Redundancy pay cuts: members vote for action

The deadline for the indicative ballot about action to oppose the cuts to redundancy pay was noon today. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of action to oppose:

90% voted for action
6% voted against
4% spoilt

The result was formally announced at the members' meeting in County Hall this lunchtime. The Branch has written to the Council to inform them that we are in dispute and representatives of the Branch are meeting Senior Regional Officials of the union on Monday to discuss a formal industrial action ballot.

Redundancy pay cut press release (20/1/06)

The following press release was sent to local media on 20th January

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Council workers have condemned the County Council’s decision to cut the levels of redundancy pay at a time when hundreds of them are facing redundancy from budget cuts.

UNISON, the biggest union in the County Council, is calling for the Council to rethink their plans.

“Our members are angry the Council is planning to cut jobs and the amount of compensation that they would get for losing their job” said Branch Secretary Jill Turner.

“We have held consultation meetings around the County and we are hearing the same message again and again, it is unfair to try to cut redundancy pay at a time when the council is looking to cut about 500 jobs” she added.

UNISON members at the County Council were being informally balloted about the threat to cut the levels of redundancy pay after negotiations had broken down when, just before Xmas, the Council announced cuts of £21 millions that would mean the loss of “hundreds of jobs” and gave the unions only 3 weeks to respond.

“Our members are returning the ballot papers in large numbers and are overwhelmingly voting in favour of action. Once the indicative ballot closes at noon on 27th January, we will be meeting with our members that lunchtime to announce the result and to launch campaign for a formal ballot for industrial action” said Ms Turner

“If the Council will not return to the negotiating table about the cuts to redundancy pay, and think again about setting a budget that means cutting hundreds of jobs, we will have no option but to ballot our members for industrial action.”

UNISON is calling a lobby of the Cabinet meeting on 8th February that will discuss the budget cuts and the Full Council meeting on 23rd February that sets the budget.

“We want the Council to join us in calling for a proper funding settlement from Whitehall and to look at all projects that have not yet started to see how many of them are vital to service delivery to the public of Notts” added Ms Turner

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To see Nottingham Evening Post coverage on 21st Jan click here

Cabinet votes to consult on cuts

When the Cabinet met this morning, it was addressed by Jill Turner on behalf of UNISON. Here's what she told them:

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"It is difficult to put all we want to say into words, and it is obviously tempting to take this opportunity with you to go through the report line by line, but we want to keep our message to you short and to the point.

"This is not a consultation, it is a fait accompli!

"We have been given just three weeks to comment on proposals which are huge in their impact.

"How can we meaningfully participate without any information, information, for example on the true costs of the Bassetlaw PFI scheme and the new contact centre.

"And how can the public meaningfully participate when they are not told the whole truth, the on-line consultation describes the changes to homecare as 'changing the way some home care services are provided.'

"This is a shocking misrepresentation of what is proposed, in reality the Council will run down its home care service and effectively transfer the majority of care to the private sector. The savings will be generated from paying these new privately employed staff less than the Council considers fair or reasonable for the work. In an added twist by running down our service as opposed to transferring it means that the Council bypasses any responsibility for protecting the conditions and pay of workers in this service. This is at best morally bankrupt.

"Another example of understatement can be found in this very report at section 8.4.6 this is the section dealing with the impact in Regeneration and states that 'staff redundancies are probably unavoidable' - really

"How can the public or staff make contributions when we do not have access to the information we need and are entitled to?

"There is no doubt we are in a very difficult situation but surely this is the time to raise our game and work together to find the savings we need to protect our valuable services. If you agree this consultation document as it stands you will force conflict with those you need to work with.

"Now is the time to work together, delay this consultation in favour of a meaningful exercise where staff, service users and public can comment on real choices, choices such as the real needs around new accommodation. An exercise where we can ensure that decisions still to be implemented are realistic in light of our financial position.

"We realise this will take more time and therefore have a cost implication. Cabinet could easily reverse it decision on the new office at Ashfield and go for a cheaper option thus releasing the necessary funds.

"Why look for conflict when a better position could be created by working together.

"Like yourselves we fight for what we believe in – we do not believe that the paper presented today represents the only options – so if needed we will fight to secure a better outcome for our service users, our citizens and staff.

"We are asking for the opportunity to have a meaningful consultation where we can explore all the options available, we are asking to have a real choice."

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Despite this call to think again, the Cabinet voted to go out for consultation on the basis of the report (to read the report click here).

Therefore, Branch officers are meeting tomorrow morning to agree the strategy for dealing with the proposed budget cuts.

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To see press reaction in the Nottingham Evening Post on 20th Jan click here

Restructuring of County Council Report

The County Council meeting on 19th January will consider a report on the future structure of the County Council. To read it click here.

The report proposes moving to 4 departments with centralisation of management of IT, Finance and HR (aka Personnel). The headlines of which functions are proposed to go into which department are set out in Appendix 1 that starts on page 11 of the 23 page document.

The report is in pdf format and you will need an Acrobat reader to see it. If you need an Acrobat reader, click here

Members' Meeting: 27th January

At the members’ meeting on 10th January, there was a call for another meeting to be held in the Council Chamber with one of the Joint Branch Secretaries present. The originally proposed date of 17th January is not feasible as the Council Chamber is not available and the Branch Secretary who has led the negotiations about the redundancy pay has a meeting in London with LGIU about influencing budget setting.

The earliest date at which both the Council Chamber and Branch Secretary are available is 27th January. The meeting is booked for 12.15 pm to 1.15 pm. 27th January is also the deadline for the indicative ballot and we expect to be able to report on an overwhelming vote in favour of action and discuss what happens next.

The meeting on 10th January also asked that a press release be sent out. This is being prepared and will be sent to local media on Friday 20th January after ALL 4 members meetings have taken place. The key messages will be:
>> Members’ anger at the “double whammy” of budget cuts that mean redundancies coming at the same time the Council is threatening to cut levels of redundancy pay.
>> Result of indicative ballot due on 27th January
>> Call for the Council to come back to the negotiating table to sort out redundancy pay

NCC Budget cuts: County Council Report

The Cabinet meeting on 18th Jan 2006 will consider the Medium Term Financial Strategy report. This the report that sets out the proposed cuts to our jobs and the public's services. To see the report click here

It is in pdf format and you will need an Acrobat reader to see it. If you need an Acrobat reader, click here

NCC Budget Cuts 2006-2008

Some of you may have seen the 2 reports about potential budget cuts in the Nottingham Evening Post on 30th December 2005: County Hall Jobs to be axed and Hundreds of jobs to go. The Branch has asked all Convenors to meet with their departments to discuss the possible impacts of the cuts. We will keep you informed of developments. For reports from Convenors, click on "comments" below.