Barnet UNISON Press Release: 10 July 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Local Trade Unionist Victim of Hate Crime

It is with deepest anger I have to report that our Barnet UNISON branch secretary, John Burgess, had his car vandalised as it was parked up outside his own home. After the day’s activities on 8^th July, which involved a strike and protests, John returned home to find a large note stuck on his car windshield: “Fucking Union Faggotts Get Back Home From Here!” and a nail stuck into a front wheel of his car. This came within 2 weeks of the Barnet UNISON banner, and a branch presence which of course included John, proudly appearing on the Pride Demo. It is our view this particular use of offensive language is far too coincidental for us not to understand this as an attack on John as a trade unionist and also for being seen on the Pride demo.

We also think there is a strong coincidence that our branch was a very early signatory to the Unite Against Fascism statement about the proposed Fascist gathering in Golders Green and encouraged our members to attend the protest last weekend (4^th July). We are proud that we were part of a larger community mobilisation which meant Fascists could not raise their heads in our community. Fascists are organisations which peddle hatred and what happened to John is in every sense a Hate crime which has been reported to the police.

John has a job to do and that is to represent the members of his union branch. We choose him year after year as we believe he is the best placed person to do this. He enjoys the confidence of the branch membership. This means whoever did this is trying to intimidate and silence all of our membership. We will not be silenced!

We believe it is the demonisation of trade unions by the current Government which also encourages this type of personal attack on individual trade unionists. We condemn such attacks and call on our supporters to rally round and show solidarity and support to one who has done nothing other than defend us and offer solidarity to all those fighting the effects of Austerity and oppression.” Helen Davies, Branch Chair Barnet UNISON.

George Binette, branch secretary, Camden UNISON had this to say: “On behalf of Camden UNISON I express our shock and horror at the vicious homophobic vandalism carried out against John Burgess, Barnet UNISON branch secretary. This attack is a perverse tribute to the effectiveness of John’s tireless commitment to both his members and the defence of public services. Unfortunately, all too many politicians and sections of the media seem set to whip up a Jeremy Clarkson-style climate where it is literally open season on active trade unionists. Solidarity with John and the Barnet branch.”

End.

Notes to Editors.

 

Contact details: Helen Davies Barnet UNISON on 07432733168 or 0208 359 2088 or email: Helen.Davies@barnetunison.org.uk

What has commissioning meant for workers?

If you want to have a look at what commissioning has meant for workers you don’t have far to look. Just take a look at social care services.

Where did it all start?

The advent of the NHS & Community Care Act 1990 brought the introduction of the purchaser/provider split. In Commissioning Council speak it means commissioning (purchaser) and service deliver unit (provider). Our Council now promotes itself as a Commissioning Council and our internal structures provide an example of in house and outsourced service delivery units.

Workforce issues.

The introduction of the purchase/provider split brought the market into social services. The Trade Unions quick saw that this was an attack on the workforce and that it would lead to a race to the bottom. The union also predicted it would have an impact on service quality and how right we were. It sounds difficult to believe but there are still people (paid extraordinary amounts of public money) who still try to argue there is no link between deteriorating terms & conditions and pay and service quality.

Zero hours contract & no pension not paying for travel time.

Everyone now knows about the ‘zero hour’ exploitation of care workers. In Barnet our care workers were on permanent contracts, and were members of our pension scheme and were paid for travel time. They were outsourced and outsourced again. Their terms & conditions have been destroyed by private contractors. UNISON tried to get Barnet Council to sign up to the UNISON ethical care charter . They refused and officers convinced it was too expensive.

Thanks to commissioning, care workers are on inferior terms & conditions and will not be in our Council Pension scheme.

It not our fault, blame the commissioners.

This is what our branch has faced when presented with the implications of the two tier workforce. When we start negotiations the contractor replies by saying it is not their fault and that we should go back to the commissioners. When the unions go back to the commissioners they say they don’t get involved in internal matters of the contractor.

Commissioning is all about outsourcing.

The Council are quick to say that commissioning is not all about outsourcing. But the facts tell a different story. Over the last three years there have been 12 outsourcing project decisions and not one of them has recommended in-house services.

Outsourcing list January 2012 – June 2015

1. YCB

2. Housing options

3. NSL

4. CSG

5. Re

6. Music Trust

7. Registrars service

8. Legal services

9. Public Health

10. Mortuary

11. CCTV

12. Recycling depot (1 October 2015)

 

In all the above cases workers were transferred out of Barnet to a new employer. 

That is right over 1 million people are about to hear all about what is happening to Barnet Council workers.

On Friday the branch advertised that we were using an online social media tool called Thunderclap & over the weekend the results have been incredible.

The latest figures are standing at 1,036,409 people all of whom are about to read about the reasons we are taking strike action on Wednesday 8 July.

You can read the update here.

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/28471-support-the-barnetstrikers

So, make sure you joining one of the following picket lines to make sure you are included in one of the most important SELFIES in out union’s history.

Join Helen from 7 am outside NLBP

Join Hugh from 9 am outside East Finchley Library

Join John from 5 am outside Mill Hill depot (I’m guessing Mill Hill may not be top of your list).

To all Barnet UNISON members you can still show solidarity in many ways click here to find out more

The Council are considering options for the future of the Library Service. £2.8 million is to be cut from the Library budget with up to 68% of this coming from staffing.  There is no option for the Service to remain in-house.

As part of this review process the long awaited (threatened?)  Open+ Pilot started at Edgware Library this week.  This allow members of the public to enter the Library before and after staffed opening hours. If the Council deem the pilot a success it will be extended to all of Barnet Library Service.

Extending access appears to be a good development, but it will result in fewer Library staff and less staffed opening hours. The Council has stated:

“The use of technology can now allow the Council to open and close a library without the need for any staff to be on site – the ‘open’ library” (Libraries Strategy: 1.15)

&

“To achieve the level of savings required from the service will require a reduction in staffed opening hours.” (Libraries Strategy: 1.16)

The Council are considering having staff present for only 50% of current Library opening hours.

But the drive to remove experienced, qualified and dedicated Library worker from our Libraries does not stop there. The Council are contemplating a:

“Move to an entirely unstaffed opening model. The third approach would still require staffing to maintain effective running of the library (for example in re-stocking) but these would not be offering information and advice to visitors. Some of this work could be done by volunteers.” 

(Libraries Strategy: Appendix A Library Options Paper October 2014 6.8)

The Open+ Library Project will lead to posts being cut, and a decline in the quality of Barnet Libraries.  UNISON have opposed this since the Council’s intentions were announced last autumn. The next step in this struggle and the fight to save all Council Services is the industrial action on July 8^th.  

 

Strike. Picket. Lobby details here & how you can help here

Competition – three, two, one

Three original bidders reduced to two when EC Harris LLP withdrew just before the procurement dialogue process began. In late June Capita Business Services Ltd withdraw because “…this particular opportunity did not provide the right fit with their Entrust (Staffordshire) business model.” This leaves Cambridge Education (Mott MacDonald) with no competition, because Barnet Council made a decision not to develop an in-house option.

Subcontracting of catering confirmed

Our earlier report in June predicted the ‘Threat of large-scale subcontracting’ which proved correct when Capita and Mott MacDonald revealed catering subcontractors.

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Barnet%20Education%20&%20Skills%20subcontracting_0.pdf

Mott MacDonald, not Barnet Council, selected ISS to be its catering subcontractor.

New key issues

1. The lack of competition seriously undermines the credibility of the procurement process and places Barnet Council in a weak negotiating position. Obtaining Best Value in these circumstances is highly unlikely.

2. It is evident the Catering Service is included in the contract for the “…viability of the venture” (Council response to our earlier report). In other words, the justification is financial, not operational synergy. Catering makes a relatively large net contribution to the Council budget and potential additional income is nearly twice that of the services included in the contract. This reinforces our recommendation that Catering should be retained in-house.

3. Subcontracting catering means savings will be split three-ways with Barnet Council sandwiched between two global contractors of Mott MacDonald and ISS.

4. The Council chose not to disclose to councillors, staff and the trade unions that ISS were are already involved in the Dialogue.

5. UNISON is concerned that low paid catering workers will bear the brunt of the demand for efficiency savings and profits leading to changes to terms and conditions and a two-tier workforce.

6. The quality of school meals could be threatened.

7. The current situation raises entirely new risks, which must be identified, allocated and estimated as a matter of urgency and reported to the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee.

8. Has Cambridge Education (Mott MacDonald) any experience in managing a global catering contractor like ISS? Will the Council have to monitor the subcontractor either directly or through Cambridge Education or Mott MacDonald? The Council is already having to create more posts within commissioning in order to effectively monitor the growing number of contractors. This is adding to the cost of outsourcing and reinforces UNISON’s previous view that the ‘thin client’ does not work.

9. We strongly recommend the Council postpone the procurement process and exclude the Catering Service from the JVC option and retain in-house.

Competition – three, two, one

Three original bidders reduced to two when EC Harris LLP withdrew just before the procurement dialogue process began. In late June Capita Business Services Ltd withdraw because “…this particular opportunity did not provide the right fit with their Entrust (Staffordshire) business model.” This leaves Cambridge Education (Mott MacDonald) with no competition, because Barnet Council made a decision not to develop an in-house option.

Subcontracting of catering confirmed

Our earlier report in June predicted the ‘Threat of large-scale subcontracting’ which proved correct when Capita and Mott MacDonald revealed catering subcontractors.

http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/sites/default/files/Barnet%20Education%20&%20Skills%20subcontracting_0.pdf

Mott MacDonald, not Barnet Council, selected ISS to be its catering subcontractor.

New key issues

1. The lack of competition seriously undermines the credibility of the procurement process and places Barnet Council in a weak negotiating position. Obtaining Best Value in these circumstances is highly unlikely.

2. It is evident the Catering Service is included in the contract for the “…viability of the venture” (Council response to our earlier report). In other words, the justification is financial, not operational synergy. Catering makes a relatively large net contribution to the Council budget and potential additional income is nearly twice that of the services included in the contract. This reinforces our recommendation that Catering should be retained in-house.

3. Subcontracting catering means savings will be split three-ways with Barnet Council sandwiched between two global contractors of Mott MacDonald and ISS.

4. The Council chose not to disclose to councillors, staff and the trade unions that ISS were are already involved in the Dialogue.

5. UNISON is concerned that low paid catering workers will bear the brunt of the demand for efficiency savings and profits leading to changes to terms and conditions and a two-tier workforce.

6. The quality of school meals could be threatened.

7. The current situation raises entirely new risks, which must be identified, allocated and estimated as a matter of urgency and reported to the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee.

8. Has Cambridge Education (Mott MacDonald) any experience in managing a global catering contractor like ISS? Will the Council have to monitor the subcontractor either directly or through Cambridge Education or Mott MacDonald? The Council is already having to create more posts within commissioning in order to effectively monitor the growing number of contractors. This is adding to the cost of outsourcing and reinforces UNISON’s previous view that the ‘thin client’ does not work.

9. We strongly recommend the Council postpone the procurement process and exclude the Catering Service from the JVC option and retain in-house.

Dear Colleagues

I am writing to all of our members in relation to the latest news that Capita has pulled out of the contract talks.

I think it important to set out what has happened in the last six months.

On 31 January 2015 Barnet Council put out an invitation to tender for Education & Skills and School Meals services which you can view here

http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:36188-2015:TEXT:EN:HTML

The contract was advertised & valued from £89 million up to £986 million.

The tender received only three bids from:

1. Capita Business Services Ltd

2. EC Harris LLP

3. Mott MacDonald Ltd, trading as Cambridge Education

However, just before the contract talks began EC Harris LLP mysteriously dropped out and this is what the Council had to say:

“As you are aware, we commenced dialogue with our bidders last week.  One of our bidders (EC Harris) withdrew from the process shortly before dialogue commenced.  Whilst this is obviously disappointing, it is not unusual in this sort of procurement and I’m pleased to report that discussions with the remaining two bidders have been very positive and interesting so far.”

UNISON was concerned about the lack of bidders and sent a report to councillors outlining our concerns and calling for a postponement of the process.

You can read what we had to say here and read the response from the Council here

On Wednesday 24 June staff working for Education & Skills received an email from the Council explaining that:

“Capita Business Services Ltd submitted a letter withdrawing from the procurement process, as they had concluded that this particular opportunity did not provide the right fit with their Entrust business model.”

They went on to add:

“It is recognised that this may raise questions about the lack of competitive tension in the process and the subsequent ability of the Council to test best value from the final tender.  However, it is not unusual for competitive dialogue procurements to end up with a single bidder and there are various robust means through which we can test best value.”

In our meeting on Wednesday 24 June UNISON made it clear to officers that going ahead with the privatisation talks with just one contractor was clearly wrong. Furthermore we added that to go ahead simply reinforces the feelings of the workforce that the Council is wedded to outsourcing even when the market is clearly saying that there is very little interest. Only outsourcing fundamentalists would argue that Best Value can be achieved under these circumstances.

UNISON advised officers we will be submitting an emergency report to Councillors requesting that the process is postponed.

Why the secrecy about the subcontractor?

In our meeting yesterday we were informed global giant ISS will be taking over our Catering Services and that they have been involved in the contract talks all along. UNISON expressed our disappointment this had not been shared with staff in the recent staff briefing or been shared with councillors on the Children’s, Education, Libraries, Safeguarding Committee.

The confirmation of the news about the subcontractor reinforces our concern that low paid members will be targeted to deliver savings which will now have to be split three ways i.e. Barnet Council, Mott Macdonald & ISS.

I will continue to update our members on any new developments.

Please note our next day of strike action is likely to be Wednesday 8 July.

Dear John,

I’m writing to send solidarity to Barnet Council Unison in its fight to stop the outsourcing and privatisation of services. Unison members at the Youth Offending Service and Targeted Youth Support invited Helen Davies to one of our recent shop meetings, where we learned of your campaign. In response we held a coffee and cake morning last week where our members baked cakes and sold them to raise money for your dispute and workers at the National Gallery, also fighting privatisation. We raised £100 and have split the money, giving you £50.

We are absolutely opposed to the way public services and public sector workers are being attacked. We chose our professions because we value young people and believe that given the right support and opportunity, they can make changes in their lives for the better. The increase in workloads and cuts that have reduced young people’s services have made it harder for workers to support young people adequately to change. To know that we are doing it with an 18% pay cut over the last 5 years, adds insult to injury.

We feel that further privatisation and outsourcing will lead to a worsening situation in our ability to maintain our own pay and terms and conditions at work and deliver a meaningful service. The agenda to privatise is gathering pace and it is to your absolute credit that you have decided to take a stand. Our contribution, though small, is accompanied by a message of sincere solidarity and to say we stand with you in your fight.

Jo Cardwell

Unison shop steward, Islington YOS

Why we are striking from a Library worker

Library Workers are taking strike action to defend their jobs and the Library Service.  Barnet Council plan to privatise our Libraries, or to hand them over to a “mutual”, or in some cases have them run by “Community groups”.   Some Libraries may be closed, and most will be reduced to 540 square feet in size.  Libraries will be unstaffed for two thirds of their opening hours, with under- 16 year olds being denied access without an adult during these times.  Even when Libraries are staffed, numbers will be reduced by as much as one third of their present levels.

Libraries will become little more than book collection points. The choice of items to borrow or view will be reduced as Libraries are shrunk. Study areas, meeting places, events and activities such as story times for toddlers will be cut due to lack of space and staff. Advice and help from experienced and qualified Library staff will be limited as they are replaced by volunteers and self-service machines.  Unstaffed Libraries may deter many people from visiting as there will be no one to deal with emergencies or anti-social behaviour

Library Workers and other Council staff are only taking strike action after the employers have failed to seriously negotiate with us on the future of Council services.  We ask for your support as we defend our and your Libraries.

Hugh Jordan

 

UNISON Convenor for Library Services

As a result of the latest news about the proposed new Council offices in Colindale, staff have been asking “Where will I be working by 2017 and who for?”

The latest staffing figures for the move to Building 2 & Barnet House are 1880 staff. This figure includes partner organisations such as NHS, *CSG and Re.

The current staff are working in 284,000 sq ft

Phase One

To move the above staff into 114,754 sq ft (Barnet House 70,000 sq ft & Building 2 44,754 sq ft) with exception of * CSG staff.

Phase Two

To move remaining staff to new building at Colindale 90,000 sq ft

(* CSG staff are being relocated to and area within Barnet and the likely move date will be during September. Revs and Bens team will remain at Barnet House)

The current plan is to reduce the office space in 2017 by approximately 68% which leaves the question “where do all the staff go? “

Using the figures above it would mean only 602 of the 1880 staff would move to Colindale.

This issue has an impact on our members working across Barnet Council, CSG & Re it is important that members attend the following meeting:

The Council have published the plans for Colindale here

https://www.barnet.gov.uk/citizen-home/news/Council-publishes-proposals-to-move-to-Grahame-Park.html

Barnet UNISON branch meeting:

 

Monday 8 June 12 noon in the Central Room, Building 4, NLBP