AFG workers set to begin seven-day strike

Over 650 UNISON members employed by the Alternative Futures Group (AFG) begin seven days of strike action on Tuesday over cuts to their income.

AFG has cut back care support workers’ pay for sleep-in shifts. This will cost some staff as much as £2,000 per year. The care support workers are only paid at the level of the minimum wage for their regular hours and many are now struggling to stay in the care sector due to not being paid adequately at night.

UNISON has offered to meet with AFG for negotiations aimed at averting the strike, but the company has rejected this.

Staff have received great support, with a public petition amassing more than 13,000 signatures.

UNISON North West regional convenor Paula Barker said: “AFG staff and council commissioners are furious that AFG senior managers have refused to negotiate to resolve the dispute.

“AFG’s pay cuts are jeopardising the future provision of care services for vulnerable people, as experienced and skilled care staff are being driven out of the sector.

“AFG’s senior management have been entrusted with providing a very important public service, but their actions are both unjust and reckless.

“AFG need to get back round the table and enter into serious talks to get this matter resolved.”

Merseyside care support worker Emma said: “It is a struggle to get by on the minimum wage and we can’t afford a cut to my income. I love working with the service users, but I’m having to consider leaving because we can’t pay the bills.

“We want AFG to listen and to pay us fairly for sleep-ins. We need this matter to be sorted out now.”

A public rally will take place on Friday 10 May at 12noon at St George’s Hall steps in Liverpool. It will be addressed by UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, striking care workers, local MPs and Ms Barker.

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Probation privatisation has been a shambles and must end now, says UNISON

Commenting on the Public Accounts Committee’s report into probation service reforms published today (Friday), UNISON’s national officer Ben Priestley said:

“The justice department was repeatedly warned that privatisation would be disastrous, putting public safety at risk, and this report bears that out.

“Not only has it predictably failed, but tackling the mess will waste almost half a billion pounds.

“This shambles must end now by returning probation to public control to keep communities safe and prevent any further disasters. It’s time for Chris Grayling to face his own justice as the architect of this fiasco.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, the probation service and energy. They are employed in both the public and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Anthony Barnes T: 0207 121 5255 M: 07834 864794E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk

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Blog: UNISON will always stand up to those who seek to privatise our NHS

On Tuesday I was in Harlow to meet UNISON members at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) fighting to stay in our NHS. These women, domestics providing the first line of defence against infection in the hospital, are threatened with outsourcing. As a result, their jobs, their wages, their terms and conditions are all at risk.

Across the country, UNISON has fought and won for NHS workers employed by private contractors. But we know that all too often these vital workers don’t get the same deal that those directly employed by the NHS receive – despite often doing the same work in the same hospitals.

Right now, domestics at PAH are balloting on strike action. They don’t want to take industrial action – going on strike is always a last resort, especially for low-paid workers – but as their employer refuses to give them the assurances they need about their future, they’re more than willing to stand up for themselves.

All too often when groups like these brave domestics come under attack, it’s because their employer assumes that they’re weak or divided – that they can be picked off without a fight. But with the PAH domestics, as we’ve seen time and time again in our union, they’re wrong. This is an incredibly strong, incredibly united group of workers fighting for their jobs, their wages, their families, their hospital and their patients.

These vital NHS workers are passionate about their work and our health service. As the hospital are only too proud to advertise, this is one of the top performing trusts in the country for low rates of infection and MRSA – that’s an achievement built upon the hard work and dedication of the very domestics whose jobs are now at risk.

UNISON will always stand up to those who seek to privatise our NHS – or any public service. The ideological push to dismantle the health service and put it into the hands of those who care more about profit than decent care will always be resisted. Right now, the incredible domestics of PAH are on the frontline of that fight. And our whole union stands with them.

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HE employers make final pay offer

Higher education employers made a final offer in response to the  join unions’ pay claim at the final negotiating meeting yesterday.

UNISON will consider its response and how to consult branches when the higher education service group meets on 7 May.

The new offer is for a pay rise of between 3.65% and 1.82% for staff on pay spine points 3 to 16 (£22,017 a year), and 1.8% for those on points 17 and above. The offer also includes deleting the lowest pay band – point 2. This will mean that the lowest rate of pay will be £9.17 per hour for those on a 35-hour week. The current living wage rate, set by the Living Wage Foundation, is £9 per hour.

However, the joint unions made it clear that while the offer is an improvement on the employers’ previous one, they are disappointed that it falls far below the unions’ claim.

Previous story: University employers improve offer at latest pay talks (12 April 2019)

Download the employers’ pay offer

Download the joint union pay claim

 

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Blog: For UNISON, the local elections are massive. Don’t forget to vote

With all of the focus on Brexit, it’s easy to forget that there are vitally important elections taking place this week.

Across the country, thousands of local councillors are up for election, and for UNISON, these elections are massive.

For those working in local services, these elections decide who runs the local councils who employ them or manage their services. A change in council leadership can mean the difference between jobs maintained or lost. It can mean greater support for a service – or its abolition. It can make the difference between privatisation or services coming back in house. It can make the difference between decent pay or poverty pay.

For UNISON members working in local government – these elections are huge.

Yet they don’t just matter to local government members, they should matter to all of us who care about public services. Local government has been hit hardest by austerity and cuts, yet all of us rely on the services local government provides. From clean streets to social care, UNISON members keep our communities going.

But doing that requires support and leadership. That’s why we need to get more people into power in local government who will properly defend local services. More councillors who support our priorities and act with the interests of our members at heart.

So if there are elections tomorrow where you live, don’t forget to vote. Vote for better funded public services. Vote for opposition to Westminster-imposed austerity. And vote in the best interests of all UNISON members, and the public services you provide.

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Hospital catering workers strike on May Day

UNISON members in south Yorkshire are marking May Day with a strike for fair pay today – the first of 11 strike days they have planned throughout the month.

The members taking action are around 70 catering staff at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals trust. They were transferred to a private company – facilities management giant Sodexo – in 2017 and are striking against the company’s refusal to pay the Agenda for Change pay rise agreed last year for health staff employed by the NHS.

“Doncaster workers are striking as a last resort because Sodexo has refused to honour the national agreement,” said union regional organiser Sue Cookman.

“The company plans to bring in other staff to cover the strike days, using funds which would be put to better use simply paying these catering workers fairly.”

UNISON’s head of health Sara Gorton pointed out that many health workers employed by private contractors are paid “significantly less than the colleagues they work alongside”.

She called on ministers to find the money “to give these hardworking outsourced staff a long-overdue pay rise and ensure the NHS has enough staff to run its services well”.

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UK’s biggest academy chain faces vote of no confidence from staff

Education unions representing staff at Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) – the largest academy chain in the UK – are today (Wednesday) launching a ballot asking if employees have confidence in the trust’s leadership.

The move comes after AET failed to listen to staff concerns over proposed cutbacks and restructuring. The changes will put the wellbeing of children and workers at serious risk, say the unions.

Last ditch talks between seven unions and AET to address concerns over a raft of cuts to services are currently taking place at conciliation service ACAS.*

However, unions say AET is attempting to sabotage the talks after the trust broke an agreement to pause changes while a resolution was sought.

The government has also been challenged by MPs at the Education Select Committee to publish details of the financial turnaround plan agreed between the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and the trust.**

Unions say the secretive nature of the deal calls into question what conditions AET has signed up to in return for millions of pounds of additional public funding.

UNISON head of education Jon Richards said: “AET agreed that restructuring should be paused until ACAS talks were concluded. But AET chose Easter Sunday to break this agreement and announce it would immediately push ahead with outsourcing.

“AET is demonstrating a total lack of respect for staff. Its actions are a fundamental breach of trust. UNISON now has no choice but to move to a vote of no confidence and consider options for further action.”

Deputy director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders Sara Ford said: “We remain concerned that AET’s plans to outsource school services and significantly cut school support staff will leave schools without the level of support they need to be able to focus on what matters most – their pupils.

“Whilst we are fully aware of the financial pressures caused by the inadequacy of government funding, that does not excuse AET’s determination to rush these changes through without due regard for the consultation and conciliation processes, as this will only lead to an ill-conceived implementation which will not be in the best interests of the pupils, staff or trust.”

Joint general secretary of the National Education Union Dr Mary Bousted said: “We want AET to engage in meaningful talks at ACAS and respect the ‘status quo’ provision in our recognition agreement. Instead it confirmed the outsourcing of its ICT staff on Easter Sunday for the next working day.

“Teachers’ pay progression is one of the lowest in the sector and staff workload is a severe problem. Meanwhile AET chief executive Julian Drinkall is one of the highest paid MAT chief execs.

“Things can’t go on as they are. We’re asking members to show what they think of AET through a vote of no confidence in the board and chief executive.”

GMB national officer Sharon Wilde said: “AET is burying its head in the sand. They must acknowledge that these cuts will put staff and children’s health and safety at risk.

“The trust is pursuing a policy of outsourcing and cuts to a dangerous level, whilst creating an environment that is so stressful for staff it is literally making them ill, and this is not conducive to a calm and happy working environment in which children can learn.

“AET must now listen to staff concerns, and work with us to find an acceptable way forward.”

NAHT head of representation and bargaining John Hakes said: “AET’s approach to the outsourcing of IT and the almost cavalier approach to the review of other support services is deeply concerning. The lack of transparency in particular is very disappointing.

“School leaders believe the impact on their schools may be detrimental to the improvement of teaching and learning.”

Notes to editors:

• * These include the outsourcing of services, holding down of teacher pay progression, failure to tackle workloads, and further cuts to frontline school support staff.
• ** MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell tabled a written question on 6 February 2019 to the Minister for Education and asked a number of questions at the Education Select Committee on Tuesday 30 April 2019.
• The seven unions involved are UNISON, GMB, Unite, ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT, and NEU.
• AET runs 62 schools across all regions of the UK. Here is the full list of schools.
• A recent union survey of AET staff found that 71% of school leaders had health and safety concerns. Issues included vomit being left for hours, blocked toilets, and heads and other senior leaders being forced to work on reception due to staffing cuts.

Media contacts: 
Liz Chinchen T: 0207 121 5463 M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk
Kieran Pearson T: 0207 121 5555 M: 07432 741595 E: k.pearson@unison.co.uk
Press.office@gmb.org.uk
Richard.Bettsworth@ascl.org.uk
Caroline.Cowie@neu.org.uk
Barckley.Sumner@unitetheunion.org
Lena.Davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
steven.george@naht.org.uk

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