Category: Austerity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Barnet Group workers vote for strike action over poverty pay

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Cost of Living Crisis, Insourcing, Local, London Living Wage, News, Pensions, Repairs, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Barnet Group workers vote for strike action over poverty pay

13 October 2026

Care workers and housing workers at The Barnet Group have voted for strike action, with 88% voting yes on a 55% turnout, well above the 50% the law requires.

The workers are employed at Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet, both owned by Barnet Council. They provide housing and care services to Barnet residents. These services were once run in house by the council. They are now delivered by workers on inferior contracts, often alongside council staff doing similar jobs.

The ballot seeks to end that two tier workforce.

UNISON is asking for:

  • a 36-hour week, down from 37.5 (40 for repairs staff)
  • 31 days annual leave
  • council overtime and night rates
  • council sick pay
  • talks on a single, transparent pay structure
  • access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
  • annual NJC pay awards written into contracts
  • the new London Living Wage paid when announced in October, not the following April
  • a joint review adopting council policies wherever they are better

The Barnet Group has refused every part of the claim and has been unwilling to enter proper negotiations. Staff are angry and morale is low. With food, energy and rent costs still rising, many say they are struggling to get by on what they earn.

At Labour conference on 29 September, Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke of care workers “caring for other people’s parents on poverty pay”. He said he wants “care that is about people not profit”. Care workers employed by a council owned company are on exactly that poverty pay.

Care worker, Your Choice Barnet: “I look after people who can’t look after themselves, then worry about my own gas bill. Council staff doing the same job get better sick pay and a pension. We just want the same.”

Housing worker, Barnet Homes: “We help residents who are struggling, and many of us are struggling too. People voted because they’ve had enough of being treated as second class.”

Helen Davies, Branch Chair, Barnet UNISON: “This is a clear result, and our members are confident. Nobody wants to strike, but The Barnet Group and Barnet Council have left us no choice. We are asking them to sit down and negotiate properly, starting now.”

Strike dates will be announced unless meaningful talks begin.

End.

 

 

Barnet council faces strike ballot over 12 years of underpaid holiday pay

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Cost of Living Crisis, Local, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Barnet, 12 October 2026

UNISON has registered a formal dispute with Barnet council on behalf of every member who was underpaid holiday pay on regular overtime while Capita ran the payroll. Depot workers, who asked first, will be balloted first.

At an emergency joint meeting on 9 October, UNISON registered a formal Failure to Agree. UNISON has asked UNISON HQ for a lawful strike ballot of depot workers, expected to start in early November, with possible action just before Christmas. UNISON has reserved the right to bring other workers into the dispute, and any gains will apply to all members affected. The door remains open to serious negotiation.

This is not a pay claim. It is money owed for work already done while Capita ran the payroll. UNISON has tried patiently to settle it since July 2025. Members have already compromised, asking for six years’ backdate, half the period. That is the floor and UNISON will not be drawn lower.

At the meeting, the council rejected that proposal and repeated that 18 months is its final offer, which it called reasonable and affordable. The council also says that even if a legal claim existed, workers could only recover two years. That misses the point. The law cannot give back twelve years of underpayment, so industrial action is the only leverage workers have. Hiding behind the law shows no remorse and no grasp of the failure to pay them properly.

UNISON put six questions about Capita to the Chief Executive. The council’s written replies avoided most of them. It says discussions with Capita are “ongoing” but will not say what about. Members want answers:

  1. Why did correct payment only begin after Liberata took over payroll?
  2. Was the council aware payments hadn’t been correctly implemented before 2025?
  3. Has the council conducted a full investigation into the historic payroll arrangement?
  4. Has the council sought an explanation from Capita regarding the failure?
  5. Has the council considered recovering the financial loss from Capita?
  6. What evidence supports the council’s position that six months is an appropriate settlement?

The council put millions into its Capita contracts and employed staff to monitor and enforce them. It has found money for that, but not for the people it underpaid. On 1 October the Labour group said Barnet was “taking back control” from Capita, and said the contract cost £200 million more than expected. UNISON agrees that is an outrageous sum.

Many depot workers have worked six-day weeks for years because basic pay is too low, and it wears down their bodies. The Prime Minister told Labour’s conference that “everyone is talking about how life is too expensive”, and criticised Westminster for prizing “point-scoring over problem-solving”. Barnet’s senior officers are doing the same. They met a compromise from members with point-scoring, then stuck to 18 months. Meanwhile workers are told to wait for their own wages. UNISON has briefed Labour councillors in meetings and emails and has had little support so far.

UNISON does not want a Birmingham-style bin dispute in London. Residents may remember the 2018 bin collection changes that led to thousands of missed bins and a huge agency bill. Without a change of attitude from senior officers, bins and fly-tips could pile up before Christmas.

Depot worker: “Let’s take action not only because of the money they owe us, but also because of the lack of respect they show us. All these people earn huge salaries thanks to our hard work. We’ve never heard a ‘thank you’ – just a lack of respect!”

Depot worker: “We are binman. The dirt is in our veins.”

Helen Davies, Branch Chair, Barnet UNISON: “These workers keep Barnet clean, and in a cost-of-living crisis they are told to wait for their own wages. The council can end this by treating it seriously.”

Dennis Moses, Street Scene Convenor: “Members have already halved their original claim, which represents a significant compromise in an effort to reach a fair settlement. Yet, in return, the Council has failed to provide a clear explanation of what went wrong under Capita and why workers were underpaid for so many years. Our members deserve answers, accountability and a fair settlement.”

John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON: “This dispute should never have happened. We have been patient since July 2025. Our members offered to meet the council halfway and got point-scoring and the same 18 months. If bins pile up before Christmas, that is down to the council’s failure, not the workers it underpaid.”

About Barnet UNISON: Barnet UNISON represents 3,000 members across Barnet Council, The Barnet Group, Barnet Education and Learning Skills and contracted services.

Contact: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Notes to editors: UNISON’s 2018 coverage of the bin collection changes: https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2018/11/29/100-of-barnet-unison-bin-workers-agree-new-round-changes-have-failed-barnet-residents-bingate/

 

Barnet Depot Workers Reject Holiday Pay Offer, Escalation Looms

Austerity, Cost of Living Crisis, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Barnet Council workers in Waste & Recycling and Street Cleansing have voted overwhelmingly against the council’s offer to settle twelve years of unpaid holiday pay, and UNISON has now requested an urgent meeting with the council’s Chief Executive to try to resolve the dispute before it escalates.

For over a decade, holiday pay on overtime worked by staff in these services was miscalculated under a payroll contract run by Capita on behalf of the council. Since the council changed payroll provider in 2025, the calculation has been done correctly — proof the problem was always fixable, and that workers were shortchanged for years while nothing was done.

In a consultative ballot that closed this week, turnout was above 90% in both services, and rejection of the council’s offer was close to unanimous — 100% in Waste & Recycling and 96% in Street Cleansing. UNISON has asked the council to substantially improve its offer, and has written to the Chief Executive requesting an urgent meeting by 9 October 2026. If a fair offer isn’t forthcoming, the union will move to a formal ballot for industrial action.

“These workers have waited twelve years to be paid properly, in the middle of a cost of living crisis that makes every missing pound count. The council’s answer so far has been a fraction of what’s owed. Our members have rejected that fraction, and rightly so — the council needs to come back with a serious offer, or this will escalate.”
— John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

“We’re writing in good faith, wanting a negotiated settlement. But the council’s offer has already been decisively rejected — 100% of those balloted said no. Members have been affected for years, some for over a decade, through no fault of their own. We’re asking the council for an offer that properly reflects the length of this underpayment and the loss members have suffered. That’s not too much to ask — the decision now rests with the council.”
— Dennis Moses, Street Scene Convenor, Barnet UNISON

Barnet UNISON represents over 3,000 members working for the London Borough of Barnet, The Barnet Group, Barnet Education and Learning Skills, and contracted services across the borough, including waste, cleansing, care, schools and council offices.

[Press contact 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk ]

 

DEPOT WORKERS – Holiday Pay: One-Week Consultative Ballot Opens Friday

Austerity, Cost of Living Crisis, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Barnet UNISON is holding a one-week consultative ballot on the council’s revised holiday pay offer. The ballot opens Friday 18 September and closes Thursday 24 September.

The council has increased its offer from six months’ backdated pay to 18 months. UNISON reps for  will be contacting all members directly this week to collect ballot papers and get your vote in straight away.

This is not a pay claim. Members are not asking for more money — this is about being paid for work you have already done. That overtime was worked, it was relied on, and the law says it should have counted towards your holiday pay. The council has withheld that money from the workforce, and this offer still doesn’t cover the full period.

Your reps are recommending REJECT. Eighteen months is an improvement on the original offer, but it is not good enough.

Questions? Contact the branch: 0208 359 2088 / contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

End.

Weekly Blog Special: “Setting the Record Straight: Our Reply to TBG’s CEO”

Austerity, Local, London Living Wage, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Hi everyone,

I am responding to the TBGs CEO (Elliott Sweetman) email to all staff sent on Thursday 10 September 2026.

The CEO’s message this week talks about one thing: the 3.3% NJC pay uplift, applied at his discretion. What it doesn’t mention is what we actually asked for.

In January 2026, Barnet UNISON submitted a full pay and terms claim to TBG on behalf of Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet members. It covered:

  • A £15/hour floor for the lowest-paid staff — costed by TBG itself at a fraction of one percent of budget
  • Proper overtime and night-shift rates, instead of a flat rate regardless of when you work
  • A shorter working week — cut from 37.5 to 36 hours, the same as Barnet Council staff
  • The same occupational sick pay scheme as Barnet Council staff
  • More annual leave, moving toward full parity with LBB’s 31 days
  • A single, transparent pay and grading structure, instead of the opaque TBG Flex model
  • No loss of existing rights as a condition of any settlement
  • And access to the LGPS for everyone — not just staff on legacy contracts.

TBG rejected the claim outright in March, refusing even a zero-cost request for a joint meeting to talk it through. In July, after the consultative ballot returned 97% (YCB) and 100% (Barnet Homes) in favour of action, we met TBG again — and they refused to negotiate on any single demand.

Every one of the demands above is covered by the same NJC/Green Book framework Sweetman quotes so selectively. TBG was set up specifically so its workers don’t get these basic terms — that’s not an accident, it’s the whole point of the model. TBG is a leftover from the Tories’ “easy council” playbook: strip terms out of the council, hand the work to an arm’s-length company, call it efficiency.

It also sits directly against the government’s own Employment Rights Act, passed this year, which is meant to strengthen workers’ rights — not give councils a way to dodge them through corporate structures.

And notice what the CEO’s own letter admits. At no point in any negotiation has TBG committed to automatically honouring the NJC pay decision for its staff, whatever it is, every year. His letter confirms it in black and white: this increase was applied “at our discretion,” not because TBG is bound to it. Council staff get the NJC settlement as a matter of contractual right. TBG staff get it only if and when management decides to be generous. That’s not a technicality — it’s about who holds the power. It’s another reason this vote matters: a “yes” is the only way to turn a discretionary favour into something you can actually rely on. 

Pensions are the biggest issue here, by far. TBG Flex was set up so that every new starter goes onto a contract with no LGPS access at all — just a private scheme with a fraction of the employer contribution. Only around a quarter of the combined workforce still has LGPS, and that share falls every year, because every new hire goes straight onto Flex. Giving everyone LGPS access would cost TBG in the region of £5 million a year — real money, but this is a company wholly owned by the council, and the council decides how much it funds TBG in the first place.

That’s the heart of it. You work in the same services as council staff, often in the same buildings, doing work the council could not run without you — but on a worse pension, worse sick pay, less leave, and a working week set up specifically to keep you off council terms.

Barnet Group workers should not be treated as second-class council workers. That’s not a slogan — it’s the deliberate design of the TBG Flex model, and TBG’s own board has said so in writing.

The CEO’s letter offers to sit down and discuss this with anyone, one-to-one or in a team meeting. But he won’t negotiate even the most basic improvements for our members — in the worst cost of living crisis in living memory. An offer to talk is not the same as an offer to move.

The CEO’s letter, landing in week two of the statutory ballot and talking only about pay, is timed to make you think this is a smaller fight than it is. It isn’t.

Vote. Whichever way you decide, make sure it’s an informed decision — not one shaped by a letter that leaves out almost everything we actually asked for.

Questions about the ballot or anything in this message — contact the branch: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 You will be receiving text messages asking if you have voted please respond.

Solidarity 

End.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 100% of Barnet bin and street cleansing workers reject holiday pay offer

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Cost of Living Crisis, Local, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

18 August 2026

Barnet bin and street cleansing workers vote 100% to reject holiday pay offer, seek formal strike ballot

Council workers affected by Barnet Council’s 12-year holiday pay underpayment have unanimously rejected the council’s current offer, Barnet UNISON has announced and are now seeking a formal industrial action ballot.

In a consultative ballot, bin workers returned a 96% turnout with 100% voting to reject the council’s offer of six months’ backdated pay. Street Cleansing workers returned a 66% turnout, also with 100% voting to reject it — against underpayment that in many cases goes back to 2014.

The union has already written to the council’s Chief Executive and separately to Council Leader Barry Rawlings following the result, calling for urgent talks and asking the Leader to personally intervene.

A Joint Negotiating and Consultative Group meeting has since been confirmed for Monday 14 September, where the union will press the council on the questions it has raised.

UNISON has put a series of questions to the council that it says the public would reasonably expect answered, including why correct payment only began once a new payroll contractor took over in 2025, whether the council knew about the failure before then, whether a full investigation has taken place, whether Capita has been asked to account for the failure, whether the council has considered recovering the loss from Capita, and what evidence supports six months as an appropriate settlement.

The union is calling on the council to return to meaningful negotiation, provide full transparency on the payroll history, explain the basis of its offer, and come back with a significantly improved settlement that reflects the real duration and scale of the underpayment.

UNISON says that isn’t the outcome anyone wants — but with members having already signalled they’re ready to move to a formal industrial action ballot, continued council inaction risks strike action in Barnet as early as this autumn, which would mean bin collections and street cleansing grinding to a halt and the real prospect of fly-tipping building up across the borough.

“This result couldn’t be clearer. Not a single member who voted backed the council’s offer. We’ve asked the council for urgent talks — we’d much rather resolve this at the table than take it further. But if the council keeps standing behind Capita instead of doing right by the workers who kept this borough running, residents need to understand where that leads: a strike this autumn, bins left uncollected, and fly-tipping piling up across Barnet. That’s entirely avoidable, and it’s in the council’s hands to avoid it.”

The dispute follows a payroll error under former contractor Capita, which left overtime out of holiday pay calculations for staff who regularly worked it, including depot workers in waste, recycling, green waste and street cleaning.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Barnet UNISON represents around 3,000 members working for the London Borough of Barnet and associated employers.

Contact: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

Bus strikes – what you need to do now

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Cost of Living Crisis, Local, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

Barnet UNISON depot members please read the advice below.

The Unite bus strikes affecting Arriva North London services start this Friday, 14 August, and continue on further dates through to October. If your journey to work depends on one of the affected routes, please read this and act now.

When the strikes are happening

Strike periods are: 14–15 August, 18–21 August, 25–28 August, 4–5 September, 7–8 September, 18–19 September, 21–22 September, 2–3 October, 5–6 October, and 16–17 and 19–20 October. Each period runs from just before 4am on the first date through to just before 4am on the day after the last date shown.

What to do now

If you think you’ll have trouble getting to work this Friday because your bus route is affected, speak to your supervisor today – don’t wait until the morning of the strike. The same applies ahead of every other date listed above. The earlier you flag it, the more time there is to sort something out.

What the Council is looking into

We’ve met with the Assistant Director, who is looking at practical ways to help affected staff get in on strike days. This includes putting on alternative transport, arranging car sharing, and asking supervisors to pick up staff who are struggling to get in. Nothing is confirmed yet, which is exactly why speaking to your supervisor now matters – it’s how you get included in whatever gets arranged.

If you’re not getting help

If you raise this with your supervisor and you’re not offered any practical support, or you’re told you’ll be marked late or absent through no fault of your own because of strike disruption, contact us straight away. Don’t just stay off work without speaking to your supervisor and to UNISON first.

Contact your workplace UNISON rep, or the branch office directly at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk , if you need help.

End.

 

 

 

Weekly Blog — speaking truth to power – National Care Service

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Cost of Living Crisis, Disability, Local, London Living Wage, National, News, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

 

This week I published a piece on the branch website about the National Care Service debate. I want to use this blog to explain why I wrote it, what it means for our members right now, and where the dispute with The Barnet Group stands.

Why I wrote about a National Care Service

Politicians talk about creating a National Care Service the way they talk about most things — as a funding question. How much will it cost? How will it be paid for? Those are fair questions. But they are not the only ones.

After 31 years as a UNISON rep, I have watched care workers praised in speeches and shortchanged in their pay packets. I have watched outsourcing strip away decent terms. I have watched workers transferred out of council employment, away from the Local Government Pension Scheme, onto weaker sick pay, weaker holiday entitlement, weaker everything — and I have watched management call it an efficiency.

A National Care Service built on that foundation is not a National Care Service. It is the same fragmented mess with a new name on the door.

If the Government is serious, it starts with the workforce. Fair pay, secure contracts, collective bargaining, and access to a proper pension. You can read the full piece here: https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2026/07/30/a-national-care-service-must-start-with-the-workforce/

The dispute on our doorstep

While politicians debate the future, our members in Your Choice Barnet and Barnet Homes are living the present. And the present is not acceptable.

Earlier this month, 97% of Your Choice Barnet members and 100% of Barnet Homes members voted for industrial action in consultative ballots. Those turnouts would have comfortably beaten the statutory thresholds needed for a formal ballot. The message could not have been clearer.

The Barnet Group’s response? They refused to negotiate. They rejected the claim in full and said they would not move. That is not a negotiating position. That is a refusal to engage with people who deliver first-class public services on second-class pay.

We have now requested formal statutory industrial action ballots. That process is underway. The Barnet Group is wholly owned by Barnet Council. The council cannot stand to one side and say this has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with them.

The pension question

One of the central demands in this dispute is access to the Local Government Pension Scheme. This matters and it is worth explaining why.

LGPS is not a gold-plated luxury. It is a defined benefit scheme that gives workers a degree of certainty about their retirement — the kind of certainty that has been taken for granted by council employees for decades. Workers transferred into TBG and Your Choice Barnet were moved away from it. That means lower retirement income for some of the lowest-paid workers in the borough.

We often hear that LGPS employer contributions make it unaffordable. The employer contribution rate is currently 20.4%. That is not a secret. But it is worth pointing out that the people who find LGPS “unaffordable” for frontline care workers tend to be the same senior managers who are themselves in the scheme and drawing from it. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for the people doing the actual care.

What happens next

The formal ballot process has begun. If members vote yes — and I expect they will — strike action becomes a real possibility. That is not where anyone wants to be. But it is where The Barnet Group has taken us by refusing to negotiate.

If you work in Your Choice Barnet or Barnet Homes, make sure your contact details are up to date with the branch. Watch for your ballot when it arrives. And vote.

Best wishes John Burgess Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

 

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