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BREAKING NEWS: Two more experienced Mental Health social workers due to leave this month.
Two more experienced Mental health social workers are about to start work in the NHS this month which is devastating news for the service and the morale of the workforce. Barnet Council have failed to acknowledge that they have a problem reciting social workers with Mental health experience to the team which has meant the exodus of experienced mental health social workers is having a critical impact on the remaining workforce.
The chronic turnover of staff across our acute Mental Health teams is plunging the service into a deeper crisis as Barnet Council refuses to submit a reasonable proposal to resolve this long-standing dispute.
UNISON has repeatedly urged the Council over the last nine months to take this matter seriously by doing the right thing and working with UNISON to stop the mass exodus of social workers from these acute Mental Health social work teams.
UNISON has warned the Council that if senior officers continue to take an adversarial approach to negotiations, then a nine weeks strike action over a 13 week period will begin on Monday 15 April.
If our members do take part in the next phase of strike action, it will mean that Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers will have taken 72 strike days which equates to 1,305 lost working days or 13,050 lost contacts with Mental Health service users.
The power to end this dispute is in the hands of Barnet Council.
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Countdown begins just 10 Days before 9 weeks of strike action……
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Date 3 April 2024.
The start date of unprecedented strike action is only 11 days away.
To date Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers have already taken 27 days of strike action which equates to 405 lost working days across the Mental Health service, or 4,050 service user contacts lost.
Incredibly despite two meetings with Acas, Barnet Council has yet to make a reasonable offer to try and resolve this dispute.
Last week to try and avert the escalation of the dispute Barnet UNISON submitted more information to Barnet Council including the news that two more experienced Mental Health social workers are due to leave the teams in April thus escalating the crisis within the frontline Mental Health teams.
We are waiting for a response.
In the absence of a meaningful offer which UNISON could recommend to their members the escalation of the strike takes place over three time periods.
The first period is a two-week strike from 15 April to 26 April 2024.
The second period is a three-week strike from 13 May to 1 June 2024
The third period is a four-week strike from 17 June to 12 July 2024. (four weeks).
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Barnet UNISON National Pay Meeting : Wednesday 24 April 6.30- 7.30
Wednesday 24 April 6.30- 7.30
Join Barnet UNISON Zoom Meeting using the link below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89074206415?pwd=OEo0L1NkQmFPSSsxU3dGemlvR0xyUT09
Meeting ID: 890 7420 6415
Passcode: 779562
Barnet UNISON is organising a series of Pay meetings over the next three months to update members on the National Pay Negotiations.
UNISON proposal is as follows:
- £3,000 or 10%.
- Two-hour reduction of the working week without financial loss.
- One additional annual leave.
UNISON, Unite and GMB are in negotiations and will report back once they have had a formal response from the National Employers.
It is likely that UNISON will conduct a strike ballot of their members. It is important that all Barnet UNISON members are ready to VOTE. Last year Barnet UNISON was 6 votes short of a successful strike ballot.
This time we intend on delivering a massive VOTE on National Pay.
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Support Mental Health social worker strike fundraiser
Barnet UNISON: How to access your Barnet Council Pension details online.
Below is a message from Barnet Council Pension Provider West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF). The aim of the advice below is to help members register to view their Pension details online. Once you are registered you can see all your Pension details. UNISON recommends that UNISON members in the scheme to register using the advice below.
If you have any issues registering, please contact Barnet UNISON at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
Portal Available for Barnet Pension Fund Members.
Are you aware of the MyPension member portal for members of the Barnet Fund?
This portal (offered by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund) will enable you to view important pension documents such as your annual benefit statement and you will also be able to update your pension records directly and complete an expression of wish form online. You can also run online estimates of how much your Barnet Pension may be at future retirement dates.
If you have not done so already, you are able to register for the portal at https://www.wypf.org.uk/mypension .
If you would like help in registering (which should only take 5-10 minutes), Jim Nokku from the Barnet Pensions Team will be in Room 3.5 in Colindale on 28 March to assist you with registration. To book a 10 minute slot with Jim, please send an email to pensions@barnet.gov.uk and we will book you in.
Breaking News: UNISON issues strike notice to Barnet Council on World Social Work day.
Today, Tuesday 19 March 2024 (also World Social Work Day) UNISON wrote to Barnet Council Chief Executive to inform him that UNISON intends to call its Mental Health social worker members to take part in industrial action. The intended dates for members to take part in discontinuous strike action are:
- 15 April 2024 to 26 April 2024.
- 13 May 2024 to 1 June 2024
- 17 June 2024 to 12 July 2024.
This is unprecedented strike action which will see Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers and assessment and enablement officers taking nine weeks of strike action over a 13-week period.
John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON: “This is a pivotal moment in this long running industrial dispute where our members have already taken 27 days of strike action which equates to 405 lost working days for service users in Barnet. Our members are deeply upset at the lack of understanding about the chronic turnover of staff across the three mental health social work teams. As each month goes by another worker leaves (3 have left this year) which is de-stabilising the teams. The Council is failing to follow its own policy and is in complete denial about the implications of further strike action. Talks in ACAS broke down because the Council came with the wrong attitude. Tomorrow UNISON is back in ACAS with Barnet Council. I hope that this time senior management are coming to ACAS with a genuine proposal to resolve this dispute.”
Helen Davies, Branch Chair, Barnet UNISON: “The fact the notification has been sent on World Social Work Day reminds us that we believe the striking social workers are right to say ‘This is what social work looks like!’ as they are reclaiming the tradition of calling out poor and unsafe practice by those with power. No registration body has ever stopped social workers practicing in unsafe conditions. We are backing our members all the way to make the service safe for workers and safe for service users.”
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John McDonnell gives backing to Mental Health social worker strikers.
Strike fundraiser Friday 5 April – Mental Health social worker strike
Barnet UNISON Mental Health strikers have taken 27 days of strike action which equates to 405 lost working days.
Due to the anti-trade union legislation we had to re-ballot the strikers who voted 100% for more strike action.
Our strikers agreed they needed to escalate the dispute as Barnet Council were not taking this dispute seriously.
They have agreed the following timetable of strike action:
- From 15 April to 26 April 2024 (two weeks).
- From 13 May to 1 June 2024 (three weeks).
- From 17 June to 12 July 2024.(four weeks).
This is serious escalation of the dispute.
On behalf of our strikers, Barnet UNISON is inviting supporters to
Strike Fund raiser on Friday 5 April 6- 11 pm
at Pelican House E1 5QJ.
Tickets and more info here:
https://www.outsavvy.com/event/18934/strike-fundraiser
The event is being organised by Young UNISON members in London.
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