Category: Solidarity
HGV Driver dispute draws closer to formal strike action
In September 2021, in response to the HGV driver shortage, Barnet Council agreed to pay a Recruitment and Retention Payment (RRP) as per the Council Policy for HGV drivers. Each year RRP should be reviewed.
In negotiations with the Council, Barnet UNISON requested an increase in the retention payment on the grounds that there is still an HGV driver recruitment issue but that the Cost-of-Living Crisis is ongoing e.g.
- In the last year, gas prices rose by 132%, electricity by 66%, mortgage interest payments by 26%, petrol by 22%.
- 25% has been lost from the value of their pay since 2010.
- As household costs continue to rise, the value of staff pay keeps falling – with 6% lost from the value of local government pay in 2022 alone.
The negotiations at a local level broke down and the matter was escalated to a meeting with the Chief Executive.
In advance of the meeting, Barnet UNISON undertook an informal consultation of our members. 97% of members voted that they would take strike action if the offer was not increased.
In a meeting with the Chief Executive on 27 February 2023, Barnet UNISON submitted our claim and informed the meeting of the outcome of our consultation.
Unfortunately, the negotiations failed to resolve this dispute and Barnet UNISON formally registered a Trades Dispute.
“It’s a shame. The employer has been made aware for some time of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the workforce in the depot. The use of RRP has been used in Family Services for nearly six years and has recently been increased to 25% on top of another payment entitled flexible benefits which provides another 17% on top for those workers. Our members are aware of these payments and feel that the Council treats manual workers unfairly compared to office workers and I think they have a point. I have asked the Council to reconsider their position. In the meantime, I will be shortly referring to our UNISON National Industrial Relations Committee for permission to carry out a formal strike ballot if there is not counter offer from the Council.” (John Burgess, Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON.)
End.
Win the ballot: Fight for Pay meeting
Dear Colleague
This is an invitation for you to join thousands of other London council UNISON members at this meeting on Pay!
A groundbreaking event is taking place on Tuesday 21 March 6.30-7.30 pm when UNISON members from other London councils will be signing up for the first ever London Wide UNISON council & school workers meeting.
Barnet UNISON Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86358706964?pwd=aFQyZmFsVXVqL2tNTk02dTlQd2pFZz09
Meeting ID: 863 5870 6964
Passcode: 869860
The Cost-of-Living Crisis is unrelenting, and more and more workers are under pressure to keep up with increases in costs such as Food, Heating, Rent, Mortgages, Child Care, etc.
Council and Schools workers’ pay has fallen so low over the last 13 years that everyone is now working at least ONE day a week for free.
At the same time energy companies are announcing massive levels of profits whilst many of our members are afraid to turn on the heating.
UNISON Council and School workers now have the opportunity to add their voice to the hundreds of thousands of other trade union members who have already taken strike action over the issue of low pay such as: Transport workers, Royal Mail workers, BT workers, Teachers, Junior Doctors, Train drivers, Cleaners, Teachers, College workers, Border Control workers, Civil Servants, Barristers.
All these trade union members managed to deliver a BIG YES vote in their strike ballot.
In London we need to send a message about the hardship of living on low pay in London. To do that we need to organise across London councils in order for our members’ voices to be heard loud and clear in Parliament.
When is the Strike Ballot to start?
The strike ballot papers will start being sent out to members home addresses from 23 May to 4 July.
What can members do?
It is important that all UNISON members’ email Barnet UNISON branch at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk with their correct postal address and contact details including their telephone/ mobile number and email address.
It is critical to the success of the strike ballot that Barnet UNISON has the correct details and has your permission to contact you about the strike ballot.
Phone banking.
We know from other trade unions the importance of speaking to members about voting and sending back the ballot papers. We are looking for help to be on the Barnet UNISON phone bank. If you would like to volunteer, please email us at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
In the meantime, you can read the latest offer from the employer on our Barnet UNISON web site.
For Council workers click here https://bit.ly/3Jt4fkO
For School workers click here https://bit.ly/3l0HDyC
Solidarity
Barnet UNISON.
End.
Barnet UNISON submits Menopause Policy to Barnet Council
Barnet Tories 2023/24 Council Budget Plan to cut hundreds of jobs……
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.”
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:
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.
Injuries at work – your rights explained
Injuries at work – your rights explained
Gerard Stilliard, head of personal injury claims at Thompsons Solicitors, outlines how you can access legal support if you have been injured at work.
The best employers recognise that proper health and safety is vital and take steps to ensure they keep their employees as safe as possible in the workplace.
At Thompsons, we see first-hand the devastating impact on workers and their families when health and safety is compromised – usually when management is under pressure to cut costs. That is why, as a proud partner of UNISON, we work with your union to actively promote the benefits of union membership and support you and your families with legal claims.
Your employer’s ‘duty of care’
Your employer owes you a duty of care, to protect your health, safety and welfare while at work. This include providing a safe work environment. They should:
- Follow health and safety legislation
- Conduct adequate risk assessments
- Provide you with health and safety training
- Supply sufficient PPE
- Ensure equipment is in safe working order and regularly maintained
- Reduce risk as much as reasonably possible.
If your employer has failed in their duty of care, and you have been injured at work as a result, you may be able to bring a compensation claim.
Making a compensation claim
The law requires employers to avoid risks entirely if this is possible and, if not, to minimise the risk of injury at work to the lowest level ‘reasonably practicable’.
Where employers fail in their obligation to protect you, UNISON and Thompsons will support your injury claim all the way to trial if necessary, but most cases settle well before they reach the doors of the court.
Giving you the best chance of success
To ensure your compensation claim for an accident at work is as strong as possible, you should try to:
- Report the accident and your injuries to your employer
- Record the accident in your workplace accident book
- Take photographs of the place where the accident happened
- Photograph any visible injuries
- Find out the names and contact details for any witnesses
- Keep a record of any visits to the doctors and treatments received, including receipts for any injury-related expenses.
The UNISON Legal Service gives you access to independent specialist legal advice from lawyers who are experts in their field. Using the union legal service is not only free, ensuring you receive 100% of any compensation awarded, it also increases the chances of your claim succeeding, because your lawyers can work with your local and national union representatives. You won’t get that level of compensation or support from any other law firm.
Here’s how our specialist teams can help
You can contact our experts for free advice and representation on:
- Work and non-work related personal injuryclaims, including serious injury claims
- Road traffic accident claims
- Industrial diseases, including asbestos-related diseases
- Employment law advice (accessed via your rep)
- Settlement agreements
- Work-related criminal law advice
- Free basic wills
- Special terms for medical negligence
- Special terms for conveyancing, probate and powers of attorney.
Members’ families are also covered for:
- Personal injury away from work, on holiday or on the roads
- Special terms for medical negligence and wills.
Accessing support from Thompsons Solicitors
Thompsons Solicitors has been standing with unions and fighting for workers’ rights for more than 100 years.
Since we started in 1921, we have always refused to act for employers or insurers, only ever acting for the injured and mistreated. Every year, we secure millions of pounds in compensation for union members injured or mistreated by their employer.
For more information, visit Thompsons Solicitors’ website or call us directly on 0800 0 224 224.
Will ULEZ impact on your ability to come to work?
What is ULEZ and when does its start?
Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanding across all London boroughs from 29 August 2023 to help clear London’s air.
The ULEZ will continue to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year except Christmas Day (25 December).
How can I check if my vehicle will have to pay the daily charge?
You can check your vehicle by clicking on the government website below
What is the daily charge?
Cars, motorcycles, vans and other specialist vehicles (up to and including 3.5 tonnes) and minibuses (up to and including 5 tonnes) will need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or pay a daily charge of £12.50 when driving within the zone, including the expanded area from 29 August.
What is Barnet UNISON doing about it?
Barnet UNISON has submitted ULEZ to the negotiation table with Barnet Council. The first meeting will be on Monday 27 February 2023.
Look out for updates from us.
If you have any questions/concerns about ULEZ please email us at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk or leave a message on our voicemail on 0208 359 2088
End.
UNISON submit National Council and School Pay offer alongside GMB and Unite
“UNISON is campaigning for a decent NJC pay increase for 2023, which will affect members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We are asking for a pay increase of RPI + 2%.
The Treasury’s annual forecast for RPI for 2023 is currently 10.7%, so the increase we are asking for would amount to 12.7%.
This would ensure that council and school workers are able to afford basic necessities without having to go from the front line to the breadline.”
For more details, please click link to UNISON National website below
Insourcing win at Barnet council
Insourcing win at Barnet council
Over 300 staff in a variety of services like trading standards, environmental health and other regulatory services, will now be transferred back in-house
Staff at Barnet council are due to be transferred back to council employment thanks to a decade-long campaign by UNISON.
The 330 affected workers are currently employed by outsourcing multinational conglomerate, Capita, and are being brought back in house after the council was used as a test case for the outsourcing of local government services.
The staff who work under a joint venture called ‘Capita Re’ in a variety of areas like trading standards, environmental health, planning highways and other regulatory services, will be TUPE transferred back in house on 1 April this year.
In 2012, much of the service provision at the council was outsourced to Capita on decade-long contracts by the Conservative-controlled council, with the intervening 10 years marred by several controversies including a multi-million-pound fraud and contracts running vastly over budget.
Barnet’s UNISON branch has campaigned for services to be brought back in-house since the contracts were initially handed to Capita and there have already been major in-sourcing successes at the council.
In May last year, Labour won control of the council after 20 years of Conservative leadership and, though the contracts had already been due to end next year, the new council has fast-tracked plans by six months to bring some services back in house.
John Burgess, Barnet local government branch secretary, said: “This is good news for staff, good news for residents and good news for the services. I welcome the decision and look forward to welcoming back all the services back into Barnet Council where they all belong.
“For a decade, our branch has campaigned for local government services at Barnet to be brought back in-house and, while we are happy that this latest has been fast tracked, there are still many issues to address for our members who are being TUPE’d.
“These include workplace inequalities such as staff being paid differently for the same role. Barnet UNISON is already seeking discussions with the council about harmonisation of the terms and conditions of the TUPE’d workforce.
“During the worst cost of living crisis in 75 years it is imperative that our branch does it best to look after the interests of our members transferring back into the council.”
https://www.unison.org.uk/news/2023/01/insourcing-win-at-barnet-council/
