BULLETIN UNISON Devon County Branch Stewards’ Newsletter Branch Secretary’s Message Firstly, many Branch thanks to our Secretary’s stewards for welcome helping publicise the LG payto Welcome offer ballot. Devon the first issue County took one of the top spots of Branch Bulletin, our new amongst UK branches for the number of votesmonthly received!newsletter A fantastic which result! will be emailed out to all our Secondly a big thanks to those stewards who attended year’s This members acrossthis Devon. Branch SGM on the 6 June. on the newsletter is part of Items our onagenda included the LG pay offer ballot going plan to improve our comand motions for conferences. munication members. Last week yourswith truly attended bothItthe contains short, snappy artilces Local Government and National Delegate conferences. Lots ofkeep issues were that will help you up-todiscussed such as UNISON’s Teaching date with UNISON news. It Assistant campaign; stepping up the compliments UNITY - our Living Wage campaign and the quartleryforthcoming magazine.Spending I hope Government’s you enjoy reading the Bulletin. Review which takes place on 26 June. It is expected that let the us Government will As always, know what announce further cuts ... so keep an you think, we really do wel-eye on our website, Twitter and Facebook come your feedback! Yours in pages. solidarity. Ryles You don’t needSteve a crystal ball to predict June 2013 UNISON accepts LG pay offer but vows “enough is enough” towards industrial action in the event UNISON has voted to accept the 2013-14 NJC pay offer for its local government members. But the union’s local government secretary Heather Wakefield has warned employers that “enough is enough”, and that the union will be mounting an immediate, high-profile campaign “to stop the rot” – building Branch gets one of best turnouts in LG pay ballot! there’s going to be more pain for our members and their families. So if there are non-members in your workplace get them to join UNISON now before the cuts strike again! Yours in solidarity Steve Ryles Branch Contacts Branch Secretary – Steve Ryles T: 01392 383337 E: [email protected] Office Manager/Case Worker –Cora Woodhead T: 01392 382539 E: [email protected] Administration Assistant – Catherine Hitchcock T: 01392 382530 E: [email protected] Apprentice - Lucy Roke T: 01392 382530 E: [email protected] Communications Officer – Rachel Price T: 01392 383424 E: [email protected] Tel: 01392 382530 that the offer in 2014 is not acceptable. In voting for the 1% pay increase, with an extra 1.4% for the lowest paid, the NJC committee noted it was “completely insulting” and did not come anywhere near the union’s aspirations. In UNISON’s branch consultation, 59% of members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 78% of branches voted to accept the offer. Ms Wakefield noted that local government pay and conditions were now the worst in the public sector. The earnings of NJC workers had fallen by 18% since the coalition came to power, while their pay-related conditions had been cut at local level “whenever they turn their backs”. Click here to read more. Branch Sec counts papers Photo: Rachel Price Thanks to all those stewards who promoted the Local Government pay ballot in their workplace. We received a huge number of ballot papers and took one of the top spots amongst UK branches for the number of votes received! Please can you thank members in your workplace who voted. A big thanks also to Lucy Roke, Branch Administration Assistant, who did a fantastic job of counting the piles of ballot papers - she counted so many, she began dreaming about them! Chris retires as steward after 16 years Happy retirement to Chris Nally, steward at St Saviours in Ottery St Mary, who is hanging up her steward’s hat after 16 years. Chris was presented with John Lewis gift vouchers and a Royal Doulton plate to mark the time when she joined the union back in the days of NALGO! Steve Ryles, Branch Secretary, said: “Chris will be greatly missed. She has been a fantastic steward and has helped many members during her time as a union rep.” www.devoncountyunison.org.uk Chris Nally Email: [email protected] Photo: Lucy Roke Labour’s proposals on career guidance The Labour Party Skills Commission has issued a report which contains a section on providing advice on the transition from education to work. The relevant section is on pp.1416 and argues for ‘a sub-regional, independent information and careers guidance service with strong links to employers’ (p.16). Click here to go to the the report. ‘Royle Family’ star supports UNISON campaign to protect teaching assistants Lack of careers advice damaging life chances UNISON has added its voice to the concerns raised by CBI leader John Cridland over the lack of careers advice in schools, saying the damage will be felt by youngsters for many years to come. The union is warning that unless action is taken now the service will not just be on ‘life support’, in the future it will be DOA – dead on arrival. Click here to read more. The Careers Council Survey on Mumsnet - You may wish to add your views... http://tinyurl.com/m6gqdxd UNISON social media survey: your chance to win an ipad mini! UNISON wants to make sure it is using every way of communicating with its members and activists. Increasingly UNISON uses social media alongside more traditional channels to get people engaged in its campaigns. UNISON wants to find out how you are using social media it can make sure it keeps you informed and supports your work for the union in the way that suits you best. Take part in UNISON’s online social media survey and you’ll get an opportunity to win an ipad mini with WiFi. Click here to enter. Tel: 01392 382530 www.devoncountyunison.org.uk Photo: Marcus Rose The actor and Trade Unionist Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family, Brookside) has joined UNISON’s campaign to protect teaching assistants. Earlier this year, the government asked the teachers review body to look at teachers’ contracts, with a view to them taking on duties currently performed by teaching assistants. In the past month, a right wing think tank with close links to the government has also called for teaching assistants to be sacked. Ricky Tomlinson spoke up to defend their valuable work. UNISON’s assistant national officer in education, Jo Coates said: “It’s great to see our campaign being supported by Ricky – we hope it will help raise the profile of the tremendous work being done by teaching assistants. “As the largest union for support staff in schools, we’ll be building a large-scale campaign to show how valuable teaching assistants are to children, parents and schools. “Teaching assistants have been vital to improving the education of our children and if the government makes serious moves to take them out of classrooms they’ll have a fight on our hands.” Click here to read more. Delegates rally to back teaching assistants Delegates at UNISON’s local government conference, which took place on 16-17 June, declared their support for teaching assistants and school support staff, backing an emergency motion that came in the wake of reports that the government is planning to get rid of all teaching assistants. Angela Egan from Bolton sketched out the different strands of education secretary Michael Gove’s plans for the education system, noting that it was “firmly under attack”. Responding to claims that teaching assistants (TAs) made no difference to children’s education, she cited an example of one assistant who had been expected to cover for a sick teacher for nine weeks - with no back-up for her own role. Corinne Coward from Derby County stressed that it is “TAs who provide, in many cases, the main emotional stability that some children get,” adding that “it takes the whole of society to raise a child” and “every child matters”. And Richard Gower from Tower Hamlets stressed the particular impact that the removal of TAs would have on children from families where English is not the first language, together with disabled children. In a raft of education debates, conference also called on the executive to support regions to challenge the setting up of free and studio schools, and work with all relevant national negotiation bodies for schoolsbased staff to ensure that terms and conditions, pay and contracts of employment are not eroded. Click here to read more. Email: [email protected] National Careers Council: Creating a culture change in careers provision: an aspirational nation Photo: Microsoft The National Careers Council recently published its report, ‘An aspiration nation: creating a culture change in careers provision’. Click here to read the report. At the launch the Minister with responsibility for careers services Matthew Hancock extolled the success of their vision for the careers service, stating this demonstrated that ‘there is no need for top down policy on how careers guidance is delivered as it is a matter for local determination’ and that schools are best placed to provide advice and allocate resources. The report argues that traineeships and the new 16 to 19 study programme should include impartial job advice as part of a “much needed culture change” in careers guidance. It made a number of recommendations: •A culture change is needed in careers provision for young people and adultsto address the mismatch of skills shortages and high unemployment; •The development of the National Careers Service should be assisted by the creation of an Employer-led Advisory Board comprising senior representatives from employers, education and career development profession to help guide its work and ensure it delivers value for money and meets the needs of young people, adults and employers; •The National Careers Service should significantly expand its work with schools, young people and parents; •Employers should encourage their employees to volunteer to go into schools and colleges to give students insights into different careers; •The National Careers Service should launch a new initiative to bring together a range of organisations to explore and highlight the importance of ‘character’ and ‘resilience’ in successful working life and identify realistic and effective options Tel: 01392 382530 for addressing this issue; •The National Careers Service should develop and extend its on-line services and bring together key partners in order to consolidate other on-line careers information and tools; and •In order to bring about the culture change needed in careers provision for young people and adults we need to create a movement which includes employers, education and career development professionals. UNISON’s view: ‘Wafer thin’ UNISON welcomes the recognition that the report gives to the value of the careers professionals and the detail provided within the report on the pivotal role that the National Careers Service should have in addressing the urgent need for access to high quality careers provision for young people. However we are deeply disappointed at the lack of substance in the recommendations, which are long on promise and wafer thin on delivery. The current gap in consistent, coherent and quality impartial careers advice fails both young people and the economy. There are more than a million young people who are not in education, employment or training while the CBI says half of firms have problems finding staff with the appropriate skills. The recommendations fail to address the key findings from the Education Select Committee “Independent careers advice and guidance has never been as important for young people as it is today. Too many schools lack the skills, incentives or capacity to fulfill the duty put upon them without a number of changes being made. Young people deserve better than the service they are likely to receive under the current arrangements. Schools cannot simply be left to get on with it.” www.devoncountyunison.org.uk UNISON’s key concerns: •Schools have been given the responsibility to provide careers advice but without the funding to deliver this has to be met from another part of the school budget •There is no central quality controlled or accredited register for schools to procure careers services from •Connexions was condemned for being patchy – however the new system is far patchier and minimal in some areas. •The negative impact on the stability and integrity of the profession that the fragmentation of the profession and the proliferation of sole traders is having •The absence of consistency, coherence and quality of support by local authorities to vulnerable young people. •The £104 million annual budget for the National Careers Service is funded by BIS (80%), MoJ (13%), Department for Education (less than 5%) and Department for Work and Pensions (less than 1.5%). The contribution by the DfE is pitiful considering its responsibilities. •The promotion and recommendation to expand IT/Web based guidance is at odds with social inclusion and is not a replacement for impartial, independent face to face guidance from careers professionals. Although the report recognises that “Most young people currently do not have access to face-toface careers support” it offers little in the way of practical suggestions to address this. Email: [email protected] Volunteers in public libraries: UNISON guidance for branches News snippets from UNISON’s Local Government and National Delegate conferences 2013 Photo: Microsoft UNISON has issued new guidance on volunteers in public libraries. It provides advice on how best to engage with your local council around the issue and details UNISON’s policy position. It also provides guidance on the instances where volunteers should be entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Click here to read the guidance. Library service in peril A survey of nearly 2000 library staff by UNISON reveals a service in jeopardy, with the public paying the price as they lose their local library or face increasing charges, dwindling opening hours and shrinking staffing levels in those that remain. Click here to read more. Calling all mobile workers! Photo: Microsoft Ever needed a loo and couldn’t find one? Gillian Kemp of the British Toilet Association is investigating how the lack of toilets can affect the health of mobile workers. The BTA campaigns for better public toilets for all. Everyone needs access to a toilet to keep healthy and for mobile workers it is essential. Yet there is no law for councils to provide toilets for mobile workers, and no recommendations on the subject. If you’re a mobile worker who’s ever had to ‘hold on’ please email [email protected] with your story. Your responses will contribute to the campaign to provide a healthier working environment – and the more evidence we produce, the stronger our claim! Tel: 01392 382530 Photo: UNISON Call to name and shame poverty-pay employers “We should name and shame those councils and contractors that insist on paying poverty wages,” said Hazel Marshall of South Lanarkshire, who told UNISON’s local government conference how her council had adopted the Living Wage after campaigning. Anything else was “a publically-funded, poverty pay scandal”. Click here to read more. Care workers need time to care, conference hears Council tax benefit changes are not cricket “Steady on Gid-e-on,” said Glen Williams from the service group executive. “It’s not E-ton – and it’s not cricket. “Come on, Cam-e-ron,” he added, as he proposed a motion on council tax benefit, calling for a fair system of council tax support. In a rousing speech, he lambasted the government’s approach, and also called for consideration of “a land value tax” and other, fair taxation measures. Conference heard of the chaos throughout England (but not Wales or Scotland) following changes to the benefit and the demands on more people to pay part of the tax, where once they would have been exempt. Click here to read more. Local government delegates vowed to fight for decent home care for the elderly and vulnerable, when they debated the union’s new Ethical Care Charter. Introducing the successful motion, Jackie Lewis of the national LGBT committee reminded delegates that in a presentation on the charter, assistant national officer Matthew Campaign against cuts Egan had likened the zero hours contracts many care workers are on to mapped out “going down to the docks and hoping UNISON vowed to fight cuts and for work”. Click here to read more. privatisation and highlight the damage austerity measures are causing to communities when the Motions on equalities union’s local goverment issues and the cuts conference debated the issue in The final session of UNISON’s 2013 Liverpool. More than 470,000 jobs local government conference in have been lost in the sector since Liverpool saw delegates debate a the coalition government of David number of motions around equalities Cameron and Nick Clegg took issues and the politics of austerity. office, delegates heard. The money For the union’s LGBT group, Deirdre available to councils will have fallen Costigan proposed a motion that was by 28% by 2014/15. And more cuts “primarily about supporting our are on the way. Click here to read transgender members’ rights”. more. Click here to read more. www.devoncountyunison.org.uk Email: [email protected] Ryanair style seat grab bad for workers Delegates call for help to analyse council finances 73% of councils commission 15 minute care visits Delegates remember the dead and fight for living Forcing workers into a Ryanair style dash for a seat in the office lowers morale and hits workers’ health UNISON has warned. As utility companies and councils strive to make cuts, many call centre operations allocate desks on a first come first served basis, dehumanising workers. Packing up their space each evening and hot desking every morning, is the human equivalent of “battery hens”. Click here to read more. Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for UNISON have revealed that 73% of councils in England, Wales and Scotland still commission 15-minute home care visits to elderly and vulnerable people. Regional figures show that 88% of Scottish councils commission these short visits, compared to 83% in Wales, and 69% in England. Figures are available for each of the 160 councils across the UK who have responded. Click here to read more. Let us know your views – NHS staff survey UNISON is keen to know your views of working life in today’s health service, including your perspective on such key areas as pay, working conditions, staffing levels, training, hours and morale. In previous years over 10,000 UNISON members have taken part in this survey, which has enabled UNISON to vocalise the impact of the financial crisis upon its members and the NHS services that they deliver every day. Click here to take part in the survey. New research shows families thousands worse off New research for UNISON shows that public sector workers and their families will be many thousands of pounds worse off in 2015 compared to when the coalition took office. The prolonged pay freeze, spending cuts, VAT increases, benefits and tax credit changes, as well as inflation, which is pushing up the cost of living, will rob hardworking families of up to 50% of their household earnings by the end of this parliament, said the union. Click here to read more. Tel: 01392 382530 Calling for expert aid and training to help branches to analyse local authority budgets, Louise Tyres of Eastern region told delegates at UNISON’s local government conference that “this brutal attack on local government spending is only going to continue. “Branches need to be in a position to put forward alternative budgets … to be able to enable effective budgets before final voting,” she explained. “This is essential because many councillors don’t have a clue about financial matters and don’t know what they’re voting for.” Stressing that serious analysis of budgets and proposals is an excellent basis for fighting back against cuts, Gareth Davies, Northumberland branch said: “local government law is never easy.” But he noted that his own branch had challenged and won a battle to halt cuts to car allowances – by analysing the financial situation. Click here to read more. Photo: Microsoft “Remember the dead – but fight like hell for the living,” was the call as UNISON’s local government conference debated the attacks on health and safety. “Those workers did not have the benefit of trade union representation.” That was the how one delegate described the reason for the fate of the Bangladeshi workers who died when the factory where they worked, making clothes for British high streets, collapsed. Click here to read more. ConDem fire sale of services says conference “Privatisation and outsourcing are a constant threat to public services and the people who provide them,” said Paul Gilroy of the National Executive, introducing a substantial composite motion on outsourcing and privatisation. Privatisation has meant that “people have to choose between feeding themselves and heating themselves”. The planned privatisation of Royal Mail is simply “a fire sale” to plug the gap in chancellor George Osborne’s failed economic policies. And he observed that there is no evidence that mutualisation won’t result in the same problems that we have seen caused by privatisation and outsourcing. Click here to read more. Pensions, profits and equalities dominate debate UNISON condemns ‘shocking and horrific’ murder of soldier UNISON’s national delegate conference condemned the brutal murder of Lee Rigby, a serving soldier, in Woolwich on 22 May. An event that Margaret Greer from Hammersmith and Fulham described as “shocking and horrific,” and that had “left the nation numb with bewilderment”. Delegates paid tribute to the family of Mr Rigby who have appealed for no reprisal attacks to take place in his name and to the many people that attempted to intervene before the emergency services arrived. Click here to read more. www.devoncountyunison.org.uk Photo: Rachel Price Pensions, profits and equalities dominated debate at the energy service group conference in Liverpool. Shadow energy minister Caroline Flint spoke to conference and joined in extensive discussions about key issues. She delivered a fluent no nonsense take on the environment and climate change: “I love polar bears as much as anyone else but we must not lose sight that climate change is about jobs and the future. Click here to read more. Email: [email protected] UNISON backs ‘No more page three campaign’ UNISON launched its support for the No More Page Three campaign with a flashmob invasion of its annual conference in Liverpool last week. The union’s 1.3 million public sector workers will now add their voice to the campaign to end this out of date objectification of women. Dancers, dressed in campaign t-shirts, broke in through the back of the union’s annual conference, and surprised 2,000 delegates with a flashmob performance of the campaign’s dance. To the tune of YMCA, 30 dancers called on conference to support the No More Page Three campaign. The union is highlighting how wrong Rupert Murdoch was to claim that working class people do not care about page three. Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said: “We’re proud to support this campaign to end an out of date objectification of women on behalf of the men and women who make up our union. Rupert Murdoch’s claim that working class people don’t care about page three is not only patronizing, it is wrong.” “Through unions, working class people have led the way in battling sexism and campaigning for equality. We’re going to show Rupert Murdoch exactly what we think.” Click here to read more. Click here to visit the No More Page Three website. Tel: 01392 382530 IDS slated over welfare attacks Delegates back action on pay Living wage campaign to be stepped up Rule changes “Prejudice and dogma, drip-fed through friendly media, that don’t let facts get in the way”. That was how Jane Carolan for the NEC described the actions of Iain Duncan Smith in attacking the welfare system, as UNISON’s National Delegate conference debated a composite motion on welfare cuts. She added that “even the dying are being declared fit for work”. This new system is not about providing a safety net, but about making cuts. “A commitment to real jobs with real wages” would, she said, be a way of reducing the costs of welfare that UNISON would approve of, together with a scheme to build social housing. Click here to read more. UNISON vowed to step up the campaign for a living wage, and called for a living pension, at its national delegate conference. Noting successful union campaigns to win the living wage across all UNISON service groups – particularly in Scottish local government, the NHS and English further education colleges – conference called on the TUC to take up the campaign nationally and across all regions, urging councils and other large public bodies to both pay a living wage and act as champions for it in their local economies. Click here to read more. www.devoncountyunison.org.uk “What we want to do, at the present time, is to start fighting back and putting money into our members’ pockets,” said Jane Carolan of the NEC, introducing a composite on pay. As UNISON’s national delegate conference entered its final day in Liverpool, an impassioned debate saw delegates pass a detailed plan to challenge low pay and the pay freeze. Wendy Harris from Tower Hamlets told conference that she is “a low-paid kitchen worker” and that, in spite of originally being told that the Living Wage was “illegal” because of procurement rules, they finally won it. Anne McCormack of St Helens College told delegates of the rise of child poverty – and how many of these children are living in working households. It was, she said, an indication of the widespread nature of low pay. Tax credits and in-work benefits have “effectively subsidised employers from the public purse,” she said, adding that we need a return to an ethos of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”. Click here to read more. UNISON delegates agreed a number of rule changes, including two relating to branch finances. Rule amendment 14 on Rule G, branches, calls on branch committees, as of 1 January 2014, to develop an appropriate annual budget as part of the joint branch assessment process. Branch committees must also maintain records of their financial transactions, assets and liabilities, using the national online branch accounting system (OLBA). The rule change is one aspect of the union’s two-year branch resources review. Cllick here to read about the other rule changes. UNISON seeks to recruit more health and safety reps The importance of UNISON’s health and safety reps is greater than ever, given the government’s “continued assault” on the health and safety regulatory system said conference. A motion on health and safety noted that the coalition’s cuts to the Health and Safety Executive and local authority budgets has resulted in the reduction in workplace inspections. It has also overseen the dumbing down of HSE advice, guidance and approved codes of practice. Click here to read more. Email: [email protected] Multinationals fuelling persecution UNISON urged its regions and branches to take an active role in supporting the “courageous” trade unionists in Colombia, with campaigns that will support communities, workers and their families. Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist – with one trade union member murdered every three days. An estimated 3,000 trade unionists have been killed in recent years. Despite the Colombian government’s attempts to promote a more humane and progressive image, human rights abuses continue. Click here to read more. Attack on facility time is ideological New UNISON presidential team announced Maureen Le Marinel has been elected president of UNISON for the next 12 months. She was elected at the first meeting of the union’s national executive council after last week’s national delegate conference. Ms Le Marinel is branch secretary of the Lancashire police branch and is the union’s first gay president. Click here to read more. Membership benefits Don’t forget to remind colleagues in your workplace about UNISON Devon County Branch. They may have been meaning to join for ages but just never got round to it. Let them know that whether they’re in or outside the workplace, UNISON has a lot to offer its members. Membership starts from just £1.30 a month, depending on how much you earn, and gives you access to a whole range of benefits, from free legal and welfare advice to discounts on insurance and grants for workplace training visit: http://www.unison.org.uk/benefits/ £1.30 From a mo n th covEr for you at work UNISON EssEntial Join UNISON online today at joinunison.org or call 0800 171 2193 Tel: 01392 382530 Eileen Best of the national women’s committee, proposing a motion on facility time, told delegates that the attack on facility time by the likes of the Taxpayers’ Alliance was entirely ideological. She stressed that research had shown that facility time saved money – but that such facts were simply ignored or rubbished. For the NEC, Graeme Smith said that “we all know the value of facility time, but I want to focus on where this attack comes from. Click here to read more. Recruitment challenge Introducing a motion on organsing and recruiting, Sue Highton for the NEC told UNISON’s national delegate conference in Liverpool that it was “about facing up to the future”. Outsourcing now means there are many different employers in public services. That doesn’t mean that “we welcome the changes”, she noted, but “as a union, we have to adapt”. Diane Kelly from the North West stressed how important recruitment is in building the density and power that will enable the union to be more effective in its campaigning. Click here to read more. www.devoncountyunison.org.uk ‘Bill mill’ privatising US public services UNISON delegates were given a frightening glimpse of how very much worse privatisation could become in the UK, if we’re not careful. Jane Carter, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee (AFSCME) described the battles unions face “over the pond”, to preserve both workers’ rights and public services. Ms Carter is a labour economist with the largest and fastest growing union in the US, with 1.6 million members, who – much like UNISON’s – work across public services. She spoke of the “concerted effort” to undermine workers rights in the US: the right to vote, to collective action, and the right to have a decent wage. Click here to read more. Disability hate crime -no place in 21st century Conference delegates spoke passionately about the fear and suffering caused by disability hate crime. UNISON undertook to campaign for disability hate crime to be treated in the same way as other forms of hate crime, calling on police and crime commissioners to make such offences a priority. There are thousands of incidents every week of physical abuse or harassment against people because of their physical disability, sensory impairment, learning disability or mental health. Proposing the motion, Suzanne Williams of the National Disabled members committee, told delegates that “disability hate crime has no place in 21st century Britain.” Click here to read more. Click here for more on the Local Government Confernece 2013. Click here for more on the National Delegate Conference 2013. Email: [email protected]
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