Recruitment – Barnet UNISON

“No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 6: Part Two

15th November 2024 admin Anti - Racism, ASSIST, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, COVID 19, Health and Safety, Local, London Living Wage, News, Pensions, Recruitment, Repairs, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

Ever since we published our article called Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, we have been inundated with questions about The Barnet Group (TBG).

Barnet UNISON published three animations which were put together with the help of our Barnet UNISON reps in TBG

Here is Animation Number Two which appears to have been screened in London Docklands.

After watching this animation we strongly recommend you reading our article Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, here https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/10/18/barnet-council-the-tale-of-three-chief-executives-and-one-plumber/

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“No stone left unturned” What is The Barnet Group (TBG)? Number 5: Part One

15th November 2024 admin Anti - Racism, ASSIST, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Care & Support, Health and Safety, Housing, Local, News, Pensions, Recruitment, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign

Ever since we published our article called Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, we have been inundated with questions about The Barnet Group (TBG).

Barnet UNISON published three animations which were put together with the help of our Barnet UNISON reps in TBG

Here is Animation Number One which appears to have been viewed in the Council Main Office in Colindale.

After watching this animation we strongly recommend you reading our article Three Chief Executives and a Plumber, here https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/10/18/barnet-council-the-tale-of-three-chief-executives-and-one-plumber/

End.

32 – Another mental health social worker resignation at Barnet Council

4th November 2024 admin Austerity, Health and Safety, Local, News, Recruitment, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Firstly, Community Care magazine published another excellent article on the ongoing mental health social worker dispute.

You can read the article here.

‘We walked out for 81 days and the service is as unsafe as it was before’

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/10/21/we-walked-out-for-81-days-and-the-service-is-as-unsafe-as-it-was-before/

See some of the quotes below

‘We walked out for 81 days and the service is as unsafe as it was before’ (former Barnet Council mental health social worker).

“We walked out for 81 days and it made no difference. They aren’t listening to us. It’s as dangerous a service as it was when the dispute started.”

“Coming back after strike, the management don’t acknowledge it, we raise problems and they just don’t go anywhere,” says another social worker.

“My concern is, how can I practise safely as a social worker? I really can’t do a proper job. It’s just so frustrating.”

“I’m not leaving because of the strike, I’m leaving because, through the strike, it’s become very apparent that nothing is going to get any better, as they don’t seem to value our opinion or our feedback.”

The reporting on the feedback is accurate. It is important the reasons for the exodus of social workers is recorded publicly. For some reason senior officers of the London Borough of Barnet have been ‘doubling down’ in their responses to social workers leaving. Both in meetings with senior managers and in exit interviews our members have been very clear why they have left, yet senior management is promoting a “nothing to see here, please move along” position to all press enquiries.

Feedback from our members is that morale is at rock bottom and it is highly likely more staff will be leaving as soon as they have secured their own escape plan.

The tragedy is that we are talking about mental health services. Last year the Guardian newspaper quoted hospital bosses: “Mental healthcare in England is a national emergency” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/09/mental-healthcare-in-england-is-a-national-emergency-say-hospital-bosses

Over a decade of underfunding alongside increasing numbers of people needing mental health services has devasted the workplace and services.

Earlier this month a major strike took place, “Nurses are among a group of mental health workers in Manchester who are striking today over “unsafe” staffing levels.”

“Unison North West regional organiser Paddy Cleary said: “These early intervention mental health workers take their duties seriously, but heavy workloads, insufficient funding and unsafe staffing levels have left them with no choice but to strike.”

https://www.nursingtimes.net/mental-health/manchester-mental-health-staff-strike-over-unsafe-staffing-16-10-2024/

Back here in Barnet the indifference being shown by senior officers to the huge turnover of both permanent and agency social workers is nothing short of scandalous. Each time someone leaves it means another relationship has ended for the service user. The other worrying fact is that senior management does not appear concerned that they are unable to recruit experienced mental health social workers. They are reliant on bringing in social workers with no experience of working in mental health or taking on former student social workers with little or no experience of working with service users with complex mental health needs.

“Barnet UNISON has been clear since the beginning of this dispute on 1 September 2023, that we will not tolerate our members working in an unsafe workplace. It is bad for staff and bad for service users. We understand why social workers have left and are planning to leave. Barnet Council mental health social work teams were once a trail blazing service for crisis work. Today it is a service that is out of control and the worst part is that as our members have said ‘they don’t seem to value our opinion or our feedback’.” John Burgess, Branch Secretary Barnet UNISON.

End.

Depot Wednesday organising to win for our members

10th October 2024 admin Anti - Racism, Austerity, Health and Safety, News, Recruitment, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

#DepotWednesday an opportunity for our depot workers to speak with their #BarnetUNISON reps about all the issues they are facing in the workplace.

Read flyer here https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/OCT-2024-DEPOT-WEDNESDAY-FLYER.pdf

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UNISON National Pay ballot : Frequently Asked Questions 2024

10th September 2024 admin Austerity, Membership, National, News, Recruitment, Schools, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

1. What was the UNISON pay claim?

UNISON, alongside the other Local Government trade unions Unite and GMB, submitted a claim for an increase of £3,000 or 10%, whichever is the highest at every pay point. In addition, the claim also included a 2 hour reduction in the working week with no pay detriment, an additional day annual leave, and reviews of discriminatory pay gaps

2. What did the employers offer?

The employers offered an increase of £1,481 or 2.5%, whichever is the highest and rejected everything else.

3. Why is UNISON balloting us?

Yet again, the pay offer from our employers is another pay cut in real terms. We’ve had years of pay cuts and we have to say enough is enough. School and council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being balloted.

4. When will I get my ballot paper?

The ballot opened on 4 September. Ballot papers will start arriving over the next few days – they are being sent out in batches because there’s about 360,000 UNISON members in schools and councils!

5. Is UNISON recommending how to vote?

Yes, and YES! UNISON has rejected the employers offer, and is recommending to all members to vote YES for strike action

6. Shouldn’t UNISON be negotiating first?

UNISON reps spent weeks negotiating with the employers, but they wouldn’t increase their offer. So now we need to make it clear how serious we are about getting a decent pay rise.

7. Will my vote really make a difference?

Definitely – every single vote will make a difference. That’s because we have some really restrictive anti-union laws – so we can’t vote online, and over 50% of members must vote.

8. How will I know when I get my ballot paper?

It will arrive in an A5 bright purple envelope, it will have the UNISON logo on the front and will also say in large letters Stand Together For Better Pay, Council and School Pay 2024 on the front. It should be hard to miss!

9. How do I vote?

In the bright purple envelope, you will have a ballot paper – you put a X in one of the boxes (preferably YES) and then use the pre-paid, pre-addressed envelope to post the paper back to CES who are running the ballot for UNISON.

10. When do I need to return my ballot paper?

Your ballot paper must be returned before 16 October 10am. CES need to have received it by then, so really just complete and post it back as soon as you receive it.

11. What if I don’t get a ballot paper?

If you haven’t had a ballot paper by 17 September, then call the Hotline immediately on 0800 0857 857 and they will check your address and send out a replacement paper

12. I’ve heard people say it’s a disaggregated ballot? What’s that?

A disaggregated ballot means that we are all being balloted by employer. So for instance in Barnet, we have over 20 separate ballots – some smaller ones in schools that pay NJC pay, plus one for council workers and school workers still employed by Barnet. This is the same in every branch in the country. We need to get over 50% in as many of those ballots as possible.

13. If a workmate joins now will they get a ballot paper?

Someone not already in UNISON has until 3 October to join if they want to have a vote. They can join here: Join UNISON and get essential cover

14. Can people not in UNISON go on strike?

Yes, but we would always encourage someone to be in a union if they are going to strike. Plus, they wouldn’t be eligible for any strike pay unless they join the union taking strike action!

15. Can agency/contract workers join and strike?

Yes, agency workers can join UNISON and can go on strike

16. Will I get strike pay?

UNISON pays £50 a day strike pay. This amount can be changed depending on how many members are taking strike action. As soon as the ballot result is known, there will be discussions and decisions made about where strikes will be and about strike pay. If we get over 50% turnout and a YES vote for action, we will keep you updated about strike dates and pay. Details on how to claim it will be available when needed.

17. If we strike, we’ll lose money even with strike pay. Is it worth striking?

When we take strike action, we win more money overall than we lose. We know it’s difficult to lose money, but without taking action we know we’ll be worse off this year already. However, if we stand together, get the vote out and fight back, we can win more.

18. When we win, will the pay be backdated?

Yes, back to 1 April 2024

19. Do you know when we’ll get the money?

That will depend on when the employers give in and agree to our pay claim!

20. If someone isn’t in UNISON will they also get the pay rise?

Yes, but we have more chance of getting a better pay rise if we are stronger, so ask anyone not in UNISON to join and get involved to help us win for everyone!

21. Where can I find out more?

You can come to the visit the Barnet UNISON media channels where we are publishing updated information about the strike ballot on a regular basis.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/barnet_unison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarnetUNISON

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnetunison/

Website: https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/

End.

Press Release: Mass exodus of mental health social workers risks total collapse of services.

4th September 2024 admin Anti - Racism, Austerity, Health and Safety, Local, News, Recruitment, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Barnet UNISON mental health social workers dispute with Barnet Council since 1 September 2023 has been over the failure to agree a recruitment and retention payment due to high turnover of staff across three mental health social worker teams.

On Monday 15 July 2024 UNISON wrote to Barnet Council suspending strike action and agreeing to go into talks to try and resolve the dispute.

Unfortunately talks broke down as it became clear in the meeting that Barnet Council was not prepared to reconsider their position.

The following facts provide a glimpse of the scale of the crisis facing Barnet Council.

50% of the permanent workforce will have left one of the three mental health social work team workforce since 1 January 2024.
31 mental health social workers will have left one of the three mental health social work teams in the last two years.
12 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team North in the last two years.
19 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team South in the last two years.
Did you know that 40% of AMHPs have left the AMHP team in the last two months.
100% of AMHPs across the North and South mental health teams resigned and left the Council by the end of August 2024.
In July 2023 Barnet Council informed UNISON that they had a budget of £266k to resolve this dispute.
In a meeting with Acas in March 2024 with UNISON they doubled their budget to £532k.
It would cost £150k to settle this dispute

At our last meeting with Barnet Council our reps informed senior management that they were leaving because it had become clear that Barnet Council does not value their staff or service users. Our members strongly believe that it is not safe to practice as a mental health social worker in the three frontline mental health teams.

“It has become apparently clear that Barnet Council has chosen confrontation rather than negotiation to resolve this high-profile dispute. It is not about the money because we know there is a pot three times bigger than what would be needed to bring this dispute to a close. The sheer scale of the numbers of social workers leaving these three teams should have set alarm bells ringing with senior management. The fact that they appear unconcerned about the risks of the chronic levels of turnover has left mental health social workers feeling deeply unsafe. We still have some members who are currently still working but feeling very scared about what could happen in terms of risks. Failure to end this dispute will leave Barnet Council exposed as an uncaring and unsafe workplace for mental health social workers.

I have recently reached out to the Chief Executive and Leader of Barnet Council to come back with a revised offer which may be able to retain some of the current staff and encourage experienced mental health social workers to come and work for Barnet.

Until there is a credible offer the Barnet UNISON mental health social worker dispute remains live and we will continue to report on the dispute. It is our duty to advocate for a safe working environment for our members and no one will silence our voice for our members.” (John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON).

Notes to Editors.

Contact details: Barnet UNISON branch on 0208 359 2088 to leave a message on our voicemail or email: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Background:

1. ‘It’s Soul Destroying’: Why Barnet Social Workers Are on Strike.

https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/06/its-soul-destroying-why-barnet-social-workers-are-on-strike

2. Euphoria felled by reality and scant ambition – I have seen what could be Labour’s future | Aditya Chakrabortty | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/02/euphoria-reality-labour-future-thatcher-tory

3. Mental health social workers consider striking over staffing levels. 20 June 2023

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/06/20/mental-health-social-workers-consider-striking-over-staffing-levels/

4. Strike ballot opens for mental health social workers. 8 August 2023.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/08/08/strike-ballot-opens-for-mental-health-social-workers/

5. Mental health social workers vote to strike over ‘chronic staffing issues’ 6 September 2023.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/09/06/mental-health-social-workers-vote-to-strike-over-chronic-staffing-issues/

6. Social workers to take 26 days’ further strike action in pay and staffing dispute.26 October 2023.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/10/26/social-workers-to-take-26-days-further-strike-action-in-pay-and-staffing-dispute/

7. Inside a social work strike: the staff fighting for a ‘safe service’ 31 October 2023.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2023/10/31/inside-a-social-work-strike-the-staff-fighting-for-a-safe-service/

8.Social workers re-balloted on striking after 27 days of action leaves pay dispute unresolved. 18 February 2024.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/02/18/social-workers-re-balloted-on-striking-after-27-days-of-action-leaves-pay-dispute-unresolved/

9. Social workers to take nine more weeks of strike action as talks fail to resolve dispute.

8 March 2024.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/03/08/social-workers-to-take-nine-more-weeks-of-strike-action-as-talks-fail-to-resolve-dispute/

10. Firm pulls out of providing service for council that union claims would have broken social work strike. 17 April 2024

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/04/17/firm-pulls-out-of-providing-service-for-council-that-union-claims-would-have-broken-social-work-strike/

11. Social workers reject council offer to settle dispute after more than 40 days of strike action. 16 May 2024.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/05/16/social-workers-reject-council-offer-to-settle-dispute-after-more-than-40-days-of-strike-action/

12. Social workers escalate dispute with nine-week walkout. 17 May 2024

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/05/17/social-workers-escalate-dispute-with-nine-week-walkout/

13. Council to buy in service to cover social workers during 9-week strike. 21 May 2024.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/05/21/council-to-buy-in-service-to-cover-social-workers-during-9-week-strike/

14. Union threatens court action over council plan to cover social work strike.

24 May 2024

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/05/24/union-threatens-court-action-over-council-plan-to-cover-social-work-strike/

15. Council outsources mental health service to cover social work strike 10 June 2024.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/06/10/council-outsources-mental-health-service-to-cover-social-work-strike/

16. Mental health social workers pose greatest recruitment and retention challenge for adults’ services. 25 June 2024.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/06/25/mental-health-social-workers-pose-greatest-recruitment-and-retention-challenge-for-adults-services/

17. Mental health social workers return to work after nine-week strike 16 July 2024

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/07/16/mental-health-social-workers-return-to-work-after-nine-week-strike/

18. ****This is where it all began in Barnet Council in 2016****

Council sheds qualified social worker posts to save money. 22 November 2016.

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2016/11/22/council-sheds-qualified-social-worker-posts-save-money/

19.

All you need to know about Barnet UNISON mental health social worker strike

4th September 2024 admin Anti - Racism, Austerity, Health and Safety, Local, News, Recruitment, Solidarity, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign

Background.

There are three mental health social work teams in this dispute.

Mental Health Social Work North Team = 13 staff.
Mental Health Social Work South Team = 14 staff.
Approved Mental Health Professional Team (AMHP) = 5 staff

On Monday 15 July 2024 UNISON wrote to Barnet Council suspending strike action and agreeing to go into talks to try and resolve the dispute.

Unfortunately talks broke down as it became clear in the meeting that Barnet Council was not prepared to reconsider their position.

This report seeks to provide information about the dispute which is now one of the longest running disputes in UNISON’s history.

*As this dispute is still ongoing this article will be continuously updated.

Leaver’s data.

1. Did you know 50% of the permanent workforce will have left the three mental health social work teams workforce since 1 January 2024.

2. Did you know that 31 mental health social workers will have left one of the mental health social work teams in the last two years.

3. Did you know that 12 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team North in the last two years.

4. Did you know that 17 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team South in the last two years.

5. Did you know that the mental health social work team South has no AMHPs.

6. Did you know that mental health social work team North has no AMHPs as from 1 September 2024.

7. Did you know that only one out of a mental health social work team management team of four is an AMHP.

8. Did you know that two out of four managers mental health social work teams have no previous experience of working in mental health services.

9.Did you know that by the end of August 2024 of the four Lead Practitioner (LP) posts across North and South mental health social work teams there will be two vacancies, leaving only one LP with experience working as a mental health social worker and one LP with no previous experience working as a mental health social worker.

10. Did you know that 40% of AMHPs have left the AMHP team in the last two months.

11. Did you know that there are only 3 AMHPs across the three mental health social work team teams.

12. Did you know that there are only 3 social workers left out of 14 who were in the mental health social work team North on 11 August 2022. Nine of the social workers have left. This represents 80% of the team. Please note that this team only employed social workers. Barnet Council introduced unqualified staff into the team in 2023 when social workers started to leave.

13. Did you know that there are only 3 social workers left out of 14 who were in the mental health social work team South on 11 August 2022. Nine of the social workers have left. This represents 80% of the team. Please note that this team only employed social workers. Barnet Council introduced unqualified staff into the team in 2023 when social workers started to leave.

Service user issues

1. Did you know that every time a social worker (either permanent or locum) leaves this means further disruption for mental health service users.

2. Did you know that there is still a 17-month waitlist for service users with mental health problems.

Barnet Council

1. Did you know that Barnet Council were asked to provide staff leaving data in July 2023 and only brought some data at a meeting with UNISON in March 2024. The data provided was not evidence of recruitment and retention issues.

2. Did you know that in July 2023 Barnet Council informed UNISON that they had a budget of £266k to resolve this dispute.

3. Did you know in a meeting with Acas in March 2024 with UNISON they doubled that figure to £532k.

4. Did you know that Barnet Council said they could easily settle our dispute because it was cheaper.

5. Did you know that it would cost £150k to settle this dispute?

6. Did you know that it took Barnet Council seven months before they would agree to a meeting with UNISON and Acas.

7. Did you know that in July 2024 UNISON wrote to Barnet Council suspending strike action. In that meeting with the knowledge that another 25% of permanent social workers had handed in their notice, Barnet Council brought no revised offer to the negotiating table.

8. Did you know that Barnet Council used a recruitment agency to strike break. They deny it was strike breaking arguing they outsourced the service. There has been no consultation about outsourcing services with UNISON.

9. Did you know that Barnet Council carried out a restructure of mental health social work teams. A report entitled “Adults Social Care Mental Health Service Restructure Consultation Report and Final Proposals, July 2022” was shared with staff.

Two years on and this is the list of their 17 outstanding actions:

There will be further consultation and engagement with staff to review team criteria; improve processes and pathways; and ensure there are effective ways to work alongside health colleagues for the benefit of the residents we support.
Move of MH Front Door to SCD – suggested this is postponed until referrals criteria are confirmed and training for SCD staff is provided on this basis
To develop and implement a retention strategy for mental health social work staff
To review existing staffing ratios in mental health service to ensure sufficiency and that teams can operate safely and will not be at risk of burn out.
Further need for data cleansing (those noted on Mosaic as having a mental health as a primary need are accurately recorded as such) and addressing backlog of updating contacts in Mosaic
Co-production with people we support to find out what they think and what changes are necessary.

Ideas to explore further in transformation process:

A multi-agency crisis team
Staff specifically dedicated to conducting Care and Support Plan reviews
Specialist worker for carrying out CHC checklist or using existing resources in CHC.

Risk highlighted:

End of Think -Ahead Students placements impacting negatively on capacity (students are currently holding large number of cases)
Backlog of reviews.

Gaps in service availability need to be addressed by the commissioning plan.
Additional business support resource was added to the original proposal.
The transfer of the MH front door to SCD has been postponed until September, to ensure criteria are clear and staff have been trained on this basis.
Further work will be undertaken as part of the workforce strategy and business planning process to look at the capacity of teams across adult social care given the pressures of demand that the service faces.
Duty arrangements will need to be finalised and discussed with managers and staff to reflect the move of initial contact to SCD.
Mental Health Teams wished to maintain access to Rio.

Publicity about the dispute.

1. Did you know that Community Care published 15 articles about this dispute which you can read here on our web site.

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2024/07/29/barnet-council-mental-health-social-worker-recruitment-crisis-community-care/

2. Did you know that UNISON wrote to CQC outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FINAL-LETTER-TO-CQC.pdf

3. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FINAL-LETTER-TO-ADASS.pdf

4. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Social Work England outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FINAL-LETTER-TO-SWE.docx

5. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Executive Director of Adult Social Care Dawn Wakeling outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/16/open-letter-to-executive-director-of-adult-social-care-mental-health-social-work-dispute/

6. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Director of Adult Social Care James Mass outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/16/open-letter-to-director-of-adult-social-care-mental-health-social-work-dispute/

7. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Leader of Labour controlled Barnet Council Barry Rawlings outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/15/open-letter-to-cllr-barry-rawlings-leader-of-barnet-council/

8. Did you know that UNISON produced a community newspaper (Barnet VOICE) for Barnet residents outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Barnet-Voice-4-v08.pdf

9. Did you know that 20,000 community newspapers were delivered to Barnet residents.

10. Did you know that Guardian Journalist Aditya Chakrabortty wrote an article about this dispute entitled “Euphoria felled by reality and scant ambition – I have seen what could be Labour’s future | Aditya | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/02/euphoria-reality-labour-future-thatcher-tory

11. Did you know the Tribune newspaper covered the dispute in this article. ‘It’s Soul Destroying’: Why Barnet Social Workers Are on Strike. https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/06/its-soul-destroying-why-barnet-social-workers-are-on-strike

12. Did you know that an Early day motion was submitted about the Barnet UNISON mental health social worker dispute which you can view here https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61831/barnet-mental-health-union-dispute

13. Did you know that hundreds of trade union members have signed a public statement calling upon the Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Barry Rawlings to stop the use of agency workers to strike break. View statement here

https://bit.ly/barnetstrike

End.