Local industrial action on hold

At a meeting with trade unions in County Hall this afternoon, the County Council offered to make improvements to the Redundancy Compensation package.

In order to allow talks to take place, the trade unions agreed to temporarily suspend industrial action (following the successful local ballots in UNISON, GMB, TGWU and CYWU) and are asking for the proposals to be available in time for a Joint Trade Union meeting on Thursday (6th April).

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These negotiations are separate from the national negotiations about pensions

March & Rally photos on Indmedia.org.uk website

More photos of the Nottingham march and rally on 28th March can be found on the Indymedia website at:

Public Service Workers march for pensions. Nottingham Events Pictures 1

Public Service Workers march for pensions. Nottingham Events Pictures 2

Thanks to Indymedia.org.uk for the photos

Strike Rally Photos 1

The march ended at the Albert Hall in Nottingham. Members packed the hall.


The speeches were kicked off by Chris Tansley, our Joint Branch Secretary and NEC member. He was followed by members from other unions on strike including NAPO (probation) and the rally ended with a speech from Helen Black, UNISON Regional Secretary.

Strike March photos 3

Members gathered at the Forest (Goose Fair site) from 11 a.m.


They then set off to march down the Mansfield Road into town for a rally at the Albert Hall.

Picket line photos 2

It was a quiet morning on the picket line at Trent Bridge House. The postman wouldn't cross the picket line and only 30 to 40 people went in to work. A couple of members had exemption letters from the Branch because they were in their final year of service. One promised to give his day's pay to the strike Hardship fund - thanks Norman!

Branch Equalities Officers

The Branch has 2 Equalities Officers who share the role.

Siobhan Ford works in the Social Services Department and Selwyn Seymour works in the Environment Department at Notts County Council

They can be contacted via the Branch Office on 0115 9810405

There are 4 Self Organised Groups (SOGS). Click on the links below for more information.

Black Members
Disabled Members
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Members
Women Members

Notts makes national media coverage

Our pensions strike banner is on the BBC national website photo gallery of yeterdays strike action: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4854052.stm

UNISON's national website also has a gallery of photos from around the UK of yesterday's action, including pickets with John Prescott: http://www.unison.org.uk/pensions/photogallery.asp

Picket Line Photos 1

Centenary House, West Bridgford

County Hall, West Bridgford

Strike Photos 2

Did you take photos of your picket line or the rally? E-mail them to us and we can post them here: strikephotos@fsmail.net

Strike March photos 1

Over a thousand strikers marched from the Forest (Goose Fair site) in Nottingham down to the Albert Hall. If you were there, looks for yourself on the photos taken by Phil for the Branch.


If you took photos of your picket line, send them to us at: strikephotos@fsmail.net

More than 200 schools to close tomorrow

The Nottingham Evening Post is reporting that over 200 schools are to close tomorrow because of the industrial action to defend our pensions.

They list 156 County schools and 50 City Schools in the article. For the NEP article: click here

For the County Council's list of closed schools: click here

STRIKE ACTION ADVICE

AS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW UNISON HAS CALLED A NATIONAL STRIKE TO PROTEST AGAINST CUTS TO OUR PENSIONS. UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN EXEMPTED IT IS EXPECTED THAT ALL MEMBERS WILL OBSERVE OUR ACTION.

Pickets

We do need volunteers to help out on picket lines. It is very important that we have good presence to demonstrate our determination to protect our pensions. Please talk to your local steward or phone the Branch Office to find out where your nearest picket line will be.

Rally

We have organised a march and a rally in support of our protest against reductions to our pensions. Please come along and make sure we send a very strong message to the Government. We are being joined by members of the unions who are taking strike action with us, GMB, TGWU, UCAAT, AMICUS, Napo, NIPSA, AEP and CYWU so it promises to be a very important event. The provisional arrangements are:

WE ARE MEETING ON THE FOREST GROUND IN NOTTINGHAM AT 11.00 ON THE 28TH MARCH.

We will march to the Albert Hall on Maid Marion Way for 12.00pm, where we will have a rally. This will only be a success if we all ensure that we take part, please don’t assume that everyone else will participate, we must show this Government that they cannot force through reductions in our pensions without a fight.

Our Promise of Solidarity

When you joined UNISON you agreed that you would stand by your fellow members to fight together. This means that all our other members have agreed to stand and fight with you. It is our commitment to protecting each other that makes us so strong. Please keep our union strong.

I look forward to seeing you on one of our picket lines or at the rally.

Jill Turner
Joint Branch Secretary

On Strike On 28th March

As you should know by now, UNISON and 10 other local government unions are calling a day of industrial action on Tuesday 28th March in defence of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

This was announced at a joint press conference and all 11 unions have set set up a joint union website: http://www.protectourpensions.org.uk/

There are newsletters and advice that can be downloaded on the branch web site and more information can be found on UNISON's national website LGPS Page

There will be picket lines at workplaces around the County. As Branch Communciations Officer, I am asking for photos of picket lines to be e-mailed to me so that I can post them on this Branch Blog and use them in the Branch Newsletter.

You can e-mail your photos to me at: strikephoto@fsmail.net or strikephotos@fsmail.net

These e-mail accounts have been set up just for this purpose

S188 Notice arrives, 388 jobs to go

The County Council served the Section 188 notice on the Branch on 20th March 2006. The notice sets out the reason for consultation, the number of employees involved, a description of the employees, the method of selection for redundancy, method of dismissal, method of calculating redundancy pay and the headline figure of 388 potential redundancies across the authority.

It includes an appendix with details of proposed job losses by Service area, location, job type and number.

To read the covering letter click here
To read the S188 notice click here

Still waiting for S188 notice

At the Informal Corporate Joint Forum yesterday, we were told that the legal Redundancy Notice (S188 notice) we were expecting by 15th March was not yet ready and that it would probably be produced on Monday 20th March.

We will let members know once we get the details.

Ballot Deadline Reminder

This is a reminder to all members about the importance of posting your ballot paper by Friday 17th March for our industrial action ballot over the budget cuts and reductions to redundancy pay.

The ballot closes on Monday and I am confident that we will have had a massive vote to defend our jobs and services. But some of you might be wondering what this campaign has to do with you. You may think that as your job isn’t at risk then these proposals won’t affect you. I can assure you that you’re very wrong.

Whilst your job may be safe at the moment, this is the first round of cuts. We know that there will be significant job losses around admin, finance, HR and IT through the Council restructuring. We also know that Social Services will need to make more cuts next year.

We also know that the Council is considering creating an arms length company for its DSOs and DLOs, and I can promise you this is the first step towards full privatisation.

We believe that the Council may have over estimated the amount they will save from this years cuts. So when they finally admit they have miscalculated you can be sure that we will see more job losses.

We also have a duty, as public servants, delivering vital public services to speak up for the vulnerable and disenfranchised members of our society. Many of the cuts will affect very vulnerable people. The Council hasn’t bothered to ask them what they want. So we must speak for those who have been denied a voice.

We must ensure that the Council do not think that they can strip away our pay and conditions without a fight. This year we will be entering into negotiations on pay and terms and conditions. I do not think we will win a good deal from these talks if the Council thinks it can make fundamental changes to our terms and conditions without consequence.

So there you have five reasons why we must fight these cuts. But I will give one more. When you joined UNISON you agreed that you would stand by your fellow members to fight together. This means that all our other members have agreed to stand and fight with you. It is our commitment to protecting each other that makes us so strong.

Fight to save our jobs
Fight to save our services
Fight to protect our terms and conditions
Fight to protect our vulnerable citizens

Jill Turner
Joint Branch Secretary

UNISON Response on Designing for the Future and Restructuring

Notts UNISON has made the following comments to the County Council:

i) to-date we have not been issued with detailed timescales or with information regarding the whole staffing structure, until this is available it is difficult for meaningful consultation to take place. It is our view that the ‘top down approach’ is not the most effective way of undertaking a restructuring exercise

ii) whilst integration of all resource services could potentially have a positive impact in terms of consistency of practice across the Authority there is a great danger that specialisms and experience will be lost which would clearly be of detriment to the Authority, to the services it provides and to its staff who would become de-skilled and de-motivated

iii) the Leader of the Council’s report of the 19th January 2006 states on page 20 that a KPMG review in 2001 suggested that “the Authority would need to reduce the number of staff employed in finance, IT and personnel services by approximately 100 to bring it into line with the average cost of these services across similar local authorities.” Obviously this review is now 5 years out of date and in any case provides no further information to support the findings. It would not be acceptable for “efficiencies” to translate as fewer staff taking on more work

iv) it seems clear that the restructuring is being driven by budget cuts and Gershon efficiency targets and that as a result a negative impact on the quality of services and jobs is unavoidable.

In relation to the OPM study we would suggest that it has a number of flaws, the most serious of which are that:

a) it accepts and promotes the government’s modernisation agenda with no qualification or questioning

b) it promotes outsourcing whilst recognising this is not the policy of the County Council, using examples such as Westminster City Council which has outsourced more services than any other local authority in the past 25 years

c) it promotes the County Council as a commissioner rather than a deliverer of services

d) it promotes the use of market forces in service provision together with the commercialisation of in-house services

Recommendations

UNISON recommends that the County Council:

1) Initiates a local debate about the future of local government to increase public understanding of the local government modernisation agenda and the issues raised by the Lyons Inquiry into the role, responsibility and funding of local government.

2) Makes no further reference to the three Fitness for Purpose models and instead focuses on how it can integrate strategies to continue improving the quality of services, enhancing democratic accountability and community participation whilst also strengthening its role in the local and regional economy.

3) Develops a fuller understanding of the implications of the local government modernisation agenda for County Council functions and services. The Chief Executive’s draft consultation document on Designing for the Future states that “the very nature and role of local authorities is being questioned and reviewed. All of this means that there will need to be rationing and balancing of services with the prospect that there will be many unmet expectations.” It is imperative that there is an open and honest debate about whose expectations/needs may not be met and the potential consequences. These issues must not be concealed or obscured by focusing on organisational structures – this could create further alienation and disaffection from the political process and local government.

4) Develop strategies of how the County Council will address the educational policy, service and organisational impact of the Education Bill proposals, the creation of privately owned Local Education Partnerships under the Building Schools for the Future programme and Academies. The combination of these policies and programmes is likely to have a fundamental and far reaching impact on educational provision and the Local Education Authority.

5) Further stages of reorganisation of the County Council should be based on a restatement of public service principles and values and increasing its effectiveness in meeting the needs of the people, economy and environment in Nottinghamshire.

6) The County Council should prioritise how it can build capacity - the range of skills, knowledge, experience and resources needed to achieve its corporate policies and priorities. This should be a key criteria in determining the most effective organisational structure.

7) The County Council should fully engage staff and trade unions in all stages of the discussion of organisational options and how organisational change will be implemented.

Redundancy notices delayed

We were expecting to receive the "Section 188" notice about redundancies due to budget cuts on 7th or 8th March but Corporate Personnel have now said this is not likely to be before 15th March as they don't have the information they need from Departments as yet.

The relevant elements of Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act (Consolidation) Act 1992 are:

(1) An employer proposing to dismiss as redundant an employee of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by him shall consult representatives of the union about the dismissal in accordance with this section.

(2) The consultation must begin at the earliest opportunity, and in any event—

(a) where the employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 100 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less, at least 90 days before the first of those dismissals takes effect;

(4) For the purposes of the consultation the employer shall disclose in writing to the trade union representatives—

(a) the reasons for his proposals,
(b) the numbers and descriptions of employees whom it is proposed to dismiss as redundant,
(c) the total number of employees of any such description employed by the employer at the establishment in question,
(d) the proposed method of selecting the employees who may be dismissed, and
(e) the proposed method of carrying out the dismissals, with due regard to any agreed procedure, including the period over which the dismissals are to take effect.

For the purposes of the budget cuts, the County Council is the establishment. A Management suggestion that each department could issue it's own S188 notices was strongly resisted by the trade unions and has been withdrawn. We have asked for enabling document to be produced for consultation once again, but have been told that it is still being drafted.