Category: COVID 19

Barnet UNISON consultative ballot for care workers

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, COVID 19, Local, London Living Wage, News, Recruitment, Repairs, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign

 

13 February 2024

Dear colleague,

We want you to participate in this consultative ballot to make it clear to senior managers just how strongly you feel about your pay.

We will be letting senior managers know the results of the ballot, so this is your chance to make a difference. If enough people vote yes, then it will not be your last chance and we may progress to balloting our members officially about your willingness to take strike action.

During the COVID pandemic you put your lives and the lives of your families/ loved ones on the line to keep members of the public safe. It took a long time for you to then receive an uplift in your pay, terms and conditions….and it was not enough.

In any case the small gains you made in pay were smashed away by the cost-of-living crisis.

What can The Barnet Group afford? Perhaps we should ask the question differently – You have been identified as essential workers; can any employer afford the cost of you not doing your job?

What you must do now?

If your workplace setting has a UNISON rep, you should ask them for your ballot paper. Your rep should be checking with you that the address on the envelope matches your current home address. If we did go on to carry out an official ballot, the letter would go to your home address. We need to know we have your correct details. Complete the ballot paper and hand it back to your UNISON rep.

If your workplace has no UNISON rep, the ballot paper will be posted to you directly. Please complete the ballot paper and put it back in the pre-paid envelope and post it back to us.

Your ballot paper needs to reach us by 5pm 23rd February 2024

 

Yours Sincerely

 

John Burgess                                  Patrick Hunter                           Helen Davies

Barnet UNISON                               Barnet UNISON                         Barnet UNISON

Branch Secretary              TBG Assistant Branch Secretary                Branch Chair

 

 

 

 

Bringing Services Home – Barnet UNISON campaign

Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, Community, COVID 19, Health and Safety, Local, London Living Wage, News, Pensions, Recruitment, Repairs, Report, Solidarity, TBG Flex, Trades Dispute, Your Choice Barnet

 

Barnet UNISON is proud to announce that we are promoting UNISON Bringing Services Home campaign.

As a branch we have had more than our share of outsourcing. The easy Council experiment was a spectacular failure. It cost more money (yes, we told them it would!) and it did not lead to better services.

In May 2022, Barnet Labour Party won the election with a massive majority and one of their priorities was “Review of contracted out services, in the context of the new administration’s aspiration to bring privatised services back in-house.”

Last year Barnet Labour Party brought back one of the big contracts with Capita and other services on the other Capita contract have been coming back in-house.

The Council is going through a period of healing from the badly advised outsourcing ideology which dominated our Council for over a decade.

Today Barnet UNISON has written to all senior council officers responsible for outsourced contracts seeking a meeting to discuss how and when they are going to review the outsourced service.

Barnet UNISON also want to deal with the Ethnicity Pay Gap which the outsourcing easy Council ideology promoted by always securing the outsourcing option for services which are largely provided by Black workers e.g.

  1. NSL: Parking Services
  2. ISS: Catering Services
  3. Your Choice Barnet: Social Care services
  4. Norse: Cleaning services
  5. Blue 9: Security Services.

All the above services were outsourced under the Tories.

Barnet UNISON positively supports the statement of UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“Black workers make a vital contribution to the health and care sector but are all too often at the bottom of the pay scale as care workers, porters, healthcare assistants and catering staff. They frequently face shocking discrimination, threatening their health, job security and life chances.”

This why Barnet UNISON is determined to work with the Labour Administration to bring back these services into the Council thus enabling real life meaningful changes for a workforce that is often invisible and often low paid and without occupational sick pay.

End.

 

Breaking News: Covid Heroes face the sack by Barnet Council

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, COVID 19, Disability, Health and Safety, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, Trades Dispute

The Barnet Group is an arm’s length company 100% owned by Barnet Council.

On Friday 9 February 2024, Enablement Home Care workers were told that they were no longer needed.

“We are the best at what we do, that is why we look after people discharged from hospital for 8 weeks till other carers takeover.”

Care worker

“They should be expanding our service, not shutting it, what we do is vital and we do it well”

Care worker

Staff and Barnet UNISON left the meeting with the following questions:

  1. Enablement is a well-run and valued service – why isn’t TBG expanding rather than closing the service?
  2. What engagement has taken place with stakeholders – our tenants and clients?
  3. When will we know if this is a TUPE or a Closure?
  4. What are they consulting staff and UNISON on? UNISON is clear that TBG need to provide more details before commencing with 121’s?
  5. When will ‘consultation’ begin and how long will it last?

 Background:

This service was handed to TBG after senior officers working for Barnet Council spectacularly failed over the procurement of Aquaflo a private contractor who had been given the contract by Barnet Council to deliver home care for Barnet residents.

“‘Disaster’ – Aquaflo Care company’s takeover from Housing 21 goes badly wrong.” 15th September 2016.

https://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/news/14745911.disaster-aquaflo-care-companys-takeover-from-housing-21-goes-badly-wrong/

Covid: How quickly senior officers and councillors forget

It is only a few years ago that these workers were called heroes as they went into Barnet residents’ homes to provide care and support whilst many of the senior managers and councillors issued instructions from the safety of their homes.Barnet UNISON will be providing support to all of our members.

Barnet UNISON will be providing support to all of our members and in the meantime, we are calling on Barnet Council to reverse this decision and bring it back in-house to the Adult Social Care directorate where it belongs. The decision by senior officers is at odds with the Labour Party position on creating a National Care Service which is something UNISON supports. “Unison’s general secretary, Christina McAnea, told the Observer: “Care is in crisis and the need for a national service has never been greater.”

More news later.

End.

 

Barnet Tories 2023/24 Council Budget Plan to cut hundreds of jobs……

Anti - Racism, Austerity, COVID 19, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Barnet Tories 2023/24 Council Budget Plan to cut hundreds of jobs and the right to representation by a trade union.

Read details here on the Council website https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s76600/Conservative%20Alternative%20Budget%20Final%20Publish.pdf

In the biggest Cost of Living Crisis in over 75 years Barnet Tories have proposed an alternative budget that according to the Councils Chief Finance officer has this to say:

“Notionally this would be taking approximately 100 posts out of the services not mentioned above. This would have a significant impact on the delivery of those services and the S151 would advise caution in the delivery of this saving and the impact it could have on services.”

https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s76601/S151%20and%20Monitoring%20Officer%20Comments%20on%20Alternative%20Budget.pdf

 

This anti worker rhetoric sums up where we are politically. The only response the Tories have is to frighten workers with redundancies and at the same time take away the right of workers to organise and be represented by trade unions.

If they want to look at waste, Barnet UNISON warned the Tories of the dangers of their mass outsourcing ideology back in 2008. We warned it would lead to poorer services, mass redundancies and of course we warned that Barnet would become a cash cow to the contractors.

Take a look at Barnet Blogger Mr Reasonable and read in horror the latest figures of Council spend on the two Capita contracts read below

http://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.com/2023/02/capita-continuing-to-disappoint-in.html

 

To date Barnet Council has given Capita an eye watering £634 million of which £273 million more than the contracted value.

Back in 2012 Barnet UNISON was assured that Capita would be held to account, but the reality is that they have been treated differently to in-house services who have had to try to deliver services through austerity whereas Capita keep holding their hands out asking for more.

What was worrying at the last Audit Committee on 16 January 2023 is that the Council were not seeking compensation for poor performance and even more worrying that the Council is not monitoring Capita in the last few months of contract take a listen below:

https://aisapps.sonicfoundry.com/AuditelScheduler/Player/Index/?id=2329a97b-5ee9-40b6-ad39-aef3cce9a3b6&presID=b142792e21954335a5579e2a62fb46ef1d

 

The Tories spent £13 million to consultants to help develop and manage the mass outsourcing of services.

What about the decision to set the Council depot based in the centre of the borough ideally located to deliver frontline services to the residents of Barnet. A decision that saw services split between Barnet and Harrow. This model did not work, and the costs associated with moving services back to one location have cost millions with more still to be spent.

Barnet UNISON is proud of the hard work and commitment of all our members working across all parts of the Council including schools. They were quite rightly lauded as key workers, most of whom went into work when others worked from the safety of their homes.

We will continue to organise and mobilise our members wherever they are.

End.

Emergency HGV drivers depot meeting 1 February 5.45 am

Anti - Racism, Austerity, COVID 19, Demonstration, Local, News, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Barnet UNISON carried out an informal ballot of our members on the offer of 10 % Recruitment/Retention for our HGV driver members.

97% of members rejected this offer.

Barnet Council has been paying social workers in Family Services Recruitment/Retention payments up to 20% for the past 5 years.

In the worst Cost of Living Crisis our members believe they are worth more than 10%.

We are calling a meeting of all drivers to discuss what happens to our claim. It is important that all drivers turn up to the meeting

Wednesday 1 February, 5.45 a.m.

End.

A shift of a care worker in Barnet: The London Living Wage is not enough!

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, COVID 19, Health and Safety, News, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

Barnet UNISON is in negotiations with The Barnet Group (TBG) about improving Pay and Terms and Conditions of our members.

One of our members, a care worker put together a list of work she does each day.

 

The list is enormous but it’s a critical service. The impact on the quality of life of residents is determined by the skill and professionalism of the care worker.

 

Whilst politicians will queue up to say that care workers are central to the delivery of care in the community they still refuse to commit to dealing with the ‘elephant in the room’ which is Pay.

 

Care workers have been subjected to outsourcing which has seen the pay and terms and conditions sink.

 

Considering the care work workforce is largely female it could be said that  outsourcing of care work is an example of institutional misogyny within procurement and commissioning of care services.

 

Look at this list of tasks and ask yourself whether you think that care workers should be paid more.

 

As a Carers we do:

  1. Personal care
  2. Make bed and tidy up bathrooms and rooms.
  3. Put water in the jug.
  4. Give bedtime tea.
  5. Serve tea after personal care.
  6. Take all clothes, bed linens, towels to laundry to wash.
  7. Assist residents to go to the dining area.
  8. Support residents to walk with jimo frames. or in a wheelchair.
  9. Assist residents to sit on the chair.
  10. Serve breakfast and prepare tea and toast.
  11. Assist residents to go the toilet.
  12. Assist residents as required.
  13. Assist residents to go to the lounge or in their room.
  14. Make sure they have everything as needed.
  15. Take Covid Temperature and record.
  16. Clear dining area and set up for lunch time.
  17. Wash all dishes and serving pots and pans.
  18. Clear and sweeping floors.
  19. Medication administered.
  20. Assist and respond when is needed.
  21. Do daily logbook and record.
  22. Served 11 am tea or juices choices if residents.
  23. Change bed linen.
  24. Dealt with residents as different needs.
  25. Escort residents to their hospital appointment.
  26. Take samples of residents to GP.
  27. Support residents with hearing aids, glasses, dentures.
  28. Weigh residents regularly.
  29. Take BP regularly.
  30. Admin work monthly based filing all documents.
  31. Everyday take fridges temperatures and food temperatures.
  32. Daily logging and administration medication.
  33. Assist residents to go to toilet before lunch.
  34. Assists residents to sit on their chair to eat lunch.
  35. Bring food trolly from kitchen to dining area.
  36. Get ready to serve lunch.
  37. Served lunch and dealt with individual’s needs.
  38. Again scraped all dishes and take to the small kitchen to wash.
  39. Clear, sweep, collect and wash.
  40. Support and assist residents needs to go toilet, lounge, in their room.
  41. Empty bin and take to waste bin outside.
  42. Do daily logging book.
  43. Laundry to put way and hang in the wardrobe in the resident’s room.
  44. Teatime 3pm prepare tea and served tea and coffee and cakes.
  45. Take Covid Temperature.
  46. Do Menu for next lunch and supper ask individual what they would like to eat and explained to residents what is in the menu.
  47. Do shopping list for next day.
  48. Collect all cups and plates and wash them.
  49. Set up tables for suppers.
  50. Do daily logbook.
  51. Administration medications.
  52. We do behaviour chats, fluids records, bowels records, oral care records everyday morning and evening.
  53. Serve suppers bring trolly to the dining area.
  54. Do personal and oral care individuals.
  55. Scraped dishes and wash and clear dining area.
  56. After all personal care done take clothes and towels into laundry room and put them in the washing machines and clean kitchen.
  57. Medication administered.
  58. Serve bedtime’s tea.
  59. Put residents in beds.
  60. Empty dishwasher and put cutlery way.
  61. Collect all cups and mugs and put in washing.
  62. Do daily logbook.
  63. Check resident before finish shifts and handover.
  64. Go home.

 

64 reasons why £11.95 (London Living Wage) is not enough Pay for care workers.

 

End.

RPI a massive 19.9% in October! We have two Waste & Recycling (Bin workers) pay issues

Anti - Racism, Austerity, COVID 19, Health and Safety, Local, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

The graphic above was taken from the Government website The Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The almost vertical rise in RPI is plain for all to see. The graphic shows RPI over a 30-year period.

We are unprecedented times which is why our members are angry and determined to get a pay offer they believe provides them with some respect.

Early next week UNISON and GMB are going into another round of talks to try and reach an agreement on two pay claims made on behalf of bin workers

At a mass meeting in the depot this morning our members are clear they want a better offer.

Our members worked throughout Covid and feel their contribution to the delivering services 52 weeks a year to Barnet residents is not recognised by their employer.

Warms words will not pay the rent, the food bills or the escalating energy costs.

Barnet UNISON will be reminding the employer that our members working in Waste & Recycling (Bin workers) had a 91% turnout in the National Pay consultation and almost of the Votes were to REJECT the offer and move to strike action.

See voting figures here

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2022/09/22/89-of-barnet-unison-members-vote-to-reject-national-pay-offer/

The next round of talks will take place on Monday 28 November 2022.

More later.

 

End.

 

 

Barnet Council: London Living Wage is NOW £11.95

Anti - Racism, Austerity, COVID 19, Local, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

Barnet Council includes the London Living Wage as a contract clause for some of the contractors that deliver services on behalf of Barnet Council e.g. Norse (cleaning contractor) ISS (catering in schools), Blue Nine (security services).

 

“The new Living Wage rates were announced on Thursday 22nd September 2022.  Employers should implement the rise as soon as possible but by the latest 14th May 2023.”

https://www.livingwage.org.uk/calculation

Our members working for Norse, ISS, Blue Nine are currently earning £11.05 an hour.

The new rate is £11.95 and hour.

The worst Cost-of-Living Crisis in 75 years is having a disproportionate impact on the lowest paid which is why Barnet UNISON has called on Barnet Council to ask their contractors to update the London Living Wage for their staff before Christmas.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows RPI was 19.9% at the end of October (see graph below).

End.

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