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Tuesday 27^th October is the day The Barnet Group UNISON members take strike action. The action will cover a 24hr period from 7:30am Tuesday 27^th October until 7:30am Wednesday 28^th October.

We are asking ALL of our UNISON members to respect the day of action and to take part in the strike action. If you have special dispensation, this will be communicated to you by UNISON. There are some colleagues who will have to work due to the nature of the work they do, but this must be cleared by the branch. Do not assume you have this special dispensation.

Please see here for our FAQ the do’s and don’ts of strike action and what you can expect. 27 OCT TBG STRIKE FAQS a5 flyer.pptx online

Activities on the day will be:

Picket lines at:

1.  Rosa Morisson Day Centre from Tuesday 27^th October 7:30 – 10am. Address: 85 Gloucester Rd, New Barnet, Barnet EN5 1NA
2. Community Space Day Centre from Tuesday 27^th October 7:30 – 10am. Address: 36 Knightswood Close, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 8FR
3. Barnet Council Office from 2 Tuesday 27^th October 7:30 – 12noon. Address: Bristol Avenue, NW9 4EW

The Council Office picket will also be a rally as we can expect guest speakers to visit to show solidarity. The other picket lines should make their way to the Council offices once their picket lines have concluded.

March Against Austerity on the Eve of Budget

6pm Tuesday 27^th October Victoria Embankment

Barnet UNISON Members meet at Embankment Tube Station.

27^th October was picked as a date for the strike action as the Government will be setting it’s budget. We hope that the decision will not be to reward the already very wealthy but to finally relieve working class communities of their shouldering of the economy.

If you need to contact an officer of the branch at this event please call Helen Davies on 07930 390 169  or Patrick Hunter on 07904 511 979

Make it Count

We need to maximise the effect of the strike action and so your commitment to one or all of these activities is essential. We accept there will be good reason some members will be unable to attend an activity though.

 

Click the below link to download the Strike FAQs

27 OCT TBG STRIKE FAQS a5 flyer.pptx online

Monday 19th October 2026

Weekly Blog — speaking truth to power – Mileage Rate Increase

Some good news for a change, and it doesn’t need caveats. HMRC has put its mileage rate up for the first time in fifteen years, and it’s backdated. If you drive between sites or do home visits as part of your job, this one’s worth two minutes of your time.

 

What’s actually changed

The HMRC rate for the first 10,000 business miles a year has gone from 45p to 55p a mile. It’s backdated to 6 April this year, so any qualifying mileage you’ve claimed since April should be topped up to the new rate, not just mileage going forward. Anything above 10,000 miles stays at 25p, that part hasn’t moved.

Forty-five pence hadn’t shifted since 2011, so this is the first real increase most of us have ever seen on this rate. For anyone doing regular mileage as part of their job, home visits, moving between sites, covering multiple locations in a week, that difference adds up fast over a year.

 

We’ve written to HR asking the Council to adopt the new rate and apply the backdating properly, so nobody has to chase up an underpaid claim from earlier in the year themselves.

 

What to do

Check your last few mileage claims against the old and new rate. If you’ve been paid at 45p for miles driven since 6 April, that’s a shortfall you’re entitled to have corrected. If your payslips don’t show mileage clearly enough to tell, ask your line manager or payroll for a breakdown, you’re entitled to see it.

If you raise this with your service and get nowhere, or you’re told the Council hasn’t adopted the new rate yet, let us know. We’re already on it, but the more members who flag it, the faster this gets sorted properly.

 

Best wishes John Burgess Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

Ian Hodson – National President of the BFAWU

Monday 05 October 2026

 

#McStrike Is Back — This Time to End, Not Defend

Some campaigns belong to a moment. Others create an identity that workers recognise long after the placards have been put away.

 

#McStrike did that.

 

When McDonald’s workers first took strike action, they challenged one of the biggest corporations in the world over low pay, insecure work and a basic demand every worker should expect — dignity and respect at work.

 

They were workers many said were impossible to organise. Yet they organised, found their collective voice and put conditions in the fast-food industry onto the national agenda.

 

They demonstrated something the trade union movement should never forget.

 

Worker power isn’t granted. It’s built.

 

Now #McStrike is back.

On Tuesday 6 October, we are returning to McDonald’s Head Office in East Finchley alongside End Not Defend.

 

This time our message is simple.

 

Nobody should have to endure sexual harassment just to earn a living.

 

For too long workplace sexual harassment has primarily been treated as an individual grievance. Something happens, the worker reports it, HR investigates and a process begins.

But by then the harm has already happened.

 

End Not Defend starts somewhere different.

 

If something arising from work can cause physical or psychological harm, employers should identify the risk, assess it and take steps to prevent workers being exposed to it.

Sexual harassment is a workplace health and safety hazard.

 

What has happened at McDonald’s demonstrates why this matters.

 

In 2023, McDonald’s Restaurants Limited entered into a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission following concerns about the handling of sexual-harassment complaints made by staff.

 

In 2025, that agreement was extended with a strengthened action plan following further serious allegations.

 

The EHRC has also written to McDonald’s franchisees reminding them of their legal responsibilities. Its preventative approach includes regular risk assessments identifying where sexual harassment could occur.

 

So if employers should assess the risk, why aren’t we treating sexual harassment properly as a workplace safety risk?

 

Our current system too often places the burden on the worker who has already experienced the harm.

 

Report it. Prove it. Go through an investigation. Challenge the outcome. Potentially pursue legal action.

 

We need to turn that approach around.

 

Employers should identify risks before workers are harmed. Workers need safe and trusted ways to report concerns. Patterns of harassment should not disappear into confidential HR processes. Regulators need the information and powers to intervene.

 

That is what End Not Defend means.

 

Prevent the harm. Don’t defend the failure.

 

There is a reason we’re bringing these campaigns together.

McStrike wasn’t simply about wages. It was about power.

 

Sexual harassment is easier to hide where workers feel isolated or frightened that speaking out could cost them hours, opportunities or their job.

 

Collective organisation changes that balance of power.

 

On Tuesday 6 October at 6pm, we’re going back to McDonald’s Head Office.

The golden arches became a symbol workers turned on its head once before.

 

We’re turning them around again.

 

I BACK THE WORKERS.

 

#McStrike is back.

 

END NOT DEFEND.

Click this link to join the meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86867495132?pwd=2HlmE8Iz5ITke9RfTxIAaK3AbVJjLe.1

Meeting ID: 868 6749 5132

Passcode: 118693

Monday 7th September 2026

Weekly Blog — speaking truth to power – Restructures what are your rights.

 

Restructures are happening across this council all the time, in some corner of the organisation or another. Most members never think about the process until the day it lands on their own desk. By then it’s too late to learn the rules from scratch. So, this week I want to set out plainly what happens when your service is restructured, what rights you actually have, and why the moment to get in touch with us is the day you hear the word “restructure,” not the day you get a letter about redundancy.

 

What actually happens

When management propose a restructure, they’re supposed to consult you formally before anything is decided. That means at least ten days’ notice of the meeting where consultation starts, and a proper written pack explaining what’s changing and why. Before that meeting even happens, we as your union should be briefed by management so we know what’s coming.

 

Once consultation opens, anyone whose post might go gets told individually that they’re “at risk.” That’s not the same as being made redundant. It means your post is on the list for job matching, where your current role gets compared against roles in the new structure. If there’s a close enough match, you slot straight in. If there are fewer posts than people, you go into a ring-fenced selection process instead.

 

Only after all of that is exhausted, if there’s genuinely no role for you, does redundancy notice get issued. And even then, you stay eligible for redeployment right up to your last day.

 

Where it can go wrong for you

On paper this all sounds fair. In practice, it depends entirely on management doing it properly, and on you knowing your rights well enough to hold them to it. You’re entitled to bring a union rep into every meeting, formal or informal. If you move to a lower graded post through this process, pay protection should apply. If you disagree with a job match, you’ve got fourteen calendar days to appeal it. If you’re made redundant, you’ve got fourteen calendar days to appeal that too. Calendar days, not working days, so a letter that lands on a Friday eats into your weekend as well.

 

Fourteen days sounds like plenty until you’re the one staring at a letter you don’t fully understand, trying to work out if the process was followed correctly. Most of the mistakes I see aren’t made deliberately. They happen because nobody was checking the detail at the time it mattered, and by the time someone does check, the clock has already run down.

 

That’s the whole point of getting us involved early. We can’t fix a flawed process after the decision’s been rubber-stamped nearly as easily as we can shape it while it’s still open.

 

So if your service is facing change, or you’ve had any hint that it might, don’t wait for a formal letter. Contact your steward or the branch office as soon as you hear anything, even if it’s only rumour at this stage. We’d rather talk you through ten false alarms than find out about a genuine one after the appeal deadline’s gone.

 

Take care of yourselves and each other.

 

Best wishes John Burgess Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

Monday 24 August 2026

Weekly Blog — speaking truth to power – A warning for every council worker

Something has been happening quietly in the Passenger Transport Service that every Barnet council worker needs to know about. It does not just affect Passenger Assistants. It sets a precedent that could affect any of us.

 

What has been going on

In 2017 a decision was taken — without any consultation with UNISON or GMB — that when Passenger Assistant posts became vacant through retirement or resignation, they would not be refilled with directly employed LBB staff. Instead, the work would be picked up by external providers.

 

Nobody announced this. Nobody brought it to a JNCC. No business case was published. No equality assessment was carried out. It just happened, post by post, year by year.

In January 2021 there were approximately 85 directly employed LBB Passenger Assistants. There are now 42. The work has not reduced. The service still runs over 100 routes that need Passenger Assistant support. The workers have simply been replaced.

 

We have now had this confirmed in writing by management. When we asked who is doing the work that LBB Passenger Assistants used to do, the answer came back: 61 workers employed by external private providers contracted by the Council.

 

That is not gap-filling. That is not flexible provision. That is outsourcing — and it has been done without any of the process that outsourcing requires.

 

Why this should worry you, wherever you work

This is not just a Passenger Transport story. The method matters.

Management found a way to run down an in-house workforce without ever formally proposing to outsource it. No Cabinet report saying we want to contract this service out. No consultation with the unions. No equality impact assessment on what it means for a low-paid, predominantly female workforce. Just a quiet decision to stop recruiting, and wait.

 

By the time anyone noticed, 60% of the Passenger Assistant function was being delivered by workers employed by private companies rather than by the Council.

 

Ask yourself this. What stops the same approach being used in your service? If management decided tomorrow to stop filling vacancies in your team and use contractors instead, this is now the precedent they would point to. UNISON is not prepared to let that stand unchallenged.

 

What UNISON has done and where we are

We have submitted a formal report to the highest level of joint negotiation with the Council — the JNCG, chaired by the Chief Executive. That report sets out the full picture: the workforce figures, the governance failures, the health and safety concerns, the breach of the Trade Union Engagement Framework the Council signed just last December.

 

We submitted that report in June. We are now in August. We have still not received a substantive response.

 

We have also formally asked management a question they have not answered: when did LBB last directly recruit a Passenger Assistant? The answer to that question will tell us exactly when the decision was made that this workforce would be wound down. We intend to find out.

This matter is going to JNCC as a formal agenda item. We are not dropping it.

 

What members can do

If you are a Passenger Assistant or Passenger Escort, or you know someone who is, please get in touch with the branch. Your experience of what has changed in this service matters and we want to hear it.

If you work in any other part of the Council and you have noticed posts in your team sitting vacant for long periods without being advertised, let us know. We want to understand whether what has happened in Passenger Transport is happening anywhere else.

 

The council workforce is strongest when we look out for each other. What happens to one group of workers today can happen to another group tomorrow.

 

Best wishes John Burgess Branch Secretary, Barnet UNISON

Monday 10th August

Weekly Blog – Speaking Truth too Power – Sickness Absence

Sickness absence can become complicated very quickly. A few days off, a return-to-work meeting, then suddenly a manager is talking about review stages and attendance targets.

 

My message this week is simple. Contact UNISON early. Do not wait until you are worried that your job may be at risk.

 

Tell us when your health is affecting your work

You do not need to wait until you are signed off sick before contacting UNISON.

 

Speak to us if your health is affecting your attendance, your performance or your ability to carry out parts of your job. This includes physical health, mental health, stress, a disability or a long-term health condition.

 

The Council’s own policy says managers should support staff, discuss health problems sensitively and consider appropriate adjustments. That might include changes to duties, hours, equipment, workload or working arrangements.

 

The earlier these issues are raised, the better the chance of support being put in place before matters become more serious.

 

This guide relates to Barnet Council employees. Staff employed by schools may be covered by a separate policy adopted by their governing body, so school members should contact us for advice about the procedure that applies to them.

 

Know the basic sickness reporting rules

Employees are expected to notify their manager on the first day of sickness, normally within one hour of their usual start time or earlier where possible.

 

You should agree how you will keep in contact during your absence. If you are off for more than seven calendar days, including weekends and bank holidays, you must provide a fit note covering the absence.

A return-to-work meeting should normally take place after every period of sickness absence. The discussion should be private. Your manager should make a written note, place it on your personnel file and give you a copy.

Read that note. Check that it is accurate. Challenge anything which is wrong or misleading.

 

The Council’s review point is three periods of sickness absence or eight days of cumulative absence within a rolling twelve-month period, adjusted for part-time staff. Reaching that point does not automatically mean formal action. The manager should consider the circumstances and what support may be needed.

 

Occupational Health should be used properly

Occupational Health can be useful, but the referral needs to ask the right questions.

 

The Council normally seeks an employee’s consent before making a referral. Occupational Health advice is advisory. It does not make the management decision.

Before agreeing to a referral, ask to see the questions being sent. They should focus on matters such as whether you are fit to work, whether your condition may be work-related, what adjustments may help and whether a phased return is appropriate.

 

A poor referral can produce a poor report. A report based on incomplete or inaccurate information can then be used in meetings about your employment.

The procedure also says managers should have an up-to-date Occupational Health report before arranging a formal meeting or hearing. Contact UNISON before the referral is submitted, particularly if your health problems involve workplace stress, bullying, an accident at work or an ongoing grievance.

 

Do not attend formal meetings alone

The procedure has three review stages.

Stage 1 is described as an informal review. It may include an attendance target and a further review period.

Stage 2 is a formal review meeting. Medical evidence, Occupational Health advice, adjustments, phased returns and possible redeployment should be considered.

Stage 3 is the final formal review. At that stage, the Council may say that continued employment is at risk. Possible outcomes can include medical redeployment, ill-health retirement or dismissal.

 

Members have the right to be represented by UNISON at formal meetings. You may also ask to be accompanied at an informal review meeting, although the policy does not give the same automatic right.

 

Do not wait until Stage 3 before asking for help. By then, decisions may already have been made and opportunities to challenge poor management or secure adjustments may have been missed.

If you receive a letter inviting you to an absence review meeting, contact the Barnet UNISON office straight away. Send us the invitation, the absence record, any Occupational Health reports and any correspondence from your manager.

 

Sickness absence procedures are supposed to support employees. They should not become a conveyor belt towards dismissal.

 

Keep records. Ask questions. Get advice early.

best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary
Barnet UNISON