Social Care Direct – One Barnet Newcomers show where it’s at!

86% of our members in Social Care Direct took part in the action last week. This is a great start to their campaign to remain as Council Employees. Some were able to take part in the picket line – probably the coldest picket line we’ve had so far – and a couple came with us to help out on the voluntary project. Most people do not find it easy taking part in strike action and so a big congratulations goes out to those colleagues and to all those who sent messages of support and encouragement. A big thank you to those who wore green and purple on the day also!

Ten reasons why City of Edinburgh Councillors should oppose privatisation (and they did)

Barnet UNISON have invited Edinburgh UNISON down to speak at our AGM on Thursday 1 March.

Edinburgh Council also have been through massively expensive Competitive Dialogue using expensive consultants and had even named the contractor to take on the 2,000 council workers, when at the eleventh hour, councillors across the political divide woke up and smelt the coffee and reversed the decision. Read the article here

Below are Ten reasons why City of Edinburgh Councillors should oppose privatisation (and they did)

1 – Privatisation doesn’t work. From fatal accidents on unsafe railways, and deaths from hospital infections to the soar away bills of energy companies. Private companies put profit before people, cutting corners and selling the tax payer short.

2 – If private companies are so wise with money why do so many go bust? The residents in Southern Cross care homes have had an anxious year praying that the spectacular demise of the profligate care company doesn’t leave them on the streets. Edinburgh’s preferred bidder for environmental services has only just been rescued from £740 million debt by the intervention of a consortium of banks. Privatisation is laden with risk.

 

3 – Once their feet are under the table, private companies drive up costs. Another Edinburgh bidder, BT, just agreed to refund £27 million to the people of Liverpool after a report found they were massively overcharging the local council.

 

4 – Managing commercial contracts is an art that takes skill to master. We don’t have to remind people of the tram fiasco in Edinburgh, but a recent Audit Scotland report indicated the council still lacks the ability to manage large commercial contracts. We need another tram fiasco like a hole in the head!

 

5 – Along with worries for service users, privatisation brings fear to the workforce. Fear of job losses and fear of pay cuts. Two hundred jobs will go if councillors vote for privatisation on Thursday and the pension scheme will close its door on new employees. The beginning of the end for decent pensions in the capital.

 

6 – Not all private companies are the same but two companies who progressed during the Edinburgh bidding process were caught concealing the fact they had been prosecuted and convicted for unsafe practices which led to workplace deaths. The public sector works to higher standards of safety and integrity.

 

7 – Privatisation plans are hidden behind a veil of secrecy. All the key documents for Edinburgh privatisation are locked in a “data room” away from public scrutiny. Even the MORI report on local attitudes to privatisation is secret. Apparently the views of the people might prejudice the position of the council. We need to preserve openness and transparency in local government.

 

8 – Local service providers should be accountable to elected councillors not shareholders. Neither the Liberal Democrats nor the SNP were elected with a mandate for privatisation yet they could tie the council to a private contract for twelve years. It will be the private contract and not newly elected councillors which will determine how services are provided. Why bother voting in the next three elections? Privatisation undermines local democracy.

 

9 – In addition to having no mandate from the electorate, the council in Edinburgh never went to the public to explain their plans. There has been no public consultation. Council services belong to the people. They have a right to have their say. They have a right to be heard.

 

10 – With the exception of a few failed bankers, the council’s money problems were not caused by the people of Edinburgh. They certainly were not caused by the workers. No street sweeper brought the country to its knees by gambling with the nation’s wealth. Why should we pay with the loss of jobs and services?

These are just the top ten reasons to oppose privatisation. There are many more. If Edinburgh goes private council services across Scotland will be at risk. We ask people to join us in a simple message – Scotland wants services based on public need, not private greed

Personal Data- TUPE transfer – Human costs of Outsourcing #2

Dear Colleagues

I am concerned to hear there is growing confusion amongst staff in relation to personal data currently being held on staff prior to the TUPE transfer.

It is important that every member views all their personal data before they are transferred the new employer.

However in the interim members should send the following to their line manger and HR Connect

“To whom it may concern.

I am shortly to be TUPE transferred out of the Council to the following employer (insert NSL). I understand the Council will be transferring personal data at this company. I am therefore requesting that all personal data currently being held by Barnet Council is provided for me to read as a matter of urgency. For the sake of clarity this includes all personal data held on SAP, Wisdom and any paper files held at any other locations including HR.

I will require a hard copies of this personal data and time off to check the accuracy.

I have also been informed and understand that the £10.00 fee will be waived as I am  about to undergo a TUPE transfer.

I look forward to hearing back from you in due course.”

I understand that a number of staff have already made a request and not had a reply. Please can you alert your local rep so that we can pursue this matter on your behalf.

Best wishes

John

Housing – an apology

Dear UNISON member

I have been alerted to comments attributed to me in a report on inside housing.

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/regulation/council-workers-strike-over-tupe-plans/6520385.article

in particular this statement

“Our view is that if the council want to make savings then they should get rid of the ALMO and get rid of the chief executive and bring it all back under council control.”

In my role as branch secretary I have spoken to the literally hundreds of journalists looking for the trade union response to a particular story. On this occasion the journalist from ‘Inside Housing’ was one of the several calls consecutively I took on a freezing cold picket line outside NLBP on Thursday 9 February.

I can now see how this ‘sound bite’ may have caused upset amongst a number of our members working for Barnet Homes.

I want to make it clear that I have always been 100% behind defending services and frontline jobs and anyone who knows me or has spoken with me would I hope agree.

The report presents only part of what I was saying on the phone. The reason he called was to discuss why housing workers were on strike as our branch had reported that UNISON members in Housing Needs & Resources had been balloted. I had to explain to the journalist that there were no housing workers on strike as we had not felt it right to continue with the call for strike action with such a low turnout in the ballot.

The reporter then asked about why we had balloted and why housing workers were so fearful of transferring to Barnet Homes. The conversation then led to the UNISON report submitted to Cabinet as a response to the Council report recommending that housing staff transfer to Barnet Homes. I explained that our report made it clear that there had been no ‘options appraisal’ or robust ‘business case’ to support this proposal, furthermore our report believed there would be greater savings if the ALMO was brought back in-house.  I added there could of course be savings such as the role of the Chief Executive and a number of senior positions. This factor was recognised in the robust ‘Options Appraisal’ carried out by conservative run Hillingdon Council.

What I said was that I would rather frontline services and posts be saved at the expense of senior management posts. However that was not reported in the article

Unfortunately we are living in difficult times, I along with a number of UNISON reps are supporting more and more members facing redundancy and/ cuts to their terms & conditions.

I have been driven as branch secretary to fight for jobs and services and it is especially important in the current climate times that public services are not seen to be too bureaucratic and top heavy with highly paid officers.

It appears that staff working in Barnet Homes are unaware that that there is a restructure coming as a consequence of the merging of the two services. UNISON has made it clear it will oppose all compulsory redundancies. Housing Needs & Resources workers have been told that there will be a restructure as early as June, only three months after their TUPE transfer to Barnet homes.

In response to our members concerns about redundancy I will be making it clear in discussions with Barnet Council and Barnet Homes that UNISON will be seeking confirmation no staff transferred to Barnet Homes will face compulsory redundancy.

I am not clear if Barnet Homes have consulted with staff about the risk to frontline jobs in Barnet Homes as a result of this merger. If you are a UNISON member in Barnet Homes and you want to know more contact your local rep Anne Denison.

What I do have experience of is dealing with what happened to the former Connaught’s workers and their experiences make nightmare reading and now they face their fourth TUPE transfer since leaving the council.

Finally, I would like to draw members attentions to the comments made by members of the public at the end of the article.

 

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