and School Meals

· Adult Social care

· Children’s Centres

This is all part of the wider strategy to reduce the workforce to a small core of commissioners.

Our Picket Lines will be:

· Barnet House from 7 am.

· Mill Hill Depot—Starts 6 am onwards.

· Edgware Library —Start 9 am onwards.

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

Shadow Chancellor joins #BarnetStrikers on their picket line.

 

To view details click here

To view letter from Mark Serwotka General Secretary PCS please click here

The Barnet Group, where our branch members in Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet are, is hoping for the go-ahead from Councillors 14^th October to launch a new company with the specific intention of getting out of the Local Government Pension Scheme. We are concerned if this goes through it will set a precedent for the rest of the Council to follow. We are hoping that the Councillors also refer this decision to Full Council for a proper debate on whether a race to the bottom with workers’ terms and conditions is really the best way to deal with recruitment and retention issues??

Extract from Barnet UNISON report:

The central attraction in setting up TBG TCTC is in order to avoid the Local Government Pension Scheme. As stated in 2.3.2:

“Being restrained by offering the same benefits as the Council is considerably more expensive for the business, especially the cost of the LGPS.”

And 2.3.7:

“A further benefit in establishing a separate Trading Company is that it will limit the risk of the pension deficit. This means there will be no risk of it increasing further and therefore the liability to the Council will not increase over time.”

To view our report click here

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UNISON Library response to 70% cut in staffed hours by Barnet Council.

On Friday 2 October 2015, Barnet Council published their devastating report on the future of the library service which revealed:

· 46% of workforce to be sacked

· Council are now proposing to cut the 634.5 staffed library hours a week to 188.

· Four out of 14 Libraries will be run completely by volunteers

Our report found

“The cost of the three phases of the Library Review is expected to be about £3.15m, plus £4.41m to reduce the size of libraries and install technology enabled opening systems, a total cost of £7.56m. This is 4.4 times the projected annual savings in the library service operational budget.”

“The scale of the cut in the Library budget is unprecedented and could result in permanent damage to the service, drastically reduce resident’s use of the service and demotivate staff. The planned savings fall short of the target, so further cuts may be made in the Library budget.”

Barnet UNISON report makes the following recommendation:

1. The Council should commit to retaining direct provision of the Library Service, eliminate the need for Phase 3 and save the £500,000 costs.

2. Undertake a more rigorous and comprehensive equality impact assessment of the potential effect of the technology-enabled opening hours, drawing on the socioeconomic profile of users in the Edgware pilot.

3. The equality impact of the proposals on staff must be included in the Equality Analysis.

4. The proposed additional risks should be included in the risk register.

5. The consultation process should prioritise the views of service users and groups and organisations that are potential users of library services and facilities.

Professor Dexter Whitfield said: “Instead of trying to recruit a contractor, the Council should commit to continued provision by Library staff and use the £500,000 savings to increase staffed hours”

Hugh Jordan Barnet UNISON Library Convenor said: “The Council’s proposal “Barnet future Library Service” is a plan to replace qualified, experienced staff who have a wide range of skills and knowledge with volunteer and machines, and to reduce the size and quality of Libraries. The people of Barnet, including our members, did not march, lobby, sign petitions and respond to the consultation in support of volunteer and machine operated libraries, they were defending a service staffed by real library workers, libraries with enough space for people to study and use IT, and to house sufficient items for loan to meet the needs of their users. UNISON members working in Barnet Libraries oppose the Council’s dire future vision of our Service.”

UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said:

“It is a little early for Halloween, but this Library proposal is more trick than treat. The trick is pretending to save our Libraries, the cut in staff and subsequent staff opening hours is tantamount to wholesale closure of all of our Libraries. This proposal will leave all the libraries to ‘wither on the vine’. I can predict a future Library meeting recommending closure of the Libraries with the justification being that no one is using the Libraries. Our members will be joining the Save Barnet Libraries campaign at the Library Committee meeting on 12 October.”

Save Barnet Libraries campaign are holding a rally outside Hendon Town Hall on Monday 12 October at 6 pm.

End.

Notes to Editors.

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

Background:

1. Barnet UNISON response to proposal to sack 46% of Library workforce. –http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Barnet%20Library%20Review%202%20UNISON.pdf

2. Save Barnet Libraries rally details here http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/12%20Oct%20CELS%20Lobby%20Flyer_0.pdf

3. The Future of Barnet Libraries – http://www.european-services-strategy.org.uk/publications/public-bodies/transformation-and-public-service-reform/options-appraisals/the-future-of-barnet-libraries/future-of-barnet-libraries.pdf

4. Why we are striking from a Library worker http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1576

To view UNISON report click here

On Friday 2 October 2015, Barnet Council published their devastating report on the future of the library service which revealed:

46% of workforce to be sacked

Council are now proposing to cut the 634.5 staffed library hours a week to 188.

Four out of 14 Libraries will be run completely by volunteers

View details of the Lobby here