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Messages of support for UNISON members who took strike action have come flooding in.

To view click here

Look at what you are paying for your pension. Half the figure and you will see just how much more the Government wants you to pay towards your pension every month of your working life. This will come into effect from April 1^st. If you do not want to be the April Fool then you should come to this meeting to hear what the proposals mean and what we mean to do about it.

We also want to give advice on Pilot Privatisation Schemes.

What does the union do for me?

We have represented and advised very many colleagues in Children’s Services. We want to do more and more effectively.

View invite here

Last week I attended a meeting with UNISON and non UNISON members to talk about the latest One Barnet project for Housing workers as earlier this month Cabinet has agreed to ‘fast track’ proposals to transfer Housing staff into Barnet Homes.

Ok, ok, Cabinet asked the One Barnet project to carry out an options appraisal and business case at the same time and come back early 2012 in order the transfer can take place by March 2012. Whilst One Barnet apologists will insist no decisions have been made, the staff are not convinced. They are understandably angry that their service is being given special treatment to transfer them out of the council. I was surprised about how strongly staff felt about not working for Barnet Homes. Many of those I have spoken to are convinced that there will be redundancies soon after transfer.

For those who still remain unconvinced that the decision has not already been made, I need to explain that the proposal which went to Cabinet last week was meant to go to an earlier Cabinet Committee. UNISON was given an embargoed copy of a report months ago, however a decision was made to withhold the report until a later Cabinet committee

Maybe I am an old cynic, but could the reason for the delay have something to do with giving staff and UNISON less time to respond to the proposal?

UNISON members in Housing want to remain council employees and those non union members expressed the same view. In the last few days I have been impressed as to the speed at which our new reps have started to recruit new members. We have a target and we are working towards it.

If you work in Housing and want to remain a Council employee then make contact with the local rep or contact the branch for advice on what you can do for the campaign.

On 14 September, the 5 private sector contractors were due to submit their proposals however there has been a delay. Last Friday staff working in DRS received sent an email at 5.30 pm explaining the latest position. The email does not give the reason for the delay, maybe the private sector companies were getting cold feet or simply finding the prospect of delivering regulatory service more complex than they first thought?

This project has been ‘dogged’ by rumour and speculation that a number of regulatory services that can’t be outsourced without making complex arrangements that the point of outsourcing would simply not make financial sense. However, as we know making financial sense has not stopped the One Barnet project, so far that is……..?

An example of the ‘commonsense blindness’ which continues to blight One Barnet projects is the Registrar Service. When Registrar Service was added to the DRS bundle, UNISON & our members in Registrars insisted the Council could not outsource this service. Even when the Council received a report from the Registrar General they continued to ignore our advice. Eventually after spending lots of money on legal advice the Council, finally had to admit they couldn’t outsource Registrar service.

UNISON believes that there are more regulatory services that can’t be outsourced, the Council refuses to share the legal advice they have been given and rumours persist that at some stage the contractors are going to admit it cannot be done or not without more expense!

One of the most common responses members have given after last week’s strike action has been that the ‘residents don’t know about ‘One Barnet’.

In response to this feedback Barnet UNISON branch are launching a community campaign on Monday 3 October which we have dubbed

‘RESIDENTS MUST KNOW DAY!’ 

We are asking all our members to make a pledge to turn up and deliver leaflets & newspapers to Barnet residents at a number of tube stations & over ground stations across Barnet on

Monday 3 October from 5.30 to 7pm

We want members to go to the following stations

·         Golders Green Station

·         Finchley Central

·         Arnos Grove

·         Mill Hill Broadway Station

·         Burnt Oak

·         Edgware

·         High Barnet

·         Hendon Central

·         Totteridge& Whetstone

Please contact the UNISON office on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk  to inform us which station you will be going to. You can collect the newspapers & flyers from the UNISON office.

If you want to cover a station that is not listed above please contact the branch.

Introduction:

 

In September 2010 consultation began on the Library Strategic Review.  In Barnet UNISON’s report submitted to the Cabinet meeting on 26 July 2011 we expressed concerns about the proposals to use volunteers in Barnet libraries.  At the end of August 2011 management presented the details of the proposed volunteer programme to the trade unions and to service managers the following week.  Since then Barnet UNISON has been consulting with its members on the proposals and the following questions and concerns have been raised.  These have been put forward to libraries senior management and we await a response.

 

Of particular concern are:

 

i)             The creation of roles for volunteers that cover key functions of employed library staff and grounds maintenance staff.

ii)            Lack of consultation over changes to terms and conditions of library staff.

iii)           The implementation and ongoing costs of the volunteer programme, along with lack of financial analysis of said programme.

iv)           Increased workload for an ever decreasing workforce that will be placed on them as a result of having to train and supervise volunteers along with potential for high turnover and lack of consistency of volunteers.

v)            Fears of staff that they will lose their jobs to volunteers.

vi)           Fears that the excellent standard of Barnet Library service will decrease as volunteers are used to provide the services provided by experienced, professional staff whose posts are to be deleted.

To read full report click here

Hi Andrew,

As section 151 officer, I am assuming that it your duty to inform members of any relevant risks and as such I want to bring to your attention  to the Pension risk identified at the previous Scrutiny Committee which has been omitted from the One Barnet Highlight report going to tomorrows Budget and Performance Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting

 

The Pension Risk Number CP0010 – ‘The negative affect on the Pension Fund due to loss of payees if bulk transfers on One Barnet take place’

The actions to mitigate the risk were identified as follows:

 

“Meeting with Actuaries to greater understand the effect Meeting was held with the actuaries (Barnett Waddingham) to discuss the implications of the transfer of employees with either Admitted Body Status (ABS) or use of a Government Actuaries Department (GAD) Passport. Early discussions were held on the potential impact on both employee’s pensions and the affect on the Pension Fund. Key points discussed included the current Government consultation on the Fair Deal Policy: treatment of pensions on compulsory transfer of staff from the public sector, current trends by providers is to opt for ABS over GAD due to cost, the detail of ABS including the provision of a bond, related risks and open and closed schemes.

A paper will be going to the September Pensions Fund Committee on the position of the procurement Projects within the One Barnet Project, requesting approval for an ‘in principle’ decision on the corporate approach to managing the pension implications. Individual projects will still need to present their in individual specifications to the Pension Committee

 As you know the report was never presented to the Pension Fund Committee on 1 September 2011.

 As well as withdrawing the presentation from the Pension Fund Committee the Council has publicly criticised UNISON’s actuaries report whilst at the same time refused to share the report until 7 December 2011. I fail to understand how this refusal fits in with the ‘transparency agenda’ the Council publicly seeks to endorse.

 

As the above Pension risk was identified in a public document, please can you explain the reason it has been omitted without any evidence published to substantiate its removal?

I look forward to your comments on this matter.

Best wishes

John Burgess

Branch Secretary.

Barnet UNISON

0208 359 2088

www.barnetunison.me.uk

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