Category: Anti – Racism
Are you listening Prime Minister Burnham ?
Weekly Blog – Extreme weather is here to stay
Weekly Blog – Extreme weather is here to stay
Extreme weather is no longer something employers can treat as an occasional problem. Hotter summers, sudden downpours, strong winds and freezing conditions are affecting how our members work.
This week, Barnet UNISON has been working with members who spend much of their working day outside. The message from them is simple: employers need to plan properly before the weather becomes dangerous.
Working outside in extreme heat
During the recent extreme temperatures, we raised the impact on members working outdoors. We negotiated changes to working patterns to reduce the time staff were exposed to the worst of the heat.
That was important, but it cannot be the end of the matter.
We have now started a survey with the members affected. We want to understand what worked, what did not work and what needs to change before the next period of extreme weather.
Employers should not wait until temperatures are already at dangerous levels before deciding what to do. There should be clear plans covering working hours, rest breaks, access to drinking water, shade, suitable clothing, sunscreen and the physical demands being placed on staff.
Managers also need to recognise that workers are not all affected in the same way. Age, health conditions, medication, pregnancy and the type of work being carried out can all make a difference.
Telling staff to “take care” is not a plan.
What happened in your workplace?
I also want to hear from members across the whole branch.
What was it like in your workplace during the hot weather? Did your building stay cool enough to work in? Were windows sealed shut? Did the air conditioning work? Were fans provided? Were you able to take extra breaks or move to a cooler area?
For members working in schools, care settings, kitchens, depots, offices, vehicles and people’s homes, the problems will be different. Some workplaces may have handled the situation well. Others may have carried on as if nothing unusual was happening.
We need to know both.
Please email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk and tell us what happened. Let us know what your employer or manager did, what worked and what improvements you think should be put in place.
You do not need to write a long statement. A few sentences explaining what happened will help us build a proper picture across Barnet.
Planning for the next emergency
Extreme weather is here to stay. That includes heat, cold, flooding, snow and storms.
Barnet UNISON will continue pressing employers to consult staff and trade unions before the next emergency arrives. Workplace arrangements should be agreed in advance, communicated properly and applied consistently.
Members should not have to argue for basic protections while they are already working in unsafe or unbearable conditions.
We have made progress with the members working outside, and that happened because they spoke up and worked together. Now we need to hear from the rest of the branch.
Please contact us. Your experience can help us secure better arrangements for everyone.
best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary
Barnet UNISON
TBG UNISON members formal strike ballot looms
Barnet Voice TBG Ballot ready
read newsletter below
https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Barnet-Voice-TBG-Ballot-ready.pdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 17 JULY 2026 BARNET HOUSING AND CARE WORKERS MOVE TOWARDS STRIKE BALLOTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 17 JULY 2026
BARNET HOUSING AND CARE WORKERS MOVE TOWARDS STRIKE BALLOTS
Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet workers say “Enough is Enough” after TBG refuses to negotiate on pay, terms and pensions.
Barnet UNISON is preparing to request two separate formal industrial action ballots for members working in Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet, following a Special JNCC meeting with The Barnet Group today.
UNISON reported the results of two separate consultative ballots:
- 97% of Your Choice Barnet members voted for industrial action
- 100% of Barnet Homes members voted for industrial action
Despite these results, The Barnet Group confirmed at the meeting that it was not willing to negotiate on any part of UNISON’s claims.
The claims cover:
- a proper pay increase, including a £15-an-hour minimum
- improved terms and conditions
- movement towards council-standard terms
- access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
Barnet UNISON formally registered a failure to agree at the Special JNCC and advised TBG that the branch will now seek approval for separate statutory industrial action ballots for housing workers and care workers.
A Barnet Homes worker said:
“We deliver council housing services, but we are not treated like council workers. We work longer hours, receive worse terms and have no access to LGPS. Members have had enough of being told there is never any money for us.”
A Your Choice Barnet care worker said:
“We support vulnerable adults every day, often under huge physical and emotional pressure. Then we go home worrying about rent, food and bills. We are doing essential work in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but we are still treated as second-class.”
Helen Davies, Barnet UNISON Branch Chair and UNISON SGE representative for London, said:
“These ballot results send a powerful message. Housing and care workers are angry, organised and no longer prepared to accept second-class treatment. TBG has rejected every part of the claim and has now refused to negotiate, even after hearing that members are ready to take action. Enough is enough. Barnet Council owns The Barnet Group and cannot stand back while the workers delivering its services are treated this way.”
Barnet UNISON is calling on The Barnet Group and the London Borough of Barnet to return to negotiations with a serious proposal before the dispute escalates further.
Notes to editors
- The Barnet Group is wholly owned by the London Borough of Barnet.
- Barnet Homes provides housing services.
- Your Choice Barnet provides adult social care services.
- The consultative ballots were separate from the formal statutory industrial action ballots now being prepared.
- Industrial action has not yet been authorised or called.
Media enquiries: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
BARNET COUNCIL QUIETLY HALVED ITS PASSENGER ASSISTANT WORKFORCE — AND NEVER TOLD THE UNION
BARNET COUNCIL QUIETLY HALVED ITS PASSENGER ASSISTANT WORKFORCE — AND NEVER TOLD THE UNION
Trade union demands answers on outsourcing by stealth and the employment standards of workers supporting children with complex SEN needs
Barnet UNISON has formally challenged London Borough of Barnet and BELS management over the steady dismantling of the directly employed Passenger Assistant workforce — the staff who accompany children with special educational needs on school transport routes across the borough every day.
The directly employed workforce has been cut from approximately 85 in January 2021 to 42 today — a reduction of more than 50%. There are now 61 externally commissioned Passenger Assistants working on regular routes, outnumbering directly employed council staff. The council’s own documents confirm that vacancies have not been routinely refilled and that commissioned workers are used to meet continuing demand. No formal outsourcing exercise took place. No trade union consultation happened. No equality impact assessment was carried out.
Outsourcing in all but name
UNISON’s formal response — submitted to the JNCG chaired by the Chief Executive on 16 June 2026 — sets out that the council has effectively outsourced a public service through attrition: allowing permanent posts to disappear and replacing them with externally commissioned workers, without ever putting that decision to elected members as a workforce question or consulting the trade union.
A Cabinet report in May 2025 approved an external provider framework worth up to £1 million per year — £8 million over eight years. The same report records “None” under Consultation. The council is now saying that restoring direct employment would cost £225,000 per year more than the current model. That comparison has never been presented to Cabinet.
UNISON Branch Secretary John Burgess said: “The council hasn’t formally outsourced this service — it’s just stopped replacing people when they leave and handed the work to external providers instead. The outcome is the same. You’ve gone from 85 directly employed staff to 42, with 61 commissioned workers on regular routes doing the same job. No consultation, no equality assessment, no transparency. We need a straight answer: does the council intend to keep an in-house Passenger Assistant service or doesn’t it?”
Workers’ terms and conditions unknown
UNISON does not know what pay, sick pay, pension provision or continuity protections apply to the 61 commissioned Passenger Assistants currently working on regular routes. At the JNCG on 15 June, management confirmed they could not say what sick pay arrangements applied to commissioned workers.
For Passenger Assistants working daily with children who have complex health conditions and, in some cases, compromised immune systems, that is a direct health and safety concern. Workers without occupational sick pay are more likely to come in when unwell.
UNISON has also raised serious questions about health and safety incident reporting. Three separate reporting channels exist across the split management structure — none of them currently provides a complete picture of incidents involving Passenger Escorts on PTS routes. Management acknowledged at the JNCG that near misses are likely under-reported.
The Trade Union Engagement Framework, signed by the Chief Executive in December 2024, commits the council to sharing information with trade unions on service reviews and outsourcing matters, consulting on decisions affecting staffing, and giving serious consideration to keeping services in-house. UNISON has identified seven specific provisions that have not been honoured in this case. None of them were disputed at the JNCG.
A conflict of interest at the heart of the service
UNISON has also raised a structural concern about BELS’s role in the service. BELS simultaneously decides which routes are needed, manages contracts with external Passenger Assistant providers, and line-manages the directly employed LBB Passenger Assistants whose work the external contracts are displacing. UNISON has asked whether that arrangement has ever been subject to a formal governance review.
John Burgess added: “These are some of Barnet’s most vulnerable children. They build relationships with their Passenger Escorts over years. The council cannot say these workers are part of a commissioned model and then refuse to account for the employment standards that apply to them. We don’t know if they’re being paid the London Living Wage. We don’t know if they have sick pay. We don’t know what happens to a child’s regular escort if that worker isn’t available. That is not good enough.”
UNISON has set a 20-working day deadline for written responses. If those responses are not received, UNISON has indicated it will treat the matter as a formal failure to agree and will pursue the available routes.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Barnet UNISON represents approximately 3,000 members across the London Borough of Barnet, including employees of the council itself, its local authority trading companies (The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Services), schools, FE colleges, care services, environmental services, depots, and a range of contractors and outsourced providers.
The Passenger Transport Service provides school transport for children with special educational needs across 133 routes in Barnet.
The Trade Union Engagement Framework was signed by the Chief Executive of London Borough of Barnet in December 2024.
UNISON is separately pursuing an equal pay claim on behalf of more than 700 members against LBB, The Barnet Group, and BELS, with a preliminary Employment Tribunal hearing listed for September 2026.
Contact: Barnet UNISON — contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
Holiday Pay — Member Update
Holiday Pay — Member Update
What is this about?
For many years, the Council calculated holiday pay based on basic pay only. If you regularly worked overtime — whether that was extra shifts, weekend working, Bank Holiday rotas or other regular additional hours — that overtime was left out of your holiday pay calculation. That meant when you took a week’s leave, you were paid less than you would have earned in a normal working week.
This was wrong in law. A series of Employment Tribunal rulings — most significantly from 2014 onwards — established clearly that regular overtime must be included in holiday pay. If overtime is a regular and normal part of your working pattern, your holiday pay should reflect your normal earnings, not just your basic rate.
The Council should have corrected this from 2014. It did not do so for a significant number of workers. Barnet UNISON has been pursuing this on behalf of members and the Council has now accepted in writing that regular overtime should be included in holiday pay calculations.
Who is affected?
The workers we know are most directly affected are depot staff in Waste, Recycling, Green Waste and Street Scene. But this issue is not limited to depot workers. Any LBB employee who regularly works overtime as a normal part of their job could be affected — including staff in social services, children’s homes, libraries and other services. We have asked the Council to provide data on all affected workers across the workforce, and we are still waiting for that information.
If you regularly work overtime and have done so for a number of years, you may have a personal interest in this claim.
Where are we now?
Barnet UNISON has been in formal negotiations with the Council through the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Group. Those negotiations are now moving towards a conclusion. We expect to be in a position to consult members on a proposed offer before the summer.
When we have a formal proposal from the Council — setting out who is covered, how far back it goes, and how the figures have been calculated — we will share the full details with affected members and seek your views before anything is agreed.
We are not there yet, but we are close. Watch this space.
If you have any questions in the meantime, contact the branch at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
End.
School Meals Workers — UNISON Needs to Hear From You
June 2026
If you work for ISS Catering in a Barnet school, please read this.
The council’s contract with ISS is coming to an end in March 2027. That does not necessarily mean your job ends — it may mean a change of employer, or it may mean staying with ISS under a new arrangement — but there will be changes, and UNISON needs to be on top of this from the start to protect your rights.
I have already been into meetings with Barnet Council management about what this means for catering staff and I will be going back in. I am pushing hard on the things that matter most — your pay, your London Living Wage, your pension, and making sure any transfer is handled properly and fairly. I am also making the case directly to the council and to elected councillors that bringing this service back in-house — so that you become council employees again — is the right thing to do. That fight is ongoing.
But I need to hear from you.
Our membership records are not always up to date, and things may have changed since many of you moved from the council to ISS back in 2016. I cannot represent you properly without knowing your current situation.
Please get in touch and let me know:
- What job you are currently doing and which school you are based at
- Whether your terms and conditions have changed since you moved to ISS — for example your pay, your hours, your holiday entitlement
- Whether you are still in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or whether your pension arrangements have changed
- Whether your contact details or home address have changed
- Whether you have any concerns or issues you want me to know about
Everything you tell me is treated in confidence. It comes to me directly and stays with me — I am not passing anything to ISS or to the council.
I know many of you will have questions I cannot fully answer yet. Things are still being worked out and I would rather be honest with you than give you information that turns out to be wrong. What I can tell you is that UNISON is in the room, I am attending every meeting, and your rights under TUPE mean your core terms and conditions are legally protected through any transfer.
Even if you have no concerns right now, please still get in touch with your current role and contact details. Every reply strengthens our position.
Contact Barnet UNISON directly: 📧 contactus@barnetunison.org.uk 📞 020 8359 2088
Not yet a UNISON member?
If a colleague has shared this with you and you are not yet in UNISON, now is exactly the right time to join. You can sign up at unison.org.uk/join or contact John directly and he will help you join over the phone.
End.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 2026 BARNET UNISON’S EQUAL PAY FIGHT: WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 2026
BARNET UNISON’S EQUAL PAY FIGHT: WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY
Hundreds of Barnet women workers are owed years of back pay. UNISON is fighting for every one of them and the bill for Barnet Council is growing every single day.
On 29 May 2026, Barnet UNISON took its equal pay claim to the Employment Tribunal. UNISON’s solicitors made the case for hundreds of women workers — school staff, care workers, early years workers, administrators and support staff — who have for years been paid less than their male counterparts in the council’s waste and recycling service.
Here is what we know. Male workers in the waste and recycling service are paid for a full working day but are allowed to go home when their rounds are done, sometimes by mid-morning. Women doing work of equal value have no such benefit. They work every contracted hour every day. That is not fair. That is unequal and illegal. And UNISON is determined to put it right.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TRIBUNAL
Our barrister succeeded in getting UNISON’s case heard, despite attempts by Barnet Council to block our submissions. UNISON was fighting for women workers in that courtroom, making the case to get our members’ voices heard.
The judge has set a preliminary hearing for 9 September 2026 to consider UNISON’s application to have the procedural block on our claim removed.
That hearing is the next critical moment. We will be ready.
Separately, the tribunal confirmed that UNISON’s claims against The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Skills — the council’s own companies, employing many of our members — are not subject to any block and are being progressed. Those claims move forward now.
OUR CLAIM IS STRONG AND GROWING
Barnet UNISON’s case is not built on speculation. It is built on evidence — evidence that has been gathered carefully, systematically, and with the support of experienced legal specialists in equal pay law.
Here is what we know about the situation at Barnet:
- Waste and recycling workers are regularly finishing their rounds hours before their contracted day ends and going home, paid in full.
- Women working in schools, care, early years, social services and admin must complete every contracted hour. There is no equivalent benefit for them.
- The council knows this practice exists. Rather than negotiating an end to this practice as other Councils have done, they are refusing to sit and meet with UNISON.
- Other councils — including Southampton, Birmingham and Glasgow — have already settled equal pay claims on the same basis, paying out millions of pounds to women workers.
- The longer Barnet Council refuses to come to the table, the bigger the bill becomes. Every single month of delay adds to the compensation owed.
“This claim is about basic fairness. Women working for Barnet Council and its companies have been short-changed for years while the council looked the other way. We have the evidence, we have the legal backing, and we have the determination to see this through. Barnet Council cannot run from this. The question is not whether they will have to pay — it is how much.”
Helen Davies, Branch Chair, Barnet UNISON and UNISON London Regional SGE Representative
EVERY MONTH OF DELAY COSTS BARNET COUNCIL MORE
Barnet Council’s legal strategy appears to be delay procedural hearings; blocking applications; running down the clock. What they do not seem to understand, or perhaps do not care about, is that delay does not reduce their liability; it increases it.
Equal pay back pay accrues from the date a claim is lodged. UNISON’s claims were lodged in November and December 2025. That clock is running. Every month the council refuses to negotiate, every month they hide behind procedural manoeuvres, the total compensation bill grows. By the time this case reaches settlement or judgment, Barnet Council will be paying for every single month they delayed.
That cost is ultimately borne by Barnet taxpayers. UNISON is not responsible for that. The council is.
THIS IS YOUR CLAIM. YOUR TIME IS NOW.
UNISON has lodged claims on behalf of our members. But the strength of this campaign depends on numbers and numbers depend on you.
Every eligible UNISON member who completes a case form adds to the pressure on Barnet Council to stop stalling and sit down at the negotiating table. A large, organised, well-evidenced claim is harder to ignore and harder to fight than a small one. Barnet Council is already watching these numbers. Help us make them impossible to ignore.
Here is what you must understand about timing: your back pay runs from the date you join the claim, not from the date UNISON first raised the issue. Every month you wait is a month of potential compensation you may never recover. Do not assume someone else has done it for you. Do not assume you will be included automatically.
COMPLETE YOUR CASE FORM TODAY
Contact Barnet UNISON at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk to get your case form. Fill it in. Return it. Do it now.
If you are a UNISON member working for the London Borough of Barnet, The Barnet Group or Barnet Education and Learning Skills, and you believe you may have been affected by unequal pay, you may be eligible to join this claim. Speak to your UNISON rep or contact the branch directly.
UNISON STANDS FULLY BEHIND YOU
UNISON knows what the cost-of-living crisis means for our members. We see it every day. Workers who give everything to their jobs — caring for children, supporting families, keeping this borough running — are struggling to pay their bills, heat their homes and put food on the table. Many of Barnet UNISON’s members are among the lowest paid workers in the borough. They cannot afford to wait years for justice that should have been delivered years ago.
That is why this claim matters beyond its legal significance. The back pay owed to these workers is not a windfall. It is money they earned and were denied. It is money that would make a real difference to real lives, right now, when it is needed most.
“Barnet UNISON’s equal pay claim is exactly the kind of fight that UNISON exists to lead. These are women who have worked hard, served their community, and been systematically short-changed. UNISON’s London region stands fully behind Barnet branch and every member in this claim. We will not rest until justice is delivered.”
Sara Gorton Regional Secretary UNISON Greater London Region
“Equal pay is not a negotiating position. It is a legal right. The women of Barnet have waited long enough. UNISON is unequivocally, unconditionally and completely behind Barnet UNISON’s members and their branch in this fight. Barnet Council must stop hiding behind legal delays and do the right thing: come to the table, negotiate a fair settlement, and end this inequality now.”
Andrea Egan, UNISON General Secretary
ENDS
For further information contact Barnet UNISON Branch: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Barnet UNISON is the UNISON branch for workers employed by the London Borough of Barnet, The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Skills.
- Equal pay claims are brought under the Equality Act 2010. Back pay in Employment Tribunal equal pay claims in England and Wales runs for up to six years from the date the claim is lodged.
- UNISON’s equal pay claims were lodged with the Employment Tribunal in November and December 2025.
- A preliminary hearing is listed for 9 September 2026 to consider UNISON’s application to lift the procedural stay on claims against the London Borough of Barnet.
- Claims against The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Skills are not subject to the stay and are being actively progressed.
- Comparable equal pay settlements involving task and finish in waste and recycling services have been reached at Southampton City Council (July 2025), Birmingham City Council (2024–25) and Glasgow City Council (2022).
CLIVE LEWIS MP BACKS BARNET’S CLEANERS IN FIGHT AGAINST NORFOLK-OWNED CONTRACTOR
Norwich South MP writes to Norfolk County Council demanding action over Norse Group’s 12-day pay lag
Barnet UNISON has welcomed the intervention of Clive Lewis MP, Member of Parliament for Norwich South, who has written to Norfolk County Council demanding it use its ownership powers to force Norse Group to pay its lowest-paid workers on time.
Read letter to Leader of Norfolk Council RE Norse Group Clive Lewis MP
https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/26-06-04-Letter-to-Leader-of-Norfolk-Council-RE-Norse-Group-Clive-Lewis-MP.pdf
Norse Group — the largest Local Authority Trading Company in the country, wholly owned by Norfolk County Council — operates the cleaning contract for the London Borough of Barnet. The company imposes a pay arrangement that forces cleaners to wait 12 days after completing every four-week working period before receiving their wages. Norse’s own pay schedule confirms the 12-day gap applies to every single pay period throughout the year without exception.
These are London Living Wage workers in one of the most expensive cities in the world. At any given moment, Norse holds approximately six weeks’ worth of earned wages belonging to its lowest-paid staff.
Clive Lewis MP wrote to the Leader of Norfolk County Council stating:
“The lowest-paid workers on the contract are subsidising Norse’s payroll operation with 12 days of their earned wages per period. That is not an ethical business model, and it is not consistent with the values that a publicly owned company ought to embody.”
His letter directly challenges Norse’s claim that the arrangement is required for HMRC compliance, calling it a commercial and administrative choice rather than a legal requirement, and rejects the company’s suggestion that workers should take credit union loans to bridge the gap as “an indictment of the arrangement.”
Helen Davies, Branch Chair of Barnet UNISON & UNISON SGE rep for London Region, said:
“We are grateful to Clive Lewis for acting quickly and decisively. He has gone straight to the heart of the matter — Norse is owned by Norfolk County Council, and the Council cannot wash its hands of responsibility for how this company treats its workers. Norfolk created Norse, Norfolk owns Norse, and Norfolk receives an annual dividend from Norse. The workers making that dividend possible deserve to be paid on time.
“We now call on Norfolk County Council to respond without delay and direct Norse to change this arrangement — not just for our members in Barnet, but for all 1,725 Norse employees across the country subject to the same pay lag.”
Barnet UNISON has also written to all 31 Barnet Labour Councillors, the four Barnet Labour MPs, and Green Councillor Charli Thompson calling for urgent intervention and a commitment to bring the cleaning contract back in-house when it expires in 2027.
The Barnet UNISON petition calling on Norse to pay workers on time and for the cleaning service to be insourced in 2027 remains open.
✅ Sign the petition: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/pay-barnet-s-cleaners-on-time-and-bring-cleaning-back-in-house?source=rawlink&utm_source=rawlink&share=67ca7052-c387-43a8-bd8f-201c05771705
ENDS
For media enquiries contact: Barnet UNISON contactus@barnetunison.org.uk