Category: UNISON Campaign

Urgent feedback on ACAS/Your Choice Barnet meeting  

Dear Colleagues

At our meeting on Monday 22 September at ACAS HQ UNISON raised a concern that Your Choice Barnet (YCB) was being unfairly treated by Barnet Council.

I am referring to the Pension employer contributions YCB has to make to all members of the Local Government Pension.

For council staff the Pension contributions can be broken down into three parts

Employee contribution variable % depending on salary level.

Employer contribution 14.5 % for future benefits.

Employer contribution 9.8% for past Pension Deficit  

The total amount paid by the employer equates to 24.3%.

Barnet UNISON has been investigating what has been happening in relation to Pension contributions since mass outsourcing started in early 2012.

What we have found is that YCB is having to pay 9.8% contribution towards the historic pension deficit accrued prior to outsourcing.

It is clear that this financial burden seriously inhibits the financial viability of YCB and does not reflect the true economic conditions for delivering the service.

In short the Council is imposing a cost on YCB which is not directly related to the service they are providing.

It is well documented that YCB is in financial difficulties otherwise why would they have had to attack low paid care workers on two occasions in the last 18 months.

To learn that the Council has chosen to impose another financial penalty on YCB when it has such a precarious financial situation is difficult to understand, which is why we have requested Barnet Council to remove this requirement.

Private sector being given favourable treatment.

Our investigations have revealed the following three private contractors, who won contracts to deliver services in Barnet, are not having to pay this 9.8% penalty.

NSL – Pension Fund Committee, 20 December 2011 at paragraph 6.3 it states:

“NSL will become an admitted body to the Pension Fund under a closed agreement. The agreement will be fully funded at the point of transfer and the contractor will pick up employer pension costs associated with future liabilities. Provision has been made in the business case both for the costs associated with a pension bond, and also for costs that the Council will retain in respect of the past deficit for these employees.”

Capita Re – Pension Fund Committee 9 September 2013 at paragraph 6.4 it states:

“The joint venture will pay the future contribution rate to meet any pension fund liabilities. The council has retained the element of the budget that pays for the repayment of the past service pension fund deficit.”

OSC – Pensions Fund Committee 18 March 2014 at paragraph 7.2 it states:

“Staff will transfer on a “fully funded basis”. This means that the pensions’ deficit will not transfer to OCS from Barnet in respect of these staff. The total deficit retained by Barnet has been calculated at £98k. £25k per annum needs to be retained from Adults and Communities budget to fund the repayment of the deficit over the lifetime of the contract.”

We are in the middle of a dispute over the 9.5% pay cut imposed on our members working for YCB. The knowledge that yet again the private sector is being treated more favourably than YCB is inexcusable.

If Barnet Council were to do the right thing and treat YCB like they have done with Capita, the 9.5% pay cut would be wiped out and the dispute would be over. It is that simple.

We have written to Barnet Council asking them to consider our request and do the right thing for the services and the loyal hard working low paid care staff who provide excellent services.

All this talk about Austerity and minimum wage… ..

Hourly rate league table

Chair of a Barnet Council area sub committee is £2,213/hr.

Chair of Barnet Council Housing committee is £1,916 – £1,278/hr

Chair of Barnet Council residents forum is £296/hr

Cleaner is paid £6.31/hr to clean Barnet Council offices & Schools.

We would like to express our solidarity with YCB workers who are resisting cuts to their wages of nearly 10%.

We met with YCB workers on the picket lines and they told what the devastating impact these pay cuts would mean for them, their families and also the service users. They are also concerned that this will be only the first of a series of attacks on their terms and conditions.

When the Council’s Cabinet Resources Committee approved the setting-up of YCB in 2012, it stated that:

“The obligations and risk placed on the LATC will subsequently be fully passed down to the operating subsidiary companies. Commercial risk ultimately remains with the Council and in the unlikely event of failure, the services will need to be brought back in-house.”

We therefore call upon Barnet Council as the only share holder in the Barnet Group and therefore the owner of YCB to intervene urgently to save YCB and ensure that care staff are not subjected to this savage wage cut. We have also written to the Leader of the Council to instruct a representative of the Council to attend the  ACAS talks on Monday 22^nd September, and help to bring the dispute to a satisfactory resolution, for the sake of staff and service users alike.”

Cllr. Amy Trevethan, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Chipping Barnet and Underhill Councillor and

Cllr. Paul Edwards Underhill Councillor

“It is outrageous that  Your Choice Barnet is cutting care workers’  pay  by 9.5%. These dedicated workers are not paid nearly enough  to start with, and pay cuts like this  are a kick in the face to these hardworking staff who do a demanding job, that most people would find they could not do nearly as well or as cheerfully.

YCB talks about loyalty- but YCB workers in this desperate dispute for justice show what real loyalty means. Not sham ‘loyalty’ out of fear of hardship to a heartless and exploitative  ‘rip off’ boss,  but  loyalty  to their clients who need a decent service for which decent pay should be awarded; and loyalty to each other, through their solidarity and support for their union backed by  its members, including myself, who are standing side by side with  YCB workers  in their fight for a fair settlement .’

Best

Andrew Dismore

Labour Parliamentary candidate  for Hendon

London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden

Breaking News in-house services back in contention

Dear Colleagues

Last night I attended the Children’s, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee. This committee was being asked to recommend reject the in house service option and develop three outsourcing options.

Barnet UNISON presented a report (see attachment) to all of the councillors on this Committee for them to consider. In case I was asked to comment on our report I prepared a speech (see attached) to the Committee.

Our report made the following recommendations:

Recommendations

1. Barnet UNISON recommends a fully resourced innovative in-house option be included alongside further development of the schools-led social enterprise option. The two joint venture options should be rejected together with the outsourcing and LATC options.

2. School catering is a highly successful income generating service serving 90% of schools in Barnet, in which all surpluses directly benefits schools. It should be excluded from the scope of the project.

3. If the Committee recommends continuing the JVC options, then Capita should be approached and asked not to bid for the education and skills contract.

4. Before the Committee make any decisions the Performance and quality category weighting should be increased from 20% to 40% with a 10% reduction in the category weightings for Strategic Direction and Cost Saving.

Who were the contractors mentioned in the Council report?

In the Council report there is reference to discussions with the private sector some of whom suggested adding Early Years and Libraries in this bundle of services. In the meeting we were informed of the names of these contractors

Babcock

Carillion

Capita

What happened next was a surprise.

As the item opened up for discussion Labour Councillors proposed that the in-house option be included with the other outsourcing options.

The Deputy Leader of the Council disagreed with the wording of the Labour motion and proposed an amendment of recommendation 3 of the council report which added and the in-house service.

This amendment was put to the vote and all councillors voted in favour of in-house.

Several of us in the room fell of our chairs as this is the first time councillors have insisted that the in-house be included in a report on outsourcing proposals.

I will be writing formally to the Council seeking urgent talks as to how the in-house service is going to be resourced and supported in putting together a business case to deliver Education & Skills & Catering service in-house.

I will be organising meetings for all of our members between now and the end of the year. Please keep a look out for updates.

Key Links to the Your Choice Barnet (YCB)  care workers dispute

If you want to understand why our care workers are taking strike action please take some time to read the following links:

1. Your Choice Barnet (YCB) “The real deal”

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1394

2. Why Your Choice Barnet (YCB) Care workers are taking strike action

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1406

3. Barnet UNISON Your Choice Barnet 8 Point charter

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1397

4. Come and join “Your Choice Barnet” (YCB) care workers over the next six weeks

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1407

5. Your Choice Barnet (YCB) – ACAS – UNISON response

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1410

6. When is failure not a failure……..Your Choice Barnet

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1405

7. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Care Workers to take strike action 8th and 9th September.

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/?q=node/1400

8. Barnet UNISON response to Your Choice Barnet Consultation Paper

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/UNISON%20response%20to%20YOUR%20CHOICE%20BARNET%20March%202014%20FINAL.pdf

9. ‘The way out of financial crisis’ Analysis of Consultation Paper Your Choice Barnet Ltd The Barnet Group Ltd (Local Authority Trading Company), London Borough of Barnet

http://www.socialworkfuture.org/attachments/article/330/CADDSS%20analysis%20.pdf

10. Barnet UNISON Report: The Barnet Group Ltd, Local Authority Trading Company: Privatising Adults and Housing Services London Borough of Barnet

http://www.european-services-strategy.org.uk/news/2012/local-authority-trading-company-latc-for-adult/latc-analysis-2012.pdf

11. Stop the ongoing destruction of services for adults with disabilities in Barnet petitionhttps://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-ongoing-destruction-of-services-for-adults-with-disabilities-in-barnet

Your Choice Barnet ‘Disloyal – Really?’

“Your Choice chief executive Tracey Lees said: “We are extremely grateful to our loyal and committed staff who pulled together over two days to continue to provide their usual quality of service to our customers. We are prepared, as stated last week, to meet Unison and ACAS in an attempt to avert further strike action.” (Barnet Press 10 September 2014)

Our members have been in contact with our branch to say how disappointed they are to read the comment attributed to Your Choice chief executive Tracey Lees.

Colleagues who went to work on the strike days at Your Choice Barnet have been described as being “loyal” by the Chief Executive Officer of the Barnet Group. So are we to understand that those who took strike action are disloyal?

UNISON does not find this approach helpful. It paints a negative picture of those who took strike action. The Chief Executive Officer would do well to remember what our members in Flower Lane, a specialist unit for autism, did in their own time last weekend.

For the last 3 years workers at Flower Lane have held a fete on a Saturday which is a community event bringing together service users, parents/ carers and the local community for an afternoon. It raises awareness of autism and it also raises money.

The event consists of different stalls with different food on offer, bric-a-brac, crafts and a barbeque. There is are games for children and this year there was live music. Local businesses were involved in the event and they helped by donating gifts etc. The Mayor of Barnet attended the previous 2 years, but was not there this year. It is a fun day out for all the family. A colleague, who 2 days later took strike action, described it as a great day.

Organising for this event means workers sort out the equipment and supplies for it – often in their own time – to make sure it happens. They turn up around 10am on the Saturday to make sure everything is in place for the midday start. After the event they then stay on to clear up. This means they do not leave until around 5.30pm. The event helps build the team as a whole and from talking to the colleagues the sense of pride they have in their work and their reputation is worth the effort.

Two days later the same colleagues were on strike. They did not do this because they are disloyal. They did not do this because they want to cause pain to service users. Last Saturday and discussions we have had with our members about picking dates for strike action demonstrates our members are passionate about the job they do and the service they provide. A 9.5% pay cut is hurtful enough. For the Chief Executive to imply disloyalty is disrespectful to the hard work our members do.

Please find enclosed UNISON response to the Education and Skills Alternative Delivery Model.

Recommendations

1. Barnet UNISON recommends a fully resourced innovative in-house option be included alongside further development of the schools-led social enterprise option. The two joint venture options should be rejected together with the outsourcing and LATC options.

2. School catering is a highly successful income generating service serving 90% of schools in Barnet, in which all surpluses directly benefits schools. It should be excluded from the scope of the project.

3. If the Committee recommends continuing the JVC options, then Capita should be approached and asked not to bid for the education and skills contract.

4. Before the Committee make any decisions the Performance and quality category weighting should be increased from 20% to 40% with a 10% reduction in the category weightings for Strategic Direction and Cost Saving.

To view report click here