National Pay talks..........

National Pay talks.............Hollywood ending?

Well...............talk about short notice...............we sent out this to as many members as possible and hope to be able to respond to the call from our negotiators for feedback.....

If you haven't responded then send an email to john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk before Friday afternoon.

Fremantle Care Workers campaign rolls on!

" A whole lotta learning !"

Barnet UNISON promoting Adult Learning in partnership with ALMO

Barnet Homes (ALMO) after long negotiations have recognised the benefits of working in partnership with Barnet UNISON. This promotional event is the first of many such events for their staff.

Barnet UNISON promoting Adult Learner week commencing 21 May 2007

Lot's of hard work has been put in particularly by our UNISON Life Long Learning Coordinators Carmen Bruno and Susan Timthong to help promote, support skills for life courses for staff.

This event is geared for staff working down the depot.

Join Barnet UNISON's challenge Y campaign !

Pay talks

We are waiting to hear back on negotiations. Interest rates went up again last week which places more pressure on those of us coping with our pay falling further and further behind inflation.

Council Tax, Mortgage/rent payments, cost of living all rising yet we are being a 3% pay cut!

Check in on the UNISON link to keep up to date http://www.unison.org.uk/localgov/paycampaign.asp

If there is a Leadership contest for Leader of the Labour Party it is important that UNISON press both candidates on their position on pay and the future of Public Services.

Barnet College redundancies

Wednesday 16 May sees the Regional Officer Eddy Coulson leading the Barnet College UNISON team.

The redundancies are a direct result of the ESOL funding shortfall see link
http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=11810


What is the Government thinking?

We have seen fantastic work being carried out by FE colleges across London to address ESOL needs. Lord Leitch published a report at the end of 2006 on the very real serious economic risks if employers do not address skills for life needs. Yet at the same time the Governement announced plans to withdraw ESOL funding?????

Whilst it is good to see Ken Livingstone championing the issue, but it is only a stop gap measure.

Those UNISON/UCU members facing redundancies as a direct result of this issue would very much like to know where the future Leader of the Labour Party stands on this issue.
So the announcement on the UNISON website is welcome news for UNISON members that our union is going to press contenders for their responses on issues facing our members on a daily basis see http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=969

National Day of Celebration

Something to SHOUT ABOUT!

It is good to see our General Secretary is speaking at this event.

http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=3217

As a branch that is just starting to develop closer links with community groups and working with migrant workers this is a opportunity for UNISON branches to reach out to their local communities.

Hope to see lot's of UNISON members next Monday

National Pay Award

Save this link on your PC to keep up to date with the Pay Award negotiations

http://www.unison.org.uk/localgov/pages_view.asp?did=5138

Why Join UNISON ?

Moving the Pay Date talks continue.........................

Friday 13th April D DAY for Barnet staff

Dear Colleagues

Our office has literally been bombarded with calls from members who have received letters giving notice of the Council’s intention to change the terms and conditions of your contract.

It is our view that the Council have not given sufficient notice to staff as they are required by Statute. We will most likely be advising and supporting all members to take out employment tribunal claims against the Council.

I must express my personal dismay that the Council has chosen to send out the letter on the very day before the meeting with the Joint Secretaries of the London Provincial Council to try and resolve the dispute. This is happening tomorrow and they do this today. What arrogance? What utter disrespect for the disputes resolution process?

This meeting has been mentioned by the Chief Executive in the First Team and the date was agreed with senior officers of the Council.

It was the Joint Trade Unions view that it was in the interests of our members to try and find a negotiated settlement to the proposal. A strike ballot could have commenced weeks ago but we hoped that a meeting with the Provincial Secretaries could lead to a proposal that we could put to our members. There seems little or no prospect of this happening now. It needs a miracle because for any agreement to be reached BOTH sides need to commit to make concessions.

It seems clear now that the Council NEVER had any intention to make any concessions which quite frankly shows contempt for the staff and their trade union representatives.

It is clear from the responses to the grievances that this proposal is going to show considerable hardship to large numbers of staff and particularly the low paid. The offers of loans are not adequate and neither are the repayment options. The offers of help and support changing direct debits are no where near the level that will be required and we suspect any requests for assistance will be dealt with by too few staff who will never have done this sort of thing before. They’ll also be affected so PLEASE bear that in mind when talking to them.

As for the savings, we say £120,000 may be a lot of money but the Council has £19.5 million owed to it and we would rather they spent time chasing these debts than using OUR money to invest.

Perhaps they thought staff were an easy target and that you would all roll over and accept it. We think they’d better think again. Already we have heard some companies may charge for changing the direct debits and the whole process may take far longer than the unlawful notice they have given. Something we would have put to them in our consultation meeting with the Provincial Council.

Most of us are all too familiar with Bank charges and how difficult it is to get the money back.

Through consultation with our members we have had a number of proposals that we were prepared to talk to them about BUT that opportunity has been seemingly taken AWAY.

Like they are doing with YOUR money!

What’s the big deal?
There have been a few and I say only a handful of comments that this is all a waste of time for the Trade Unions to be involved in.

Maybe for some members of staff this is not an inconvenience but this maybe a surprise to some staff but Barnet staff are not on big salaries unless you are a senior manager (I believe that Barnet is in the top bracket for this group of staff)

Most staff are just about coping with having to live and work in London with increases in Council Tax, road tax, utility bills, interest rates, rent increases.
So it does matter and it matters that the Council has now wasted more money on this proposal when it would have been better spent chasing debts.
As Branch Secretary I have the opportunity to see what is happening across the whole council and there are areas where the Council should be focusing on saving money, not looking to make a ‘fast buck’ off the backs of their staff.

I will be asking for the UNISON London region to begin the strike ballot which I would ask all of you to support.

If you haven’t filled in a grievance form, it is not too late.

Ring the branch and send them by fax to 0208 368 5985

What now?

I am in discussions with the GMB and the two unions Regional Officers. We will be going to the meeting tomorrow with the Joint Secretaries of the Provincial Council and we will let all our members know by Monday 16 April what the latest position is.


John Burgess
Branch Secretary

Regional Officer Eddy Coulson has commented too. He thinks the savings are miniscule compared to what the Council needs and is owed. It is creating undue tensions in so many households and will inevitably create problems for staff who have neither the time, ability nor inclination to deal with them. This is not the fault of staff it is how some are and how they cope with life. It is aggravation we and they could all do without. He is also sceptical about the amount that this is all supposed to save for the Council. According to his calculations the sums involved are less than £100,000 and the saving is a single saving not a recurring annual saving. This much aggravation and this much grief for so little it beggars belief.

Fremantle workers dispute reaches Parliament

John McDonnell MP has delivered on his promise to highlight the outrageous attacks on low paid care workers working for The Fremantle Trust.

John came to a Public Fremantle workers and relatives meeting in January this year to hear for himself the outrageous attacks on Fremantle staff.

Despite the efforts of both UNISON and GMB to try to find a negotiated settlement, Fremantle and their partner in c**** Catalyst have pushed ahead and we are now only 11 days away before they dismiss the TUPE staff who transferred from the Council only 5 years ago.

It is interesting that some apologists for New Labour like to make a distinction between the Private and the Not for Profit organisations that have plagued both Local Government and Health services over the last 20 years.

Well from where I am standing I can't see the difference!....I'd invite anyone to come and meet our members and try and explain how much worse it could have been if they had been transferred to the Private sector!

GET real!

Cuts in pay of up to 30%, attacks on annual leave, premium payments, sickness and a reduced Pension ......................on an already low wage!

Who can defend this sort of treatment?

Which is why we must have more Labour MPs like John McDonnell.

Labour must wake up before it is too late..........

So you have the link to the Early Day Motion .......

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32921&SESSION=885

Read it and then contact YOUR MP ask them to

sign it NOW.

Barnet Council - Moving YOUR Pay Date

Barnet Council -Moving YOUR Pay Date

Fremantle Strike Update 13 March 2007

Fremantle used the Anti Trade Union laws to scupper the strike which was due to start next week.

Well Fremantle & Catalyst both UNISON and the GMB are not going away!

Balloting will start again.

Your attempts to score points by challenging the legality of the ballot further demonstrates your lack of respect for the staff who have for the past 20 years loyally provided a service to the most vulnerable members of our society.

Your proposals will push our members to the poverty line and pile on more pressure for those who are now looking a a much reduced Pension as a result of your cuts to their terms and conditions.

You had a choice to take on the staff. Our members did not have the same choice,

BUT if you asked them all now they would all jump at the chance to be employed by the Council.

Who is paying for your proposals?

Fremantle, Catalyst?................NO

It is the staff who PAY.......with the loss of their pay, annual leave, sickness entitlements .
It is residents who will be at risk as quality staff leave only to be replaced by agency staff.

We are not be surprised by your tactics......you have already put down a marker early in this dispute when you wrote to our members to asking them to sign away their terms and conditions the week before Christmas.

Then sending managers down to each setting allegedly to help staff sign the letter!

Then we had reports that staff were being told that if they don't sign away their terms and conditions until the last possible moment they will not get the best shifts.....................

How do you sleep at night?

Because of this delay staff as from the 1 April 2007 will be moved to the poverty wages. We will be balloting our members at the same time they see the true impact of what you are taking from them!

Fellow Trade Unionists/MPs/Relatives /Supporters

you can help simply email the

Fremantle Chief Executive Carol Sawyer at carole.sawyers@fremantletrust.org

Catalyst Chief Executive Rod Cahill at rod.cahill@chg.org.uk

Barnet Super Saver Scheme -It's...............

LONDON BOROUGH of BARNET “SUPER-SAVER” SCHEME

Staff will have heard by now that the Council is ‘considering’ changing the date when you are paid – from mid to end month. If you haven’t heard, ask your managers why not and request a copy of the information that went out.

The Director’s Group, who have put this brilliant idea forward, claim there will be a ‘saving’ of £80,000 to £123,000 per year. This will be achieved by keeping two of the four weeks money you are normally paid on the fifteenth of each month for an extra fortnight. By playing the money markets, it is said, extra interest can be achieved. The amount quoted, by the way, is a miniscule part of a council budget of over £141,000,000 and will only be achieved if the money markets are favourable.

‘What a great idea’, you may think, ‘how much extra will I get ?’ The answer is nothing, zilch, a big fat zero. In fact if you save on a regular basis, you will lose out. The interest on your money (you’re already owed it), will be going into Barnet’s coffers rather than your pocket.

If this was proposed out in the commercial market how many people would choose to join? In reality it would probably be reported to ‘Watchdog’ for investigation. But at least there would be some element of choice; you could choose to join or not.

The trade unions, UNISON and GMB, have argued that, apart from the principle involved, this change would have the greatest adverse effect upon those staff on the lower levels of the pay structure. Perhaps if we all got paid the same amount as the members of the Directors Group, we wouldn’t see a problem with this proposal either!

Two arguments have been put forward in support of this ‘supa-saver’ scheme. The ‘business case’ is the first. Of course it is good business for Barnet to deny you what you are already entitled to, but equally it is a good ‘business case’ for us to demand our money so that we can benefit from any interest that it might earn. If this ‘business case’ is so good why does the Borough not delay paying all it’s bills by a fortnight ?

The second is that it will reduce ‘overpayments’. There is a claim that a substantial amount of money is lost to the Council when someone leaves before they have worked the two weeks that is paid in advance under the present system. The amount again is minimal in terms of the overall budget. In 2006, 96 people left owing Barnet £71,451.57. We believe that a similar amount of overpayment results from system errors. Again whilst Barnet Council shows great concern about bad debts when staff are involved, they actually have processes to write these off when they occur elsewhere in their budgets.

The Trade Unions have vigorously rejected this proposal. However your senior managers seem to believe we are making a fuss about nothing. That you, the staff, who, we are constantly being told are Barnet’s ‘greatest asset’, will accept this change almost without comment or protest.

Both Trade Unions suggest you prove them wrong. UNISON has already conducted a ballot of the members they represent; who, not only, overwhelmingly rejected the proposed change of date, but also indicated a willingness to take industrial action. The GMB may well be forced to follow suit shortly if this idea is not withdrawn.

In the meantime, both UNISON and GMB Unions urge every member of staff, if you disagree with the change of pay date, to ensure that management know how you feel. Contact senior managers by whatever means you have at your disposal and inform them, politely of course, of your views. Let them know what you think of their proposal or email in confidence your trade union representatives at either john.burgess@barnetunison.org.uk or mick.carter@barnet.gov.uk

Tell them the effect it will have upon you and your family. What difficulties you will face.

What next?

Plan A
The Trade unions have registered a ‘collective dispute’ with the Greater London Provincial Council. So everything stays on hold until an agreement is reached.

Plan B (only to be used in the event that Plan A is not successful)
1. Petition to the Leader of the Council – copies available from your trade union office

2. Mass grievances to the Chief Executive – please contact your Trade Union for copy of the grievance and envelope.

3. The Trade Unions will contact their respective Regional offices in relation to commencing a formal ballot for possible industrial action.

If you need any practical assistance in doing this, perhaps because you do not have access to a computer, but want to send an e-mail, contact either of the Trade Union Offices: Unison 020 8359 2088, GMB 020 8359 5086 and we will do our very best to assist you.


John Burgess Mick Carter
UNISON Branch Secretary GMB Acting Convenor