Public sector workers to "speak up" to MPs in June

Teachers, health workers, probation officers, social workers, civil servants, childcare workers and firefighters will be among public service workers representing the six million public sector workers in the UK coming to London in June to lobby MPs over the future of public services and to call for fair pay, the TUC announced today (Wednesday).
The Speak up for Public Services representative lobby and rally takes place in Westminster on Monday 9 June 2008. The event starts with a rally in Methodist Central Hall at 1pm and concludes with public sector employees lobbying MPs late into the afternoon.
Speakers at the rally will include general secretaries and senior officials from the 26 TUC-affiliated unions with members in the public sector, as well employees from across the health service, local government, central government and the prison service.
When individual public sector employees head over to Parliament in the afternoon to lobby their local MPs, they will say that public servants make a huge contribution to UK society and the economy. This hard work, they will say, should be fairly rewarded, properly valued and there must be fair pay for all public sector staff.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Across the country, public sector employees are feeling increasingly undervalued and demoralised. Their pay is being held below the cost of living and they feel that public service reform is something done to them, not with them. They believe that all their hard work frequently goes unnoticed by politicians and that their contribution to improving public services is often overlooked.
'Last year, the way that pay settlements were handled caused widespread dissatisfaction and dismay amongst public servants. The UK's six million public sector employees are hoping for a better deal this year, and that's why a representative segment of the workforce will be in Westminster in June calling for fair pay for everyone in the public sector and for MPs to stand up for public services.'

'A slap in the face'

(19/03/08) UNISON described a 2.2% pay offer from local government employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland tonight as "a slap in the face".The offer came at talks with the employers in central London which took much of the day.The joint trade unions submitted a pay claim for an increase of 6% or 50p an hour, whichever was the greater, earlier this year.UNISON head of local government Heather Wakefield reacted to the offer by saying: "A 2.2% offer is a slap in the face for 1.4 million local government workers, who have already put up with 10 years of below-inflation pay settlements. "The employers have completely ignored the justice of our claim and are prepared to let every teaching assistant, librarian, social worker and park attendant face increasing hardship. "They talk about unpleasant choices, but our members are already facing unpleasant choices between feeding their families and heating their homes. "Our members live in the real world, with real inflation and 2.2% does not go anywhere near to covering the huge hikes in basic living costs such as food, housing, gas and electricity. "You can't build world-class public services on poverty pay and it’s time that local government employers faced up to this."The government’s favoured measure of inflation, the CPI, rose to 2.5% yesterday and is expected to go even higher by the summer. "The employers need to take stock and come up with a more realistic offer in the next round of negotiations," Ms Wakefield added. UNISON's Pay Matters campaignLocal government pay

HMRC say tax avoidance could be costing every

household more than £1,500 a year

In a document published late on budget day with no publicity, HMRC has said that the cost of tax avoidance in the UK could run as high as £40 billion a year. This tax avoidance could cost every household in the UK more than £1,500.
The HMRC admission, contained in the report 'Measuring the tax gap - an update', estimates that in 2005 tax avoidance was between £10b and £40b. This figure is even higher than the £25 billion a year estimated by the TUC in it's 'Missing Billions' report. The HMRC say that avoidance has fallen since 2005.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Even if the HMRC claim is true it still leaves huge amounts of unpaid tax by the super-rich - enough to cut taxes for ordinary people, boost public services and do far more to tackle child poverty than the limited measures in yesterday's budget.
'The Government has been hit by concerted lobbying by non-doms and the super-rich, who describe even the mildest attempt to make them pay a fair share of tax as a prelude to the sky falling in on national prosperity. But rather than retreat, ministers should pay more attention to ordinary voters, who are becoming more and more aware that a significant group of Britain's wealthiest people dodge paying fair taxes.
'The Chancellor was wrong to rule out further efforts to tax non-doms. Instead, he should call their bluff when the super-rich exodus fails to materialise, as a result of yesterday's very modest changes.'

Prentis calls for a fairer Britain

UNISON is calling on the chancellor to use his debut budget on Wednesday to release the stranglehold on public service pay."Alistair Darling's first budget gives him an ideal opportunity to show his mettle and set out a vision for a fairer Britain," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.Subjecting low-paid public sector workers to a 2% pay squeeze was "grossly unjust", he said, warning the consequences would be damaging.Enforcing the limit risks derailing reforms, and threatens to throw the public sector back into the recruitment and retention crises of the 1990s, Mr Prentis said.Setting out UNISON's vision for fairness, he stressed: "It is catch-up time. Our members are struggling with rising food, energy, and housing costs and cannot afford to take a pay cut."At the same time we see the incomes of the super-rich continue to soar away. The chancellor must stick to his guns and ensure that the non doms are made to pay for the public services they use without making a contribution to their funding and upkeep."The union is also pressing for urgent action to ensure equal pay for women.Without funding from the government, employers were meeting their legal obligations by cutting pay and jobs, Mr Prentis pointed out."We know that this is hitting services vital to our country's future - from local environmental services at the frontline of tackling climate change to school support staff essential to improving literacy and numeracy."

UNISON lodges 40,000th equal pay case

(07/03/08) UNISON lodged its 40,000th equal pay claim this week, as 300 women members found out the union has won payouts for them of up to £35,000 each.The compensation follows UNISON's successful equal pay case on their behalf. It is on average 50% higher than the settlements achieved by no win, no fee lawyers."I am delighted that UNISON has been successful in achieving pay justice for this group of low paid women workers," said general secretary Dave Prentis.The union provides free legal advice and aid on equal pay to all members.It submitted the claim against Kirklees Council in 2006. The women, who worked in traditionally female jobs such as home carers, kitchen assistants and cleaners, were excluded from bonuses awarded to men working in comparable roles at Kirklees, such as gardeners and refuse collectors. Mr Prentis said the union was working hard to deliver equal pay through collective bargaining and negotiation.However, he warned: "We will not shy away from litigation if necessary - just this week UNISON lodged its 40,000th equal pay claim."This is a massive body of work for the union but equal pay is not a take it or leave it option; it is the law of the land and we will fight to enforce it." Sue Townend, 51, has worked for Kirklees Council for 22 years as a homecare assistant. She was originally offered just £7,000 to settle her claim but is due to get more than £20,000 in compensation.She said she was satisfied with her settlement and grateful to UNISON, adding: "I would urge all women in the same situation to go to their trade union and not line the pockets of no win, no fee solicitors."Christine Howarth, a home care assistant for 31 years is also due more than £20,000. She said: "The union has worked very hard on my behalf. It has taken time but the outcome has been well worth the wait."

Joint Statement by UNISON, GMB and Unite

Shropshire Job Evaluation – Phase 2



We refer to the statement issued unilaterally by Shropshire County Council to employees on 4 March 2008. This statement refers to the difficulties in obtaining national authorisation of the proposals for implementing job evaluation and lists the beneficial aspects of the proposals that the County Council is putting forward.

All of the beneficial elements of Phase 2 have been negotiated by the trade unions on your behalf and on the face of it appear to be an attractive package. However, the joint trade unions have been unable to persuade the County Council through negotiation to implement a job evaluation scheme that is fit for purpose, i.e. one that at least begins to address the gender pay gap between female and male employees. Currently, the average pay of the 80% of employees in Phases 1 and 2 who are women is 17% less than the average pay for male employees in the two phases.

1. The impact of job evaluation should be to reduce that gender pay gap, in fact it increases it. Part of the reason for this is that almost 200 employees in Phase 2 who are on linked grades will not be placed on their job evaluated grade for up to 3 years, which is unacceptable.

2. Further, there are issues around the drawing of the grade boundaries which has led to a large group of female workers just missing moving to a higher grade.

3. There is also the issue of those employees who go up from the top end of Phase 2 into Phase 3. The County Council has point blank refused to give a commitment to a date when Phase 3 will be implemented and when those employees will receive their correct job evaluated rate of pay.

4. There is a further important issue of what happens on 1 April 2009 when unitary status is brought in. Shropshire County Council has not discussed with the trade unions the mechanism that will be used to ensure that job evaluation applies fairly across the whole of the new unitary authority.

5. The reason why the trade unions are not able to agree, either at local or national level, the proposals is that, as they currently stand, when unitary comes about there will need to be a further complete job re-evaluation because of the issues raised above. We do not believe it is in members’ medium term interests for they and their colleagues in district councils to have to go through the stress and uncertainty created by a further complete job re-evaluation. In order to try to avoid the need for that and to agree a process which both addresses the pay gender gap issue and the transition to unitary, the trade unions have offered to jointly fund with the County Council a report by an independent equal pay expert to try to understand how these problems can be dealt with. However, the County Council has not responded positively to this offer and, given their unilateral issuing of the statement yesterday, this offer is now withdrawn.

The trade unions are committed to try to negotiate a beneficial outcome for all our members of job evaluation but given the issuing of yesterday’s statement will oppose any attempts by the authority to seek to impose a pay and grading structure that is not in members’ long term interests.

Minimum wage rise ‘falls short’

(05/03/08) UNISON has welcomed a 21p boost in the national minimum wage as a step in the right direction, but says it is still too low.The union is urging a "bolder" approach to prevent the gap between rich and poor widening further.The adult minimum wage will rise from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour in October, the prime minister said today.The new rate for 18 to 21-year-olds will be £4.77, up from £4.60, while 16 to 17-year-olds will get £3.53, up from £3.40.UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said there was no doubt the rise would benefit many low-paid workers."However, it falls short of its aim to protect the poor from the constant price rises in essentials like fuel, food and housing," he said."A much more realistic figure would be a minimum wage of £6.75 an hour, which would lift many more families out of poverty and off means-tested benefits."UNISON believes the government was too cautious when it introduced the minumum wage in 1999.In its evidence to the Low Pay Commission last year, the union made the case for an inflation-busting boost to the minimum wage, and called for an end to youth rates and regional variations.It also pressed for stiffer penalties and stronger enforcement powers to crack down on rogue employers who underpay staff.The TUC believes 150,000 workers still being paid less than the statutory minimum.

Time to restore redundancy pay value

The TUC is today (Friday) calling on the Chancellor to increase the weekly limit on statutory redundancy pay from £330 to £500 in the forthcoming Budget as a major step towards restoring the real value of the limit when it was first introduced at £40 in 1965.
Anyone who has worked for the same employer for more than two years is entitled to redundancy pay (which is paid by the Government if the employer goes bust). It is calculated as half a week's pay for each year of employment between the ages of 18 to 21; plus one week's pay for each year of employment between 22 to 40; plus
one and a half week's pay for each year of employment between the age of 41 or over but under 65. No more than twenty years service can be counted.
But there is a statutory maximum limit to what counts as a week's pay - anything earned in excess of this limit is not counted when working out redundancy pay. This is set annually and is currently £330 per week. Official figures show that more than half the working population earn more than this a week (53 per cent). Mean pay is £452 a week, so the current limit is just 73 per cent of average pay. Employers are free to offer more generous terms, and many do.
When redundancy pay was introduced for the first time in 1965 the limit was set at £40, more than twice the average wage (£19.60). If the limit had been uprated in line with prices it would now be a little over £500, and if increased in line with earnings it would now be in excess of £1,000.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Now is the right time to start to restore the value of redundancy pay. When it was introduced the big majority of the workforce had all their wages counted when working out their redundancy pay, but now more than half the workforce would lose out.
'The Government pledged in its manifesto for the last election to boost redundancy and that pledge should be implemented. A one off rise to £500 and a link to earnings rather than prices in future is the minimum we need to see to start to restore some fairness.'

Agency worker statement

Speaking after a meeting between the Prime Minister and a TUC delegation to consider agency worker rights, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'The Prime Minister recognised the importance of the issue and the problems that many agency workers face. Gordon Brown reassured us that he wants to make progress on this vital issue. We need to consider very carefully the best mechanism to achieve this.'

TUC welcomes second reading for Agency Workers Bill

Commenting on the Commons vote to give a second reading to the Agency Workers Bill, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'This is good news for agency workers as it is an important milestone on the road to achieving fair treatment. We welcome the big turn out by MPs to support the Bill today. It puts even more pressure on the Government to drop their opposition to effective rights for agency workers.'

UNISON calls for windfall tax after

British Gas profits soar

(21/02/08) UNISON called for a windfall tax on excessive profits today, after energy supplier British Gas reported annual profits of £571m at its residential arm - just weeks after hiking its pricesd for gas and electricity by around 15%.The news of the profits - which are up from £95m in 2006 - follows a UNISON and National Right to Fuel Campaign demand for an official inquiry into fuel profits.And Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has reported a 40% rise in operating profits to £1.95bn. Centrica has increased its full-year dividend to shareholders by 17% to 13p a share.UNISON national officer Steve Bloomfield said: "It is clear that the UK's energy market is not operating in the public interest."It's a scandal that a growing number of people are suffering from genuine fuel poverty – including many families, elderly and disabled people – when energy companies are making record profits. "We need a windfall tax on profits to put a stop to this profiteering."A new report, Gas and electricity costs to householders, which has been produced by Cornwall Energy Associates and co-sponsored by UNISON, shows how much extra ordinary customers are having to fork out to fund this profits boom. The report revealed that spending by households on gas and electricity increased by £8.2bn between 2003 and 2006, but companies' costs increased by £5.9bn - only £4.5bn of it due to higher fuel costs.Nearly 30% of the extra spending by customers has gone in increased profits amounting to £2.3bn – at a time when the government is telling public service workers to tighten their belts and accept 2% pay limits.

A DECISION AT LAST ON UNITARY !

I hope that this will mean that those so vigorously opposed to this will now use the same energy to support it. Daniel has yet again shown his ability to back a loser as he seems to throw himself on every passing bandwagon I suppose on the law of averages this is bound to happen but he does seem good at it!

From the Trade Union point of view those who clung to the belief that this would never happen have done nothing to help protect those staff and jobs they now hope will be protected. The rush to spend all the family silver in the District Councils will also be unhelpful. I have never liked Councillor Pate's politics but he is one of the few thinking Tories and a shrewd business man.

There is no doubt that those council tax payers in band D who stand to save £93 per year will not have been asked their opinion it does seem like a rather expensive Tory club that we cannot afford. What is often missed is that our members are Council Tax payers including myself and we also understand the frustration of the duplication in the current system. The Governments stranglehold on our pay will make any saving in overheads at home most welcome.

Work Your Proper Hours Day (22 Feb 2008)

is the day when the average person who does unpaid overtime finishes the unpaid days they do every year, and starts earning for themselves. We think that's a day worth celebrating!

Check your balance: Find out your office working style and you could win an iPod

The Work / Life Map: check out how the UK works

the Breaktime game: can you work your proper hours?

decorate your office with free posters

send your boss a secret boss-a-gram to fill them in
Nearly five million people in the UK regularly do unpaid overtime, giving their employers an average £4,955 of free work a year. If you're one, why not take some time to reflect on how well (or badly) you're balancing your life?
This is one day in the year to make the most of your own time. Take a proper lunchbreak and leave work on time to enjoy your Friday evening - You deserve it!
Here's our four point plan for having a great Work Your Proper Hours Day:
1: Put yourself on the map!
We're building a big interactive map of the UK's attitudes to work / life balance. Take our quiz to find out what your workplace style is, and then add yourself to the map to see how you stack up against everyone else, and get the chance to win a swanky iPod Touch. Or check the map, to see what others have said.
2: Spread the word
Help get the word out by sending your friends an e-card, or linking to the campaign. You can download or order free posters to spruce up your office. And don't leave your boss out - let them know about the day with an anonymous Boss-A-Gram.
3: Enjoy your Friday!
If you normally just cram a sandwich at your desk, and only leave work long after the sun's gone down, take just one day to make a stand and see what a difference it can make. Plan to take a proper lunchbreak - why not treat yourself to a nice lunch? Then arrange with colleagues or friends working nearby to go out and make the most of your Friday evening. Bonus points for anyone who gets the boss to buy the team a drink to say thanks for all the year's hard work!
4: Tackle your own hours problems
Long hours are not good for us; they cause stress; they're bad for our health; they wreck relationships; they make caring for children or dependents more difficult; and tired, burnt-out staff are bad for business.
People do long hours for a variety of very different reasons. Find out more about the UK's long hours culture.
Work Your Proper Hours Day for 2008 will be 22 February, but your own pay day may come earlier or later, depending on the hours you work above your contracted hours.
Use our online unpaid overtime calculator to find out when you can celebrate paying off your long hours debt.

Job applicants facing more drug tests

More companies are checking on potential employees by carrying out drug and alcohol tests on their hair, according to a supplier of testing products. Trimega Laboratories, established in 2005, announced in January it had signed a deal with the Nursing and Midwifery Council to provide its testing services in misconduct cases where drug or alcohol dependency is thought to be an issue. Trimega managing director Avi Lasarow said employers in other sectors were increasingly calling on his company's services. 'More and more corporates employing high-profile executives are looking to test potential employees,' he said. 'If an individual has nothing to hide, then what is the problem?' Many individuals - including those falsely fingered (Risks 335) - and unions, civil liberty and statutory bodies do have a problem with workplace drug and alcohol testing, however. A November 2007 report from Hazards magazine acknowledged Britain's employers have a big drug and alcohol problem, concluding they are wasting millions on testing and firing workers. It said impairment testing is a better approach (Risks 332). This can take account of the impact of drugs or alcohol use as well as work factors like fatigue, stress and exposure to physical and chemical hazards that might mean a worker is performing under-par. The report said non-punitive, peer-to-peer counselling and support is the most effective way to ensure drug and alcohol use is dealt with effectively at work. It warned UK workplace privacy rules laid down in official Information Commission guidance mean in most cases drug and alcohol tests could fall foul of the law.

TUC guide to romance in the office

With romance in the air this Valentine's Day, the TUC is urging employers not to ban love from the office or the factory but instead to consult an online guide to relationships at work published today (Thursday).
With the long hours culture enjoying a renaissance, and unpaid overtime on the increase, it's no wonder that around a quarter of long-term relationships begin at work, says the TUC guide.
It says employers should avoid the adoption of love contracts, a practice popular with employers in the US but thankfully still rare in the UK, and instead should be drawing up sensible guidelines that try to protect everyone - the lovers, their colleagues and their employer - should the romance ever turn sour.
The guide provides advice to staff who have just started a relationship at work and are worried that their employer may sack them as a result. It also warns what may happen if they are found in a compromising position in the stationery cupboard, reminding would-be lovers of the need to maintain an acceptable standard of behaviour in work at all times.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'With the long hours that many spend in work, it's hardly surprising that lots of people end up getting together with colleagues. Office romances rarely cause any problems so it would be wrong for employers to adopt a heavy-handed approach to office flirting and introduce strict rules or blanket bans.
'But office Romeos and Juliets may need to be reminded of where to draw the line at work. Guidelines reminding staff of the need to keep their love lives separate from work, and to not let lover's tiffs make workmates feel uncomfortable will prove useful to staff and employers alike.'
Office romantics keen on starting a relationship with one of their colleagues can find a host of useful tips in the guide. They can find out where they stand on relationships at work, what to do when they happen, what to do when they break up and what to do if they want to say no. The full guide is at www.worksmart.org.uk/valentine

Taken on the Sussex coast where they are salveging timber from the sea

Blue Valentine

(14/02/08) UNISON is calling upon the government to abandon plans to impose pay cuts on public service workers for another year running.The union's national secretaries for health, education and local government delivered a giant Valentine's card to the House of Commons. It reads: "Roses are red, violets are blue, but 2% just won't do."The government's 2% pay limit on public service workers comes as they are faced with steep hikes in the cost of housing, fuel and food. And economists predict even higher inflation is on the way."With even less in their pockets, our loyal, hard-working public service workers such as teaching assistants, ambulance drivers and nurses are going to have to dig deep to keep up," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. UNISON, through its united Pay Matters campaign, is fighting for a fair deal for public service workers, one that recognises the difference they make to local communities, and respects and rewards their work with decent pay.

Jon Tandy Labour Party PPC for Shrewsbury and Atcham meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his visit to Telford today

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrives in Telford with David Wright MP to meet and talk to Shropshire Party members. At the meeting Valerie Broom Regional Secretary for Unison was able to tackle Gordon Brown on Public Sector Pay while not backing down he did say he hoped that we could achieve three year deals that would bring stability for everyone.

Training not enough to prevent back strain

Commenting on research published today (Friday) on the BMJ website, which suggests that training people how to lift heavy objects is failing to prevent back injuries, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'This is an important piece of research. It shows that employers shouldn't be relying on their employees lifting heavy weights 'correctly' to prevent back injury, but instead should be reducing the weight of things that need to be lifted manually. The Health and Safety Executive will now have to review its advice on manual handling as a matter of urgency.
'If employers want to protect their staff from the pain of back strain, they should not be banking on their staff using the correct techniques to lift heavy objects at work. The best way to keep staff injury free is to make sure that everyone understands the importance of not lifting heavy weights on their own.'

Tax avoidance by companies

and the wealthy costs

everyone at work £1,000 a year

New research for the TUC published today (Friday) reveals that the public purse loses £13 billion a year through tax avoidance by the wealthy and £12 billion a year through tax avoidance by corporations. Altogether this adds up to £25 billion - or around £1,000 a year for everyone at work in the UK.
The research, conducted by accountant and tax specialist Richard Murphy, is published in The Missing Billions, the first in a new series of TUC pamphlets designed to stimulate debate called Touchstones. The research includes the analysis of 344 sets of accounts from Britain's 50 largest companies and analysis of HMRC and other official statistics.
Analysis of the top 50 companies' accounts shows that their effective corporation tax rate is 22.5 per cent - not the 30 per cent agreed by Parliament. The companies almost always pay 5 per cent less tax on average than they declare in their accounts and in the seven years up to 2006 their effective tax rate fell by 0.5 per cent each year.
The report shows how super-rich individuals avoid paying their fair share of tax. £3.2 billion tax is lost by turning earned income into investment income (which is taxed more favourably) or by shifting the income to others (such as spouses) in lower or nil tax bands. Another £3.8 billion is lost moving transactions out of the UK, £0.5 billion by turning income into a capital gain and £4.8 billion from various kinds of tax planning.
Half the amount lost to tax avoidance could raise the level at which higher rate tax starts being paid by £10,000 a year, which would also offer significant help to those on middle incomes; or increase the state pension by 20 per cent; or reduce income tax by 3p in the pound; or build an extra 50 hospitals a year.
The Touchstone pamphlet calls for:
a minimum rate of tax to be paid by all those earning more than £100,000 a year to limit their use of tax avoidance and tax planning, without affecting the tax rates of middle Britain
a stop to HMRC staff cuts so that there are sufficient resources to effectively collect tax
the non-dom tax loophole to be abolished
capital gains on assets held for less than a year to be charged to income tax
a change to the tax treatment of charities to give them more income and close a tax loophole, and
the introduction of a new 'general anti-avoidance principle' to make it easier to tax the super-rich and large companies.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'There is mounting concern at the growing gap between the super-rich and the rest of society, but so far there have been few practical proposals to do anything about it. This TUC pamphlet is therefore doubly helpful. First it carefully works out just how much the super-rich and big companies rip the rest of us off by not paying their fair share of taxes. Secondly it sets out a practical set of policies that close loopholes, end abuse and starts the process of making the super-rich make a proper contribution - all without raising a single tax rate.
'Our strong view is that the proceeds should be used to properly fund public services, where six million are facing cuts in their real pay, and relieve poverty - particularly child poverty. But you do not have to agree with our spending priorities to back our call for fair tax, and we recognise the argument at this difficult economic time for boosting the income of low and middle Britain through tax cuts.
'This is not the politics of envy but the economics of fairness. It is all about getting rich and powerful people to understand they must play by the rules, not look for ways round them.
'Most people think that we have a progressive tax system, but it has now been hollowed out by so many loopholes and allowances that too much tax is now voluntary for the rich. It's time for a new campaign for a fair tax system - a campaign that can unite the vast majority of the population who do play by the rules and have nothing to fear from our proposals.'

This shows the strength of feeling against the closures
but is it value for money for the council tax payers to
keep schools with less than a full compliment of pupils open ?

A Point well made

Demonstration against school closures in Shropshire
Monday 30/01/08

No wonder they put me up here

Union leaders meet with Chancellor

to discuss public sector pay

TUC leaders this morning (Wednesday) met the Chancellor, the Chief Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) to press the Government for a new approach on public sector pay to safeguard the living standards of all public servants.

TUC public service unions have all committed to work together to coordinate their approach in the upcoming negotiations across public services.

The TUC team led by TUC President, Dave Prentis, and General Secretary, Brendan Barber, told the Chancellor that public service pay is not driving inflationary pressures in the economy, and that it is utterly unfair for public servants to be expected to accept pay settlements that fall short of matching inflation. The TUC team emphasised that the inflation index referred to by pay negotiators reflecting the real increases in living costs facing ordinary workers is the RPI which currently stands at 4%, well ahead of the Government's inflation target index, the CPI. Unions are prepared to consider long-term deals where appropriate, but a rigid centrally imposed policy that ignores recommendations from independent review bodies will not be acceptable.

The TUC team pressed the Chancellor that public service negotiators need greater flexibility in their negotiations with unions, including scope to address long term problems in pay structures and low pay.

The TUC team will be reporting back to all public service unions on the meeting and will be seeking a further meeting with the Chief Secretary to continue the talks.

The TUC delegation included TUC President, Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the NUT, Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of PCS, Paul Noon, General Secretary of Prospect, Lesley Mercer of the CSP, Brian Strutton of the GMB and Patrick Roach of the NASUWT.

Energy profit probe demanded

(22/01/08) UNISON and the National Right to Fuel Campaign have come together to demand an official inquiry into almost £2.5bn extra profits energy companies are awarding themselves as households up and down the country deal with huge price rises announced this winter.The call for an Ofgem probe comes the week after British Gas became the latest energy provider to increase its prices: announcing an immediate 15% rise.It followed EDF's decision to increase gas prices by 12.% and electricity by 7.9 %, while npower had previously announced rises of 17.2% for gas and 12.7% for electricity.Research, sponsored jointly by UNISON and the National Right to Fuel Campaign and published today, says the average household is paying £100 extra a year because prices charged to customers have increased by £2.3bn more than the costs of producing and selling electricity and gas.Backing the call for an Ofgem inquiry, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis noted: "Hard-working families are desperately worried about increasing fuel bills, rising housing costs, food costs and millions of public sector workers are being told they must accept pay cuts."Pensioners are finding it a huge struggle, despite the winter fuel payments that have been wiped out by these greedy companies."The government should order Ofgem to do its job properly."Gas and electricity costs to householders, produced by Cornwall Energy Associates, shows that British households’ annual spending on electricity and gas increased by £8.2bn between 2003 and 2006, while the energy companies costs' grew buy £5.9bn – meaning an extra £2.3bn profits for them.Over the same period the average household's debt to energy suppliers grew from £159 to £194 for electricity customers and from £141 to £180. Charities have found that their funding of individual debts has grown to £16m a year. Click here to download a copy of the full report (.pdf) Click here for a National Right to Fuel campaign paper on tackling fuel poverty (.pdf)
More on UNISON and fuel poverty National Right to Fuel Campaign

Prentis warns government over pay

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis has a message for the government: “Don’t pick a fight with UNISON members.”Rejecting the 2% pay limit imposed in the comprehensive spending review, Mr Prentis warned of the dangers of holding down public-sector pay.“The 2% limit is just not on – it is a real pay cut for millions of hard working public-service workers. If you want first class public services, if you want the sick and elderly cared for, your children well-educated and protected and your streets clean and safe, cutting the pay of public-sector workers is the wrong way to go about it.“We are determined to secure decent pay rises for our members,” he said.UNISON's current pay claims for local government workers throughout the UK are for one-year deals, designed to make up lost ground, protect against future inflation and boost the minimum wage.With living costs rising fast, and below-inflation pay settlements in recent years, many public service workers are finding it incredibly hard to make ends meet. Morale is at rock bottom, Mr Prentis said.“It is wrong to put inflation at their door,” he stressed. “Instead, look no further than the multinationals bleeding our public services dry, the fuel price hikes and the massive profits made by big business."The gap between public sector pay packets and burgeoning living expenses must be bridged.”UNISON has submitted pay claims for local government workers in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK calling for rises of 5% and 6% respectively. Both have as a key element increases that would take low-paid members closer to a living wage.

Council workers ask for 6%

to ‘catch up and match up’

(14/01/08) Town hall unions including UNISON, GMB and TGWU-Unite have agreed a pay claim for this year that would give more than one million local government workers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales a payrise of 6% or 50p an hour – whichever is the greater.The claim would take the wages of the lowest paid workers up to £6.50 an hour – a step towards the £6.75 that poverty experts say is the minimum needed to live on.Unions said it was intended to be a ‘catch up and match up’ claim, to recoup losses from below-inflation pay awards since 2004 and to keep up with inflation over the coming year.Heather Wakefield, UNISON’s national secretary for local government, said: “Despite the headline figure, this is a modest claim.“No-one could argue that an increase of 50p an hour fuels inflation. Over the past three years local government workers’ pay has increased by less than the rate of inflation, so we are starting from a low base. We need to make sure that they catch up with the rest of the public sector and that they are cushioned against inflation over the coming year.She added: “The government’s 2% limit is just not on. It is half the rate of inflation and represents a real pay cut for loyal, hard-working public-sector workers, two-thirds of whom are women."They are struggling to make ends meet with the ever-increasing spiral of housing and fuel price rises.”UNISON is working with other public-sector unions, through the TUC, to campaign for a fair deal for all public sector workers.The 2004-7 pay agreements gave an increase of 11.4% over three years, during which inflation rose by 12.5% and average earnings by 13.4%. The 2007-2008 award was for 2.475% and 3% for the lowest paid – inflation was more than 4% over that periodThe claim covers all grades of workers in local government, including refuse collection, school meals, social workers, administrators, cleaners, teaching assistants, parks and leisure workers and librarians. UNISON in Local government

UNISON kicks off 2008

equal pay campaign

(10/1/08) UNISON has launched its campaign to close the gender pay gap by lodging a record 33,000 equal pay claims against public sector employers. The union, two thirds of whose members are women, has been battling for equal pay for years, and has won significant pay increases for thousands of low-paid women workers.Its litigation and bargaining strategy will be further fine-tuned by officials and leading activists from across the UK, meeting at a special seminar in London today. And it is warning employers to start facing up to their responsibilities."Equal pay is not just the wish of the trade unions," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. "It is the law of the land. Yet, 30 years on, the Equal Pay Act is still seen by many employers as a take-it-or-leave-it bit of legislation. "This cannot be allowed to continue. It must be implemented robustly across the UK."Mr Prentis said that funding, particularly in local government, remained critical to achieving equal and fair pay. "As a direct result of UNISON’s campaigning through the Labour Party, last September the government released £500 million to 46 local authorities to fund equal pay," he said. "But more is needed. In addition, the government must change the law, to cut the time it takes for legal action. At the moment, it takes years, is costly and, in the meantime, women remain underpaid.”The pay gap between men and women is around 17%, according to official figures. This means that women are losing out on a staggering £4,000 a year, based on an average salary of £23,600.

Tory 'Workfare' proposals will not

help people back into work

Responding to the Conservative Party's welfare reform proposals announced today (Tuesday), Midlands TUC Policy Officer Alan Weaver said:
'The Tories' Workfare proposals manage to combine injustice, expense and inefficiency in a single package. Experiences of Workfare schemes around the world have shown that they fail to help people into work. In Australia, Workfare has left unemployed people less likely to get a job. In New York, existing workers have lost their jobs to Workfare temps.
'Employers aren't impressed either - who will want to recruit someone who has been forced into their last job? The Tories will have to pay for the work people are forced to do, on top of support services like childcare. So there is no chance that the Tories will find the £3 billion savings they are looking for.
'Under the Tory proposals, people will not be paid the rate for the job they are doing and there will be no guarantee of a job at the end. The only beneficiaries will be dodgy employers, who will exploit unpaid Workfare temps to the detriment of existing staff.'

The importance of taking a break

(04/01/08) Holidays are important for people's wellbeing -- but for many families on low incomes, a holiday is simply beyond reach, according to new research.The research -- sponsored by UNISON Welfare, the Family Holiday Association, the Family Fund and the Youth Hostel Association (England and Wales) -- found that families cited the 'opportunity for fun and happy memories for children' and 'the chance to spend time together as a family' as the top benefits of their holiday.The researchers from the University of Nottingham identified a range of circumstances affecting low-income families -- money, health, disability, stress and neighbourhood problems -- which can be helped by a break from challenging circumstances and a fresh perspective.They concluded that holidays can open up new ways to live which can have a lasting impact and cited the positive effect on issues such social exclusion and child poverty.Every year, hundreds of UNISON members receive help with a holiday or get well break from UNISON's charity. The service, called wellbeing breaks, includes support for day trips and leisure outings."We know only too well about the impact on family life and general health of long hours, difficult shift patterns and inflexible working conditions," says general secretary Dave Prentis."So we recognise the value of holidays and the need for low-income households in particular to have more access to adequate leisure time and a break from the stresses of daily life." UNISON welfare UNISON's work-life balance campaign

TUC supports campaign to stop

violence against Iraqi women

The TUC is supporting the campaign launched on 3 January by the Iraqi Women's League (IWL) Co-ordinating Committee Abroad against violence against women in Iraq. We reproduce here their press release, and urge trade unionists to sign up to the online petition at
http://www.ahewar.org/camp/i.asp?id=111

TUC offers ten 'green' resolutions for 2008

With UK workplaces generating more carbon dioxide emissions than homes, the TUC has today (Wednesday) published new advice for staff to tackle climate change at work.
The TUC Green Workplaces project has found that a typical workplace produces ten times more carbon dioxide emissions than those produced by the homes and personal lives of its workforce. And while energy consumption at home has been reduced by five per cent in the last year, it continues to rise in UK workplaces.
Despite this trend, the Green Workplaces project has uncovered several examples of successful green initiatives across the UK, including recycling projects and schemes to reduce electricity usage. The TUC wants workplaces to be a major front against climate change in 2008 and has used examples of good practice to draft a guide for employees and union reps on how to green the workplace.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'When it comes to tackling climate change, people tend to look towards international agreements or what they can do at home. But more than half of the UK's carbon emissions are produced at work or through work-related transport. There's a lot more we can all do to reduce our workplace's carbon footprint.
'The TUC's advice should help everyone to act together and have a greener workplace. It's not about making people feel guilty, but about removing barriers to being green at work. Union environmental reps will be working with staff and managers to make UK workplaces greener in 2008.'
Ten resolutions to make your workplace greener in 2008:
1. Remember the three 'Rs'. Try to recycle as much as possible, but remember that reducing paper usage and re-using paper is even better.
2. Make sure that your workplace is the right temperature, ideally between 19 and 24 degrees centigrade. This will make for a greener, healthier working environment.
3. Flexible working options, such as home or remote working, can reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding the commute into work.
4. Consider video-conferencing as an alternative to travelling to meetings.
5. Ensure that all bulbs are low-energy.
6. Make sure furniture or equipment is not blocking any heating or windows.
7. Find out if your workplace is properly insulated and draught-proofed.
8. If you're the last to leave the office, make sure you turn everything off, such as lights, computer equipment, appliances, motors and machinery.
9. Talk to colleagues about working together to green your workplace. Collective action is more effective than individual efforts.
10. If you're unsure about how to reduce your carbon footprint at work, consult your union environmental rep. If there isn't one in your workplace, why not become one yourself! Contact Shropshire Unison Office on 01743 252952 Amelia Jones is the Branch Environmental officer.

TUC new year message

In his new year message to trade union members, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'2008 may be a rocky year.
'After a decade of steady economic growth and stability, prospects for the economy are distinctly uncertain. The full effects of the credit crunch triggered by irresponsible lending in the USA sub-prime mortgage market have yet to work their way through the economic system. Northern Rock has already been taken in its wake.
'But it is important that we do not talk ourselves into thinking the economic situation is worse than it is. The truth is that instability has not come from events in the real economy where people trade goods and services, but from the world of finance. Employment remains at record levels, and businesses say they are optimistic for the year ahead. Lower interest rates can only help. The greatest threat would be to confuse the difficulties now being suffered by banks with the economic fundamentals.
'But there are lessons to be learnt. For many years we have been told that over-regulation and red tape are the biggest barrier to economic growth. Yet the biggest threat to the world economy has come from a failure to regulate the US mortgage market, and its biggest victim here flows from a regulatory failure in UK banking system oversight. No-one should support outdated or over-bureaucratic regulation, but perhaps it's time to celebrate the role that appropriate regulation plays every day in maintaining economic stability, protecting consumers, workers and the environment and ensuring that we live in a civilised society with rules. Let's make 2008 the year we stop having lazy debates about red tape, and start talking about getting the balance right - more regulation where we need it, and less where we don't.
'My other big worry for the year ahead is the simmering resentment across the public sector at government pay policy. Public servants have already suffered a cut in their living standards this year. But the Government is planning a further three years of reduced living standards. The arguments for doing this do not stack up, and the risks are big. It does not just threaten the recruitment, retention and morale of public servants but will damage an industrial relations system that has minimised conflict in the public sector. Ministers say that real wage cuts in the public sector are needed to fight inflation, yet all the evidence shows that public sector pay follows inflation not causes it, and that bearing down on public sector pay has had no impact in the private sector. In any case experts agree that pay is not currently driving inflation. It is not too late for ministers to think again.
'But what about some hopes for the year ahead.
'If I had one wish it would be that 2008 was a year that we had a proper political debate about making Britain a fairer society. It is a big agenda.
'It means more help for those at the bottom. We need to see faster progress on the Government's pledge to end child poverty, and recognise that this carries a price tag. It means making workplaces fairer. This requires proper enforcement of the rights that vulnerable workers are meant to enjoy, but too often do not. It also means closing what is now the biggest source of abuse and exploitation - agency working. There is nothing wrong with supplying people with short-term availability to employers with short-term needs, but almost every media exposure of exploitation at work has featured agency working.
'At the other end of society it is time for a proper debate about inequality. We now have a growing group of the soar-away super-rich, who live lives cut off from the rest of us. Many take advantage of private equity and non-dom tax loopholes. This is not just bad for social cohesion, but distorts the economy.
'This is why I hope that in the year ahead we can have a proper debate about tax. We need a campaign for fair tax. If the super-rich and big companies are not paying their fair share it means that the rest of us - including small and medium sized businesses are paying too much, that public services are not getting the growth they need and that we do not have the resources to end child poverty. Simply closing the non-dom loophole would raise enough to halve child poverty. No-one particularly enjoys paying tax but it is the price tag for a civilised society, and it's about time that we had a proper debate about whether those who can afford it are paying their fair share.'

Union leaders speak up for public services

(18/12/07) UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis joined other trade union leaders and public-service workers today to start the fight-back against the government's 2% public-sector pay limit.
Dave Prentis joins TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and public service workers to launch the Speak Up for Public Services pay campaign"A 2% pay limit, for each of the next three years, will mean a pay cut for the UK's six million public-sector workers," Mr Prentis said."It represents a real cut in living standards and could cause long-term damage to industrial relations, recruitment, retention and morale."Launching the Speak Up for Public Services campaign at Westminster, the TUC and its 26 member unions called on ministers to accept in full the next round of recommendations from the various pay review bodies, if they wanted to avoid a repetition of the anger that provoked a wave of strike ballots across the public sector in 2007."The government must remember what a demoralised, under-resourced public sector it inherited from the Tories," Mr Prentis warned. "We cannot go back to those days."UNISON and other public-sector unions will be working together over the coming months to campaign for pay rises that reflect the true cost of living in the UK, he said.The TUC has published a new report, Six million pay cuts, to coincide with today's campaign launch.Debunking the myth that public-sector pay fuels inflation, the report points out that the government's arguments for the freeze do not add up. Holding back public pay will also widen the pay gap between men and women, it says.For more information about the Speak Up for Public Services campaign, read the full text of the statement signed by all 26 member unions of the TUC: Public servants deserve fair pay. Download the TUC report here: Six million pay cuts [PDF] More on UNISON's Positively Public campaign

Fight for free speech continues

(17/12/07) 150 mental health workers in Manchester who have been on strike in support of their branch chair returned to work today.However, UNISON has pledged to fight on in defence of Karen Reissmann, the award-winning psychiatric nurse sacked for speaking out against health cuts.The union will take up Ms Reissmann's case with an employment tribunal, after she lost an internal appeal against her dismissal.Manchester Mental Health Trust has refused to reinstate Ms Reissmann, despite a prolonged campaign backed by UNISON, which won widespread public support.Ms Reissmann chairs her local health branch and has been a vocal opponent of government health policies and local cuts.The trust claims she brought it into disrepute by talking to the media.UNISON believes she is being victimised in an attempt to silence her and other union activists.General secretary Dave Prentis said: “UNISON will not be silenced and we shall continue to campaign through all available channels to obtain Karen’s reinstatement.”

de deux with the far right

The ballerina Simone Clarke, has taken a leading
role in a nationalist organisation with links to the
British National party. Clarke was revealed to be a
member of the British National Party (BNP) during
a Guardian investigation into the far-right organisation
last year. She drew widespread criticism, with
anti-racist protesters staging a demonstration when
she took to the stage in English National Ballet’s
production of Giselle.
Now the ballerina, who is expected to retire soon,
has been elected to the executive board of Solidarity,
a so-called trade union which says it aims to
protect the rights of British workers. In a posting
on Solidarity’s website Clarke said: “Last year a
newspaper “exposed” my BNP membership. Some
politically motivated malcontents tried to have me
sacked, hence my interest in a British workers’
union.”
She was elected to Solidarity’s board last month
and, according to BNP leader Nick Griffin, has
given a speech at a BNP event in the Midlands in
recent weeks.
Solidarity’s general secretary is Pat Harrington,
a long-time far-right activist and former National
Front organiser. Critics say the organisation, which
is not affiliated to the TUC, is a front organisation
for the BNP. Solidarity denies the charge, claiming
it is an independent trade union.
When her membership of the BNP was exposed
Clarke claimed the organisation was the only party
willing to “take a stand” against immigration. “I’ve
never been clearer in my head that I’m moving in
the right direction and at the right time,” she told
the Mail on Sunday, adding that her conversion to
the far right was prompted by watching the news
and reading the BNP manifesto.
“I am not too proud to say that a lot of it went over my
head but some of the things they mentioned were
the things I think about all the time, mainly mass
immigration, crime and increased taxes. I paid my
£25 there and then.” On its website Solidarity says
it was formed “as a reaction against the betrayal
of the Unions affiliated to the TUC”. It adds it is a
“National Movement that actively recruits UK and
Irish Workers into it’s [sic] ranks”.
In its 2006 annual return to the union watchdog the
Certification Officer, its declared membership totalled
just 42 — all but two of them men. Its income
was £1,105.
Harrington became general secretary and treasurer
at the end of 2006 replacing Lee Barnes — the
BNP’s legal adviser — and the BNP’s treasurer John
Walker respectively.
Vice president Kevin Scott — a BNP regional organiser
— was replaced by Tim Hawke — said to be an
Ipswich BNP member — on the same date.

Unions vow to fight on

(07/12/07) UNISON and other trade unions are angry at the government's part in blocking EU legislation to protect vulnerable agency workers.Employment ministers from across Europe failed to thrash out a deal to implement the Agency Workers Directive when they met this week.The deal, which has been stalled for the past five years, would give agency workers the same employment rights as permanent staff.The issue is a key one for UNISON, which has been pressing the government through the TUC to break the European deadlock and agree a new deal, or to honour its Warwick commitments to introduce UK legislation.Addressing a packed fringe meeting at TUC Congress earlier this year, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: "It is a disgrace that in the fourth richest economy in the world, 10 years into a Labour government, vulnerable workers can be exploited and abused they way they are."Mr Prentis is also president of the TUC, which said the lack of progress on the Agency Working Directive was disappointing."There is real anger among unions today that the UK government played the pivotal role in blocking progress on this modest measure to improve workplace justice," said the TUC's Brendan Barber.The directive would have helped slow the growth of a two-tier workforce, and made it more difficult for employers to undercut wages and conditions, he said.However, he pledged, "unions will not give up the campaign to deliver justice for agency workers."

Strike deductions success

Employers must include annual leave and bank
holidays when calculating how much pay to deduct
for strike action, the High Court has ruled. UNISON,
the UK’s largest public sector union, brought the
test case, Cooper v Isle of Wight College, following
strike action to protect members’ pension rights in
March last year.
The decision means that the Isle of Wight College
should have deducted only 1/260th of the annual
salary of a striker for the one-day strike not 1/228th.
The ruling has implications for all employers making
deductions from employees’ wages for taking
strike action.
The union has consistently argued that the correct
method of deducting salaries during strike action
is to deduct the weekend and other non-working
days — but not annual leave or bank holidays — resulting
in a formula of 1/260th of the annual salary
for a day’s strike.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The
amount of money may seem small but the principle
of the case is much bigger. The strike action last
year was to defend pension rights and it involved
30,000 members in the further education sector.

Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007
Introduction
1. The Concessionary Bus Travel Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 27 November 2006. The Department's press release of 27 November 2006, announcing introduction of the Bill, can be found at the following link:http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=245891&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromSearch=True
2. The Bill received Royal Assent thus becoming an Act on 19 July 2007.
3. The full text of the Act and Explanatory Notes can be found on the Office of Public Sector Information website: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/
4. The final Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 is at:http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/aboutria/ria/riaconcessbustravelact07
5. The full text of the Commencement Order for the Act, including a short Explanatory Note, can be found on the Office of Public Sector Information website: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/. The title of the Order is 'The Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 (Commencement and Transitional Provisions) Order 2007' (Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 2799 (C. 109)).
What the Act does
6. The Concessionary Bus Travel Act provides that everyone aged 60 and over in England, and disabled people in England, will get free off peak travel on all local buses anywhere in England from April 2008. The existing statutory entitlement allows these groups to travel for free, but only on buses within their local authority area.
7. The Act will achieve social inclusion benefits for older and disabled people in allowing them greater freedom to travel, for free, by local bus. This is a key part of the Government's wider recognition of the importance of public transport for older and disabled people, and the role access to transport has to play in improving social inclusion and maintaining well being.
8. The provisions in the Act:
Guarantee free bus travel for those eligible from 9.30am until 11pm on weekdays and all day weekends and bank holidays, across England.
Provide a power to allow, via regulations in the future, for mutual recognition of national concessionary bus passes across the United Kingdom.
Allow flexibility for Ministers to change the mechanism for reimbursement of bus operators in the future and enable streamlining of the administration of concessionary travel.
Retain Ministers' ability to adjust the scope of the concession in the future via regulations.
Enable local authorities to continue to be able to offer benefits above the statutory entitlement to their residents, such as travel before 9:30am and concessions on other modes like trams, as well as alternative forms of travel scheme, like tokens for use on taxis or community transport.

Smith boosts community support

officers with new powers

UNISON is welcoming moves to standardise and strengthen the powers available to police community support officers (PCSOs).However, the union believes their role should go even further."Giving PCSOs standard powers is a step in the right direction, but we don't think the list of powers to be introduced by 1 December goes far enough," said national officer Ben Priestley."We will be pressing that case with the home secretary when we meet her next week," he added.There are currently 16,000 community support officers in England and Wales, but their powers differ from force to force.The new regulations will ensure that PCSOs have consistent powers across the country to support neighbourhood policing and deal with low-level anti-social behaviour.For instance, they will be able to confiscate alcohol in public places, issue fixed penalty notices for littering, and seize drugs.PCSOs will also be able to draw on a further 20 powers at the discretion of their chief constable, including rights to detain those suspected of offences and search people suspected of carrying dangerous items.Home secretary Jacqui Smith announced the new powers today, in a joint statement with the Association of Chief Police Officers.Launching a staunch defence of the role of PCSOs since their introduction five years ago, Ms Smith said the officers were at the heart of neighbourhood policing and had made a major impact on local people.She also revealed that a project had been set up to examine ways of giving PCSOs across England and Wales a common uniform and equipment.The project will be led by the National Policing Improvement Agency. Its remit also includes working towards greater standardisation of training and career development, and ensuring that the PCSO role is clear and understood.Ben Priestley said UNISON appreciated the home secretary's support for PCSOs during a period in which they had been subjected to "unwarranted and grossly unfair attacks".He continued: "UNISON has been campaigning for a standard uniform for PCSOs - the right kit for the job - and we welcome this latest move."We have written to the police minister urging him to issue all PCSOs with stab vests. There are three remaining forces that don't issue stab vests - West Midlands, Staffordshire and Surrey - and it's time that they fell into line."Finally, we welcome the moves to standardise and improve training and career progression. As part of that career progression, we favour the introduction of a PCSO supervisor role, currently deployed in just two forces - Kent and South Yorkshire."

Stop Wasting Tax Payers'Money

and Pay Women Their Dues

Almost 1500 female low paid UNISON members in Cumbria are today celebrating the Employment Appeal Tribunal's decision to uphold their pay discrimination claim and reject the Council's appeal. The women, who work as care assistants, home carers, kitchen assistants, cooks and night care assistants won their claim of pay discrimination at a Tribunal in March 2006, but Cumbria Council, appealed that decision. The appeal was heard in London, in May 2007 and the Judgment has been anxiously awaited since then.The Council argued that the Tribunal had misunderstood the evidence and treated the Council unfairly in relation to the defences that they had put forward. They also alleged that the Tribunal had been wrong to decide that the productivity based bonus schemes that they had been paying to male employees, were not justified.However, in its judgment, the Appeal Tribunal rejected these arguments and upheld the Tribunal's original decisions, meaning that the women are one step closer to receiving the money owing to them.Dave Prentis, General Secretary for UNISON, said:“I am delighted that the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled in favour of our members. The writing has been on the wall since the employment tribunal decision last year and the Council should face up to their responsibilities. Stop wasting time and more council taxpayers' money on costly legal arguments and give these women the money owing to them.“UNISON has fought long and hard to achieve equal pay and we have been successful in several ground-breaking cases on behalf of thousands of women members.“We have been willing to put our money where our mouth is and take the risky, high costs cases on behalf of our members. We have not asked them for a single penny towards the costs. By contrast, 'No win no fee' solicitors can charge anything up to 25 per cent of any award.”The Judgment today follows a favourable ruling in the summer when the Employment Tribunal in Newcastle upheld the union's method of calculating back pay. This had the effect of increasing the value of their payments, whereas the council's method would have led to reduced compensation for members.Sharon Mee, UNISON Regional Officer. Said:“This is great news for my members in Cumbria. They are all low paid women who have been denied fair and equal pay and this money means a lot to them. “It is noticeable that the “no win no fee” solicitors will benefit from this appeal decision without lifting a finger to win it.”Matters will now return to the Employment Tribunal where clarification is required on a few aspects of these women's claims and the methods for calculating the compensation are to be finalised.

GMB’s record win

The GMB general union has won £550,499 for a
member — the highest recorded compensation in
a claim of disability discrimination.
The GMB member, who suffers with learning
difficulties, received the sum from his successful
claim for disability discrimination against his
former employer Lambeth Serviceteam Limited,
now Veolia Environment Services Lambeth. The
record compensation comprises loss of earnings
until retirement for the member who was aged 34
at dismissal.
The member was one of four claimants who won
their claims of disability discrimination. Total compensation
achieved by the quartet of claimants was
over £1.3 million. WATCH THIS SPACE !

Banish the office bullies,

TUC tells employers

With recent research showing that few UK workplaces escape the scourge of the office or factory bully, the TUC has today (Wednesday) called on employers to do more to protect their staff from victimisation and harassment.
To coincide with National Ban Bullying at Work Day, the TUC has produced a guide to help union safety reps work with employers to create a new workplace culture where bullying, intimidation and harassment is a thing of the past.
The new guide cites recent research from the University of Manchester which suggests that one in ten workers was bullied in the last six months, one in four have fallen victim in the last five years, and 47 per cent of employees have witnessed bullying at work.
The TUC guide says that anyone can find themselves on the receiving end of an attack from a workplace bully, and bullies can be colleagues or managers. Managers are often bullied by their bosses too.
Worst of all, says the guide, are those workplaces where a culture has developed that condones the criticism of staff in front of colleagues, or that allows bullies to shout at colleagues, regularly make an individual the butt of jokes, or send victims abusive emails or texts at work.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'People on the receiving end of cutting remarks or verbal outbursts from the workplace bully are the ones paying a heavy price for employers' failure to deal with the problem. The stress and anxiety felt by the victims can make them physically ill, lose all their self-confidence and mean that they dread coming into work.
'But employers pay the price as well. Staff being bullied are likely to take more time off because the harassment is making them ill and the low morale they suffer as a result almost always affects their ability to do their job, making them much less productive.
'But bullying is not hard to tackle and employers who ignore the problem and fail to protect their staff are breaking the law. Every workplace should have a policy which makes clear that intimidating behaviour towards colleagues will not be tolerated and that those who persist in undermining their fellow members of staff will be dealt with severely.'

Prentis welcomes

'ambitious programme' from Brown

Gordon Brown's new legislative programme "deals with the key areas that people want their government to deliver", says UNISON. However, it fails to deliver any protection for public services.The 29-bill package, set out in today's Queen's speech, prioritises housing and education. The speech said it was intended to "respond to the rising aspirations" of Britons."Everyone wants better education for their kids, better housing, healthcare, children's services," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, welcoming the direction of an "ambitious programme". "What the speech lacked, however, was a clear indication that the privatisation programme will be halted," he said."The emphasis on commissioning roles in local government and health and the dangers that poses to the fabric of our public services remain in place." Praising plans to build 3 million new homes by 2020, Mr Prentis said affordable social housing was a key issue for UNISON members, and a massive expansion in house building was "sorely needed".But he warned that owning their own home would still be out of the reach of many tens of thousands of public service workers providing essential services."Building social housing would be the bold step forward that is needed to solve that problem," he suggested.Commenting on proposals for a new watchdog to oversee the NHS, Mr Prentis said UNISON supported regulation and higher standards in health and social care."But the biggest threats to the care of people in those services comes from reduced inspections and a cut in the number of inspectors," he said.And, he added: "We don't think the case has yet been made for raising the school leaving age to 18. We are, of course, all in favour of continuing education and training, but how do you keep kids in school who don't want to be there?"Financial incentives or fines are not the best way forward."

OSWESTRY VICTORY !!!

Oswestry tenants have won by 70% the ballot to keep their homes with the Council and not to outsource them to a Housing Association. This has been another huge waste of Public money. The public should ask how much officer time and Public money was spent to try to persaude the tenants to go out of Council control against their will. As Landlords They should have known the feelings of their tenants and known that it was a lost cause.
Well Mr. Shevlin how much did it cost ?