Category: National

National Campaigns

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

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 17 JULY 2026 BARNET HOUSING AND CARE WORKERS MOVE TOWARDS STRIKE BALLOTS

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Housing, Local, National, News, Pensions, Repairs, Solidarity, TBG Flex, Trades Dispute, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 17 JULY 2026

BARNET HOUSING AND CARE WORKERS MOVE TOWARDS STRIKE BALLOTS

Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet workers say “Enough is Enough” after TBG refuses to negotiate on pay, terms and pensions.

Barnet UNISON is preparing to request two separate formal industrial action ballots for members working in Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet, following a Special JNCC meeting with The Barnet Group today.

UNISON reported the results of two separate consultative ballots:

  • 97% of Your Choice Barnet members voted for industrial action
  • 100% of Barnet Homes members voted for industrial action

Despite these results, The Barnet Group confirmed at the meeting that it was not willing to negotiate on any part of UNISON’s claims.

The claims cover:

  • a proper pay increase, including a £15-an-hour minimum
  • improved terms and conditions
  • movement towards council-standard terms
  • access to the Local Government Pension Scheme

Barnet UNISON formally registered a failure to agree at the Special JNCC and advised TBG that the branch will now seek approval for separate statutory industrial action ballots for housing workers and care workers.

A Barnet Homes worker said:

“We deliver council housing services, but we are not treated like council workers. We work longer hours, receive worse terms and have no access to LGPS. Members have had enough of being told there is never any money for us.”

A Your Choice Barnet care worker said:

“We support vulnerable adults every day, often under huge physical and emotional pressure. Then we go home worrying about rent, food and bills. We are doing essential work in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but we are still treated as second-class.”

Helen Davies, Barnet UNISON Branch Chair and UNISON SGE representative for London, said:

“These ballot results send a powerful message. Housing and care workers are angry, organised and no longer prepared to accept second-class treatment. TBG has rejected every part of the claim and has now refused to negotiate, even after hearing that members are ready to take action. Enough is enough. Barnet Council owns The Barnet Group and cannot stand back while the workers delivering its services are treated this way.”

Barnet UNISON is calling on The Barnet Group and the London Borough of Barnet to return to negotiations with a serious proposal before the dispute escalates further.

Notes to editors

  • The Barnet Group is wholly owned by the London Borough of Barnet.
  • Barnet Homes provides housing services.
  • Your Choice Barnet provides adult social care services.
  • The consultative ballots were separate from the formal statutory industrial action ballots now being prepared.
  • Industrial action has not yet been authorised or called.

Media enquiries: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Are you paying the right UNISON subscription?

Local, National, News

Are you paying the right UNISON subscription?

One of the most common — and most easily fixed — membership problems we see is members paying the wrong subscription rate. With more people now joining online directly rather than through their employer’s payroll, your subscription doesn’t automatically go up when your pay does. That means many members are unknowingly undersubscribed.

This matters. UNISON’s rules are clear: your subscription must reflect what you actually earn. If it doesn’t, it can affect your access to representation and legal support when you need it most. That’s not a risk worth taking.

How subscriptions work

Your UNISON subscription is based on your annual salary. It’s calculated as a percentage of your earnings, so the more you earn, the more you pay — but the rates are genuinely affordable. Here’s what you should currently be paying:

Annual salary Monthly subscription
Up to £2,000 £1.30
£2,001 – £5,000 £3.50
£5,001 – £8,000 £5.30
£8,001 – £11,000 £6.60
£11,001 – £14,000 £7.85
£14,001 – £17,000 £9.70
£17,001 – £20,000 £11.50
£20,001 – £25,000 £14.00
£25,001 – £30,000 £17.25
£30,001 – £35,000 £20.30
Over £35,000 £22.50

Students and qualifying apprentices pay just £10 a year. Northern Ireland members have slightly different rates — contact the branch if that applies to you.

You can also claim tax relief on 70% of your subscription, which reduces the real cost further.

Check your subscription now

If you’ve had a pay rise — even a small one — check whether you’ve moved into a higher band. If you joined online and pay by direct debit, your rate won’t update automatically. You need to do it yourself.

You can update your details through My UNISON at unison.org.uk/my-unison or contact us at the branch and we’ll help you sort it.

Why it matters

UNISON’s support — whether that’s representation in a disciplinary, backing for a grievance, legal advice, or the equal pay work we’re doing right now — is only available to members who are in good standing. Paying the correct subscription is the foundation of that. It’s also how we fund the work: campaigns, organising, negotiations, and casework all depend on members being properly subscribed.

If you’re not sure what you’re paying or whether it’s right, get in touch. It takes five minutes to check and fix.

Contact Barnet UNISON: 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 2026 BARNET UNISON’S EQUAL PAY FIGHT: WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY

Anti - Racism, Austerity, Barnet Group, Barnet Homes, Cost of Living Crisis, Equal Pay, Housing, Local, National, Schools, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 2026

BARNET UNISON’S EQUAL PAY FIGHT: WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY

Hundreds of Barnet women workers are owed years of back pay. UNISON is fighting for every one of them and the bill for Barnet Council is growing every single day.

On 29 May 2026, Barnet UNISON took its equal pay claim to the Employment Tribunal. UNISON’s solicitors made the case for hundreds of women workers — school staff, care workers, early years workers, administrators and support staff — who have for years been paid less than their male counterparts in the council’s waste and recycling service.

Here is what we know. Male workers in the waste and recycling service are paid for a full working day but are allowed to go home when their rounds are done, sometimes by mid-morning. Women doing work of equal value have no such benefit. They work every contracted hour every day. That is not fair. That is unequal and illegal. And UNISON is determined to put it right.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TRIBUNAL

Our barrister succeeded in getting UNISON’s case heard, despite attempts by Barnet Council  to block our submissions. UNISON was fighting for women workers in that courtroom, making the case to get our members’ voices heard.

The judge has set a preliminary hearing for 9 September 2026 to consider UNISON’s application to have the procedural block on our claim removed.

That hearing is the next critical moment. We will be ready.

Separately, the tribunal confirmed that UNISON’s claims against The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Skills — the council’s own companies, employing many of our members — are not subject to any block and are being progressed. Those claims move forward now.

OUR CLAIM IS STRONG AND GROWING

Barnet UNISON’s case is not built on speculation. It is built on evidence — evidence that has been gathered carefully, systematically, and with the support of experienced legal specialists in equal pay law.

Here is what we know about the situation at Barnet:

  • Waste and recycling workers are regularly finishing their rounds hours before their contracted day ends and going home, paid in full.
  • Women working in schools, care, early years, social services and admin must complete every contracted hour. There is no equivalent benefit for them.
  • The council knows this practice exists. Rather than negotiating an end to this practice as other Councils have done, they are refusing to sit and meet with UNISON.
  • Other councils — including Southampton, Birmingham and Glasgow — have already settled equal pay claims on the same basis, paying out millions of pounds to women workers.
  • The longer Barnet Council refuses to come to the table, the bigger the bill becomes. Every single month of delay adds to the compensation owed.


“This claim is about basic fairness. Women working for Barnet Council and its companies have been short-changed for years while the council looked the other way. We have the evidence, we have the legal backing, and we have the determination to see this through. Barnet Council cannot run from this. The question is not whether they will have to pay — it is how much.”


Helen Davies, Branch Chair, Barnet UNISON and UNISON London Regional SGE Representative




EVERY MONTH OF DELAY COSTS BARNET COUNCIL MORE


Barnet Council’s legal strategy appears to be delay procedural hearings; blocking applications; running down the clock. What they do not seem to understand, or perhaps do not care about, is that delay does not reduce their liability; it increases it.


Equal pay back pay accrues from the date a claim is lodged. UNISON’s claims were lodged in November and December 2025. That clock is running. Every month the council refuses to negotiate, every month they hide behind procedural manoeuvres, the total compensation bill grows. By the time this case reaches settlement or judgment, Barnet Council will be paying for every single month they delayed.


That cost is ultimately borne by Barnet taxpayers. UNISON is not responsible for that. The council is.


THIS IS YOUR CLAIM. YOUR TIME IS NOW.


UNISON has lodged claims on behalf of our members. But the strength of this campaign depends on numbers and numbers depend on you.


Every eligible UNISON member who completes a case form adds to the pressure on Barnet Council to stop stalling and sit down at the negotiating table. A large, organised, well-evidenced claim is harder to ignore and harder to fight than a small one. Barnet Council is already watching these numbers. Help us make them impossible to ignore.


Here is what you must understand about timing: your back pay runs from the date you join the claim, not from the date UNISON first raised the issue. Every month you wait is a month of potential compensation you may never recover. Do not assume someone else has done it for you. Do not assume you will be included automatically.


COMPLETE YOUR CASE FORM TODAY


Contact Barnet UNISON at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk to get your case form. Fill it in. Return it. Do it now.


If you are a UNISON member working for the London Borough of Barnet, The Barnet Group or Barnet Education and Learning Skills, and you believe you may have been affected by unequal pay, you may be eligible to join this claim. Speak to your UNISON rep or contact the branch directly.


UNISON STANDS FULLY BEHIND YOU


UNISON knows what the cost-of-living crisis means for our members. We see it every day. Workers who give everything to their jobs — caring for children, supporting families, keeping this borough running — are struggling to pay their bills, heat their homes and put food on the table. Many of Barnet UNISON’s members are among the lowest paid workers in the borough. They cannot afford to wait years for justice that should have been delivered years ago.


That is why this claim matters beyond its legal significance. The back pay owed to these workers is not a windfall. It is money they earned and were denied. It is money that would make a real difference to real lives, right now, when it is needed most.




“Barnet UNISON’s equal pay claim is exactly the kind of fight that UNISON exists to lead. These are women who have worked hard, served their community, and been systematically short-changed. UNISON’s London region stands fully behind Barnet branch and every member in this claim. We will not rest until justice is delivered.”


Sara Gorton Regional Secretary UNISON Greater London Region




“Equal pay is not a negotiating position. It is a legal right. The women of Barnet have waited long enough. UNISON is unequivocally, unconditionally and completely behind Barnet UNISON’s members and their branch in this fight. Barnet Council must stop hiding behind legal delays and do the right thing: come to the table, negotiate a fair settlement, and end this inequality now.”


Andrea Egan, UNISON General Secretary




ENDS


For further information contact Barnet UNISON Branch: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk


 


NOTES TO EDITORS


    

  1. Barnet UNISON is the UNISON branch for workers employed by the London Borough of Barnet, The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Skills.
    2. 

  2. Equal pay claims are brought under the Equality Act 2010. Back pay in Employment Tribunal equal pay claims in England and Wales runs for up to six years from the date the claim is lodged.
    3. 

  3. UNISON’s equal pay claims were lodged with the Employment Tribunal in November and December 2025.
    4. 

  4. A preliminary hearing is listed for 9 September 2026 to consider UNISON’s application to lift the procedural stay on claims against the London Borough of Barnet.
    5. 

  5. Claims against The Barnet Group and Barnet Education and Learning Skills are not subject to the stay and are being actively progressed.
    6. 

  6. Comparable equal pay settlements involving task and finish in waste and recycling services have been reached at Southampton City Council (July 2025), Birmingham City Council (2024–25) and Glasgow City Council (2022).
    7. 


			

		

		
		


	
		
	

		
		
Barnet UNISON response: working people must come first
		
		
 
	
		National, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign	



	
		

			
		
					

			


UNISON General Secretary Andrea Egan has issued a clear message: working people cannot be treated as an afterthought.


For Barnet UNISON members, this speaks directly to what we are seeing every day in our workplaces. Our members are dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, rising rents, food bills, debt, stress, unsafe staffing levels and services under pressure. Too many workers delivering public services are still low paid, outsourced, denied decent pensions and left on inferior terms and conditions.


That has to change.


Andrea’s message is important because it says clearly that politics must return to its basic purpose: improving the lives of working people. That means proper pay restoration for public service workers. It means investment in councils, schools, care, housing, cleaning, transport, social work and all the services our communities rely on. It means ending the failed model of outsourcing, where public money is siphoned away from services while workers are left on poorer pay, poorer pensions and poorer conditions.


In Barnet, we know exactly what outsourcing has meant. It has meant low-paid workers being pushed to the margins. It has meant cleaners, care workers, housing workers, parking workers, security staff, catering workers and others being treated differently from directly employed staff, even though they are delivering public services for our community.


Barnet UNISON’s position is simple: public services should be delivered by properly paid, properly supported, directly employed public service workers.


We welcome Andrea Egan’s call for radical change because our members cannot wait. The cost-of-living crisis is not an abstract political debate. It is the daily reality of workers choosing between bills, food, travel and supporting their families. It is the stress members bring into work every day. It is the reason we are campaigning on pay, pensions, equal pay, holiday pay, insourcing and better terms and conditions.


Barnet UNISON will continue to organise, campaign and speak up for our members. We will not be silent when low-paid workers are struggling. We will not accept outsourcing as normal. We will not accept public services being run down while workers are told to do more with less.


The message from our General Secretary is clear: working people must come first.


That is our message too.


Barnet UNISON will keep fighting for:


    

  • fair pay and pay restoration
    • 

  • equal pay for low-paid women workers
    • 

  • insourcing of outsourced services
    • 

  • decent pensions for all public service workers
    • 

  • proper staffing levels
    • 

  • safe workplaces
    • 

  • dignity and respect at work
    • 

  • public services run for people, not profit
    • 



Our members built these services. Our members keep them running. Our members deserve better.


Barnet UNISON will continue to put working people first.


End.


Background: 


Opinion: I want Labour to succeed, but that means radical change



			

		

		
		


	
		
	

		
		
The NEC By-Election is On. VOTE NOW!
		
		
 
	
		National, News, UNISON Campaign	



	
		

			
		
					

			


Barnet UNISON nominated Liz Wheatley


By now you should have received an envelope with the words “Civica Election Services” on it. This is your ballot paper. Please do not throw it away but Vote NOW!


From Thursday 14 May you can contact the helpline: 0800 0857 857 If you have not received your ballot paper.


Members with hearing difficulties can use textphone 0800 0 967 968.


This helpline closes 12noon 21st May


Deadline for voting is Friday 5pm 29th May!


We nominated Liz Wheatley because:


Liz is Branch Secretary of Camden UNISON, and was a regional rep on UNISON’s NEC from 2019-2025.


Liz has organised successful strikes – Camden traffic wardens winning a £5,000 pay increase. Camden is currently fighting for more pay for Teaching Assistants, with strike action taking place in schools currently in the London borough.


Liz is committed to an organising union and says,


“I was proud to support Andrea Egan to be our General Secretary. I am committed to working closely with her to bring about the changes necessary for UNISON to be a union that stands up to the bosses and politicians when they try to cut the services we provide, the wages we deserve or attack working class people.


“No longer should we put the interests of the Labour Party first; UNISON members must be our priority. We need a UNISON where branches and activists get the organising support and resources they need, and we deliver real wins for members.”


 She has also stood with Barnet UNISON on many of our picket lines and events.


End.

			

		

		
		


	
		
			
	

		
		
End of an Era: Barnet UNISON Calls for Revenues & Benefits to Be Brought Back In-House as Capita Era Closes
		
		
 
	
		Austerity, Insourcing, Local, National, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign	



	
		

			
		
					

			


Barnet UNISON has today called on Barnet Council’s Cabinet Committee to seize what it describes as a “historic moment” for the borough by bringing the Revenues & Benefits service back under direct council control.


After 13 years of Capita delivering major council services under the previous Conservative administration’s One Barnet outsourcing programme, the remaining contracts are now approaching expiry in September 2026.


“This is the end of an era in Barnet,” said John Burgess, Branch Secretary of Barnet UNISON.

“For 13 years the Council has relied on a mass outsourcing model. It has been controversial, heavily scrutinised and widely debated. Now Members have the opportunity to take a different direction.”


The Cabinet Committee on 24 February is being asked to approve steps that would allow new outsourced contracts to be awarded for the remaining services, including Revenues & Benefits — the service responsible for Council Tax and Business Rates collection and key elements of income recovery.


Barnet UNISON’s report argues that Revenues & Benefits is too fundamental to the Council’s financial resilience and too central to residents’ lives to sit outside direct public control.


“This is not a back-office technical function,” Burgess said.

“It is the service that determines how council income is secured and how arrears are managed. It affects every household in Barnet. Decisions about income collection and recovery should be democratically accountable — not managed through contract monitoring and improvement plans.”


The union’s submission highlights that council reports continue to reference collection pressures and governance mechanisms to manage risk. Barnet UNISON argues that monitoring contractors is not the same as having direct operational control over a core sovereign income function.


“After 13 years, this is the moment to draw a line under One Barnet,” Burgess added.

“Labour now has the opportunity to restore direct council control over a vital public service and demonstrate that public income functions belong in the public sector.”


Barnet UNISON is urging Cabinet Committee to:


    

  • Reject further outsourcing of Revenues & Benefits
    • 

  • Instruct officers to prepare an in-house delivery plan
    • 

  • Confirm that income generation and recovery policy should sit directly within the Council
    • 



“This decision will shape Barnet for years to come,” Burgess said.

“We believe this is the right moment to bring Revenues & Benefits home.”


ENDS


 

			

		

		
		


	
		
	

		
		
500+ Barnet workers take a stand for Equal Pay — and we’re just getting started
		
		
 
	
		Austerity, Equal Pay, Local, National, Schools, Solidarity, TBG Flex, UNISON Campaign, Your Choice Barnet	



	
		

			
		
					

			


Barnet UNISON has now collected over 500 Equal Pay claims from members working for London Borough of Barnet (LBB), The Barnet Group (TBG) and Barnet Education and Learning Skills (BELS).


That’s a major milestone — and it matters for one simple reason: when workers act together, we protect each other and we win change. Every new claim signed is another colleague saying: “I won’t be left behind. I won’t be short-changed. I’m standing up for what’s lawful and fair.”


Helen Davies, Barnet UNISON Branch Chair, said:

“Reaching 500 claims shows the strength of feeling among Barnet workers and the power of members standing together. Equal pay is a legal right — not a bonus and not a ‘nice to have’. This campaign is about fairness, dignity, and making sure people—especially those in undervalued roles—aren’t asked to carry on accepting less than they’re lawfully entitled to. If you haven’t submitted your form yet, please don’t wait: it takes less than 10 minutes, and Barnet UNISON will support you every step of the way.”


A growing campaign — powered by members


The momentum is building because more members are hearing the message, asking questions, and talking to colleagues at work. People are realising this isn’t “someone else’s issue” — it’s about protecting your rights and making sure you don’t miss out on what you may be owed under the law.


This campaign is about equal pay for work of equal value. Across local government and related employers, many roles dominated by women have historically been undervalued, while other roles have been rewarded differently — even where the work is comparable in responsibility, effort, skill, and impact. Equal Pay is not a favour. It’s a legal right.


Others are winning — and we can too


Across England and Wales, workers like us have been organising, submitting claims, and winning improved pay and compensation through equal pay campaigns. That’s not happening by accident — it’s happening because union members are doing exactly what Barnet UNISON members are doing now: getting informed, getting organised, and getting their paperwork in.


We’re building the same kind of strength here in Barnet: member by member, workplace by workplace, school by school.


Don’t miss out — act now


If you haven’t completed your case forms yet, this is your moment.


Please don’t lose out. Completing the forms takes less than 10 minutes, and it could make a real difference. Barnet UNISON can support you through the process — and we can also visit workplaces and schools to help members sign up and talk colleagues through it.


✅ To get support, just email: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk


Let’s keep building this campaign — and make sure nobody is left behind.


Complete your forms. Encourage a colleague. Protect your lawful rights.


End.

			

		

		
		


	
		
	
			  

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