What happened before and why the Council offer is not an offer…yet!
To put it mildly there is now a war of words taking place within the Council.
UNISON is concerned about the impact is having on a workforce where morale is at an all time low and staff understandable looking for ways to leave. The fact that there are so few opportunities makes for a stressful work environment.
I want to take this opportunity to go over the Council offer, which they have imposed on their staff last week through the use of quite extraordinary communications.
The Generous Offer???
1. All employees in services moving to a new employer will be able to continue their membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme uninterrupted and unchanged
2. Local union recognition will be protected for staff moving to external suppliers
3. Terms and conditions of staff transferred will be protected for at least one year after leaving the council’s employment
4. Any changes to terms and conditions after that first year will have to be negotiated with the appropriate trade union.
Now compare with what has happened to former Barnet Council staff
1. Fremantle
When Care staff were outsourced to Fremantle
They took their pensions with them (less than 20% of staff are now left in the scheme)
When Care staff were outsourced to Fremantle
Fremantle recognised UNISON
When Care staff were outsourced to Fremantle
Fremantle consulted with the UNISON
When Care staff were outsourced to Fremantle
Fremantle waited a couple of years before the destroyed the terms & conditions of our members
2. Greenwich Leisure
When staff were transferred to Greenwich Leisure
They took their pension with them (less than 1% left in the scheme)
When staff were transferred to Greenwich Leisure
Greenwich recognised UNISON
When staff were transferred to Greenwich Leisure
Greenwich Leisure consulted with UNISON over changes to terms & conditions after a couple of years.
When staff were transferred to Greenwich Leisure
In the time since staff were transferred to Greenwich Leisure there are now no staff left on council terms and conditions
3. Cleaning Contractors
When cleaners were privatised
They took their pensions (less than 1% are left in the scheme)
When cleaners were privatised
The contractors recognised UNISON
When cleaners were privatised
Contractors consulted with UNISON
When cleaners were privatised
They waited over a year before attacking terms & conditions
4. Home Care workers
When home care staff were transferred to Housing 21
They took their pension with them (less than 20% left in the scheme)
When home care staff were transferred to Housing 21
They recognised UNISON
When home care staff were transferred to Housing 21
They consulted with UNISON when they attacked our members terms & conditions
5. Housing Repair workers
When housing repairs were transferred to Connaught’s
They took their pensions (there are less than 30% of them left in)
When housing repairs were transferred to Connaught’s
Connaught’s recognised UNISON
When housing repairs were transferred to Connaught’s
Connaught’s consulted with UNISON before attacking our members terms & conditions.
Our members working in housing repairs are now working for Lovells but are now facing their fourth TUPE in 6 years
UNISON response
We told the Council that
1. Location: The number 1 concern for our members. If the contractor plans to deliver services outside of the borough all the other points in the council offer are subsequently meaningless if you are made redundant. UNISON said the services must be located within the borough. We have consistently been saying this since 2008.
2. Pension scheme. The Pension Scheme must be open to new starters
3. Protection: Protection should be for the life of the contract or in case of 10 year contracts a minimum of 5 years.
TUPE has been a concern for Barnet staff since the launch of Future Shape/easycouncil/One Barnet.
The most common question asked by staff in the last 3 years is
“How long does TUPE last?”
There is no real answer. It covers the moment you are transferred to the new employer. Most companies wait at least a year before they start on terms & conditions. In our local examples above that was the case. UNISON knows it, the Council knows it, which is why UNISON is saying the Council is being disingenuous when it states
“Terms and conditions of staff transferred will be protected for at least one year after leaving the council’s employment”
If the contractor can claim there is an economic and /or technical or organisational (aka ETO) reason for change they can consult on changes to terms & conditions, that is what happened to all the former council employees.
UNISON understands the risks and as a trade union it is our role to try and protect our members. That is what trade unions do.
No self respecting trade union would do otherwise. Our branch has attempted over three years to enter into a genuine dialogue with the Council and that is still our position.
Up until the 6 September we were waiting for the full & final offer which we would submit to our members for consultation. However, things changed dramatically when the Council launched a pre-emptive attempt to undermine and spread confusion amongst our members by using what members have described as bullying and intimidatory use of council communications.
UNISON have consistently made it clear that we would suspend any action once we received a final offer.