Barnet UNISON

Your Choice Barnet care workers UPDATE

Across the number of UK stories of care workers refusing to take cuts to pay and terms & conditions is on the increase as are reports of Care Providers failing to deliver quality services.

It isn’t rocket science, ongoing ‘Austerity Cuts’ to social care is already having an impact for those in need of care services. The ‘Austerity Cuts’ to social care are being passed down to Care providers, service users, staff via the Commissioning model.  In Barnet UNISON Your Choice Care Workers have decided they have had enough. They completed an indicative ballot on the pay cut imposed by Your Choice Barnet in which they have voted by 97% to reject the cut. We are now processing a formal request for a strike ballot and understand GMB members are going to do the same.

You can help by

1. Signing this petition http://ow.ly/voFj6

2. Join Your Choice Barnet Care Workers on Tuesday 8 April outside Hendon Town Hall between 6 – 7.30 pm

On Thursday 10 April 2014, in Training room 5 our branch has secured the services of Glyn Jenkins UNISON National Head of Pensions. Glyn has been on all the committees groups setting up the 2014 scheme including joint technical group working on the draft regulations.

Glyn will be spending most of the day here and is offering 15 minute appointments all to be booked via our office.

To book a 15 minute appointment with Glyn please contact the branch on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

We will be holding a general presentation over the lunchtime.

To view Flyer click here

TEN REASONS WHY WE OPPOSE ATTACKS ON YOUR CHOICE BARNET CARE WORKERS

1. Our Your Choice Barnet members should not be asked to pay for an outsourcing failure.

2. Your Choice Barnet is an outsourcing project dreamed up by highly paid consultants paid for by tax payer’s money

3. If One Barnet outsourcing is so successful and is delivering savings to protect frontline services then why are Your Choice Barnet care workers being asked to take a minimum 9.5% cut in their pay?

4. Your Choice Barnet has failed to deliver any new business growth two years after it was first created.

5. Your Choice Barnet last year needed a £1 million bail out of taxpayers’ money from Barnet Homes requiring a 6% interest repayment. Both companies are 100% owned by Barnet Council.

6. Less than nine months after receipt of a £1million loan Your Choice Barnet is looking to cut the staff bill by a further £400,000 by 1 April 2014.

7. Our members should not have their basic pay cut by 9.5% and come out of national pay bargaining just because this One Barnet outsourcing project is failing.

8. Barnet UNISON is opposed to the proposed 9.5% cut to staff salaries from 1st April 2014 and has grave concerns that there is a high probability that YCB will be coming back with further cuts for their staff.

9. Barnet UNISON is carrying out an indicative ballot of our members working for Your Choice Barnet and recommending to our members to reject this cut and seeking authorisation of an official strike ballot.

10. Barnet UNISON believes the proposed cuts will compromise the health, safety and wellbeing of service users.

Update on ‘Barnet Council workers receive payout after landmark legal victory’

In the Barnet Press article entitled ‘Council compensates staff made redundant’ it reports:

“A council spokeswoman said: “In the original employment tribunal, Barnet Council accepted there were shortcomings in the data given to the trade unions in respect of agency staff. We have always expressed regret that this resulted in needless litigation.”

What readers will be unaware of is that Barnet UNISON spent three years requesting this information. Indeed the requisite information had previously been provided to the Trade Unions in order to mitigate redundancies and the knock on cost to the local tax payer in redundancy pay outs.

However the Tribunal learnt that HR in 2009 decided not to provide this information and over the following three years evidence was produced to the Tribunal to show how the Trade Unions had been repeatedly refused this information.

What readers would not know is that the HR service was being led by a consultant.

The article in the Barnet Press goes on to say:

“But the authority successfully appealed against the original compensation award and the two parties eventually settled on a new figure, which the council said is well below the first amount.”

This is strange because the original award was quoted here

“Lastly, it demonstrates how expensive a mistake can be: the amount at stake of the awards concerned was noted by the EAT to be something in the order of £850,000.”

This was based on the tribunal made the following awards against the Council:

1. In relation to the 16 redundancies that took effect on 31 March 2012, the award equated to 60 days’ pay.

2. Regarding the transfer to Barnet Homes on 1 April 2012, the award was equivalent to 40 days’ pay.

3. For the transfer to NSL Ltd on 1 May 2012 the award was equivalent to 50 days’ pay.

Making a total of 150 days pay.

Barnet UNISON can report that the settlement reached on behalf of our members is as follows:

1. In relation to the 16 redundancies that took effect on 31 March 2012, the award equated to 51 days’ pay.

2. Regarding the transfer to Barnet Homes on 1 April 2012, the award was equivalent to 34 days’ pay.

3. For the transfer to NSL Ltd on 1 May 2012 the award was equivalent to 42.5 days’ pay.

Making a total of 127.5 days pay which is a significant amount of council tax payers money which could be as much as high as £650,000

Comment

It was and still is our view that this should never have happened. We had previously negotiated a sensible agreement in relation to the provision of agency worker information but this was stopped. Readers please note in 2013 Barnet Council spent £15,933,619 on Agency staff. This case demonstrates the significant financial and reputational risks when employers fails to meaningful consult with Trade Unions. It is our view the decisions by the Council to cut Trade Union Facility Time over the last four years by 90% is a high risk strategy and leaves the Council open for further claims.

“It is now 2 years since YCB came into being and still there is no evidence-based assurance of the current situation and the direction of travel. The proposals outlined in the document “Growth for Your Choice Barnet” (2014) are largely to be found in the original Business Plan 2012. This begs the question as to what has been done about this situation in those past 2 years. Growth is mentioned but with no baseline projection. Since the most favoured option of cutting staff salaries also mentions a need to grow business, and to maintain or improve staff salaries, we can only conclude there is no evidence this pay cut will be sufficient to protect future business and our members’ terms and conditions. UNISON has grave concerns that there is a high probability that YCB will be coming back with further cuts for their staff.”

To view full report click here