Drop post office privatisation, Labour warned

Dave Prentis has joined with the leaders of the affiliated trade unions to warn, in a letter to the Guardian, that the government must honour its pledges and keep the post office public.The letter says: At Warwick University, in the summer of 2008, the affiliated trade unions collectively participated in a series of policy discussions with representatives of the Labour party and Downing Street. The purpose and outcome of those discussions was to reach a policy agreement that was satisfactory to all participants.Within that Warwick agreement was a clear commitment to maintaining Royal Mail in the public sector: "We have set out a vision of a wholly publicly owned, integrated Royal Mail group in good health providing customers with an excellent service and its employees with rewarding employment."This commitment was agreed by all affiliated trade unions in the belief that it guaranteed the future of Royal Mail as "wholly publicly owned". This was our belief in the summer, and it was the belief of the 2008 Labour party conference, which voted to support this policy.We are deeply concerned that the Labour party now appears to be willing to break that commitment by adopting the recommendations of the Hooper report. Its proposals to bring in a "strategic partner", via an exchange of equity, clearly constitutes the part privatisation of Royal Mail.The affiliated trade unions believe that the part-privatisation of Royal Mail is electorally unpopular, politically unwise and damaging to the concept of universal service provision. Furthermore, to break a pledge so recently made undermines the legitimacy of our policy process and raises questions about the validity of other agreements reached.We are unanimous in our opposition to the proposed privatisation of Royal Mail, and ask that the government reconsiders its response before it becomes a dividing line within our movement.Billy Hayes general secretary, CWU Tony Woodley Tulo chair and joint general secretary, Unite the Union Paul Kenny Tulo vice-chair and general secretary, GMB Derek Simpson joint general secretary, Unite the Union Dave Prentis general secretary, UNISON John Hannett general secretary, Usdaw Michael Leahy general secretary, Community Alan Ritchie general secretary, Ucatt Gerry Doherty general secretary, TSSA

Hello,A quick question -

who wants to take away the legal guarantee protecting your rights - threatening your holidays and even your parental leave?It may be difficult to believe but it's actually "family friendly" Dave Cameron.The Tories have spent a lot of money telling us that they've changed. Millionaire Dave has gone to great lengths - cycling around town, waiting for his photo to be taken in Woolies and posing with a few Huskies in Norway. He's even shunned Waitrose and headed for Tesco at least once.But Dave's plans to pull Britain out of the Social Chapter - the part of the law which guarantees fair treatment at work - reveals the truth behind all the slick marketing. He wants to roll your rights back by twenty years.But we can stop him - sign our petition to protect your rights. www.unionstogether.org.uk/hiddentruth He may pretend to have our interests at heart, but the facts are clear. He wants to scrap the legal guarantee that gives us four weeks paid holiday, the right to be consulted about changes at work and our entitlement to parental leave - denying the legal right for parents to spend time with their newborn babies in the critical first few weeks. That's just three examples - but Cameron's threatening dozens more of your rights.In fact, he's said that axing these legal guarantees is his "top priority."It's something that he'll never say on TV or write in a leaflet but he's threatening all of these rights and more.Sign our petition and send Cameron a message that your rights matter. Dave may pretend to be everyone's new best friend but it's clear that he's faking it. It's not surprising really. After all, Millionaire Dave actively campaigned against the National Minimum Wage - when some people were earning just £1.20 an hour.We need to send him a message and I want you to be one of the first to do it. Sign up to say that your rights matter - No matter what the marketing says, it's clear that he's only interested in protecting big business rather than ordinary working people. Sign the petition and then invite your friends to do the same. Thank you. Our rights are precious - we need your help to protect them.

One in four went to work

when too ill in January

One in four (24 per cent) of the workforce went to work despite thinking they were too ill to do so in January, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by the TUC and published today (Friday). And the big majority of those struggled in because they did not want to let others down.
The TUC says the poll paints a very different picture of sickness absence to the caricature that British workers are always taking bogus sickies and stay home at the first sign of a sniffle.
Workplace absence statistics collected by the CBI support these findings and show that sickness absence has in fact been steadily falling over the past decade. Ten years ago the average worker took an average of 8.5 days off sick a year. Last year it was 6.7 days. This is a fall of over 20 per cent, and the second lowest figure since records began in 1987.
According to the YouGov poll more than half the workforce (57 per cent) say they have gone to work when too ill during the last year. Only one in eight (12 per cent) say they have never gone to work when too ill.
This trend is on the increase. The TUC asked similar questions in a poll - using a very slightly different base, but at the same time of year - in 2004, when one in five (19 per cent) said that they had been to work in the last month when too ill to do so. Twice as many, one in four (25 per cent), said they had never been to work when too ill.
People say they go to work when ill because they don't want to let people down, more than because of pressure from above to do so. More than one in four (28 per cent) in the 2009 poll say they went to work because colleagues 'depend on the job I do, and I didn't want to let them down', followed by one in five (21 per cent) who say they 'did not want to give their colleagues extra work'.
Slightly fewer (18 per cent) said they 'did not want to let their employer down.' In total, two in three (67 per cent) went to work when ill because they didn't want to let clients, workmates or their bosses down.
But, while still a minority of the workforce, there are substantial numbers of people who say they are pressured into going into work. More than three million (13 per cent) say they cannot afford to lose pay and nearly 1.5 million (six per cent) say they are worried that their boss would take action against them.
More than one in four (29 per cent) say that the recession will make them more likely to go to work when ill.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Too often we are told that British workers are always taking bogus sickies or taking time off at the first sign of a sniffle.
'But the truth is that we are a nation of mucus-troopers who struggle into work even when we are too ill because we do not want to let colleagues, clients or our employer down.
'While this is admirable, it is not always the best thing to do. Coughs and sneezes still spread diseases, and the worst thing you can do to your workmates is pass on your illness.'

Local government pay goes to ACAS

UNISON and other council unions put their case for a larger 2008-9 pay award in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to ACAS today.The joint unions, and the employers, had both already submitted written evidence on the pay deal, which both sides referred to arbitration late last year.The trade union presented their submission and supporting evidence in an oral hearing today, followed by the employers.The unions argued that local government has treated workers on National Joint Council terms and condit6ions as “poor relations” for a long time.Employers have failed to invest in pay, training and good conditions, while making over-the-odds efficiency savings and putting ever-larger off sums of money into reserves. UNISON and other unions also pointed out that the money available to local authorities from central government for the next three years will far exceed inflation if economic predictions are correct. The employers argued that pay offers had been constrained by government pay policy, the cost of the local government pension scheme and Single Status.Each side asked the other questions and the arbitration panel asked questions too. They were particularly interested in unallocated reserves - which have increased significantly in the last few years, and whether they can be used for pay purposes. The joint unions agreed to provide them with further information on unallocated reserves as a proportion of revenue for 2007/8 and 2008/9. That information has been obtained and he unions are now waiting for the employers to agree it so that it can be sent to the ACAS panel.There is no indication yet of when the ACAS panel will respond to the submissions.

Affordable, justified and necessary

(09/02/09) The NJC Trade Union Side has welcomed the opportunity to submit evidence to the panel of ACAS arbitrators appointed to resolve the 2008-09 NJC pay dispute within local government. We hope that we have reinforced the merits and rationale of our 2008-09 claim in the following pages. The claim is available for examination in Appendix 2. It was for:'A one-year increase on all pay points of 6% or 50 pence an hour, whichever is the greater, with a view to making progress to a bottom rate of £6.75 pence'We believe the employers’ offer of 2.45% has not adequately rewarded or met the financial needs of our members during 2008/09. Indeed, it has further increased the financial hardship they have found themselves in as a result of a series of below-inflation pay awards in recent years.Full details of the claim:

TU submission - Word doc Appendix - PDF

04/02/2009

UNISON CHIEF WARNS COUNCILS NOT TO

MIMIC ESSEX SELL-OFF PLANS

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, the UK’s largest public service union, today (4 February), slammed plans by Essex County Council to sell-off all its council services as - “a recipe for disaster and economic chaos”. He warned other councils against going down that route, saying: “This is the first time in the history of Local Government that any council has put all its services out to tender. This is because it is a recipe for economic chaos and service failure. At a time when councils should be doing all they can to support their local communities and economy, the Tories, who run Essex County Council, are washing their hands of their responsibilities and selling off council services and jobs. “Only this week Essex County Council was forced to bring its failing outsourced IT contract back in house, which will no doubt cost local people millions. Instead of learning a salutary lesson from that experiment, Councillors are still recklessly intent on selling off the council. “UNISON will intensify its fight against these plans and the lesson to other councils must be ‘Don’t try this at home’.”

Campaigning to keep the LGPS

UNISON will launch a major campaign in the New Year to counter the hostile
propaganda coming from David Cameron and Eric Pickles on behalf of the
Conservative Party.
Both insist that the LGPS is unsustainable in the long-term and should become a
defined contribution scheme – not a defined benefit scheme as at present. Their view
is that there is “pensions apartheid” between private and public sector pensions and
that the taxpayer should not be asked to fund the LGPS and other public sector
schemes.
We will be telling them that the LGPS is a public good, not a drain on public finances.

Arbitration moves ahead on

local government pay claim

(26/01/09) UNISON has today been told that the first hearing over the local government pay claim for 2008-09 is to take place on 10 February.Submissions for this oral part of the process will be exchanged the week before.In September, the national joint council for England, Wales and Northern Ireland decided to refer the offer to ACAS for binding arbitration, following the successful strikes last July.Arbitration involves both sides making detailed written submissions to a panel of three arbitrators, followed by oral submissions.

TUC calls for end to discrimination and

hatred on Holocaust Memorial Day

The TUC is calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT) at the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) national commemoration event in Coventry today (Sunday).
HMD itself is on Tuesday (27 January), on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where 1.6 million men, women and children were killed in the Nazi holocaust.
HMD aims to prevent the holocaust being forgotten or repeated, and serves to remind people of the crimes and racism of both the holocaust and of more recent genocides across the world.
Alongside the six million Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, hundreds of thousands of others were targeted by Hitler's regime - including union members and LGBT people.
The TUC LGBT committee is attending the event in Coventry, and is urging LGBT people to support HMD events taking place around the country on Tuesday.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: 'Unions have always stood up to the kind of discrimination, prejudice and hatred that led to the Nazi holocaust.
'LGBT people were among the millions of victims of Hitler's brutal regime, and today LGBT communities are a vital part of the resistance to modern versions of this hatred. I am proud that LGBT union members are taking part in the event.'
The event will see local people stand side by side with national leaders and survivors of genocide and conflict as well as international survivors of Nazi persecution, and will include survivor testimonies, poetry, drama and time for reflection.

'Public sector has key role to play'

(12/01/09) General secretary Dave Prentis will be urging the prime minister to make sure that the public sector will have a key role in helping people through the recession when they meet at today's jobs summit. Last year, almost 50,000 public service workers were made redundant and more cuts are on the cards.Mr Prentis will support measures aimed at increasing apprenticeships to fill the skills gap and to help the jobless back to work. And in that context, he will also be arguing that it would be "madness to add more public sector workers to the dole queues."It's going to be a tough year for everyone, but the government has to face down the critics baying for public sector blood. I will be telling the prime minister that it would be madness to add public sector workers to the dole queue."Some politicians and commentators argue that we should now be cutting back public spending and carp that public sector jobs are not going at the same rate as the private sector."But, Mr Prentis continued, "this is not a question of private versus public or a race to see who sheds the most jobs. It's in no-one's interests to have a race to the bottom. The cost of job losses to the taxpayer, in whatever sector is enormous. The cost of a job lost to an individual or a family is enormous. Each redundancy is a personal tragedy."Fairness is fundamental as the human impact of the recession hits home. The burdens need to be spread fairly, and those who can must make their contribution. The government has bailed out the bankers who got us into this mess, now it is right that working people should be given a helping hand."Public services are needed now more than ever – to stabilise our economy, to help people through difficult times, and to lay the foundations for a better future. In a recession, they are the first line of defence."

Now is the time to stand up for workers

(03/12/08) The financial and economic crisis hitting the world means that, now more than ever, "the time is right to stand up for workers," general secretary Dave Prentis told UNISON's national executive council in London today."It's the workers, vulnerable people, pensioners and people living on benefits who pay the price of the crisis," he noted. "It's our people who are suffering."I believe this recession is so bad we need a voice speaking up for working people."The NEC agreed to work through the TUC to organise events around the scheduled summit meeting of the G20 leading economies in the spring to highlight workers' rights and a social agenda.The union is also working within the union movement, including the TUC, to push for domestic policies in response to the crisis, including a moratorium on house repossessions, maintenance of public spending and a domestic social agenda including workers' rights, equal pay and pensions, including state pensions."Pensioners need to be protected from the ravages of recession," noted Mr Prentis.The union will also launch a public campaign to defend public services and explain their importance in a time of crisis."We have an anti-privatisation agenda, but we do need to set out the case for the public service tradition and the maintenance of public expenditure," said Mr Prentis."We know markets and competition have failed in the financial sector – why import them into public services?"The NEC also heard that UNISON will continue working with fellow public service unions and the TUC on public sector pay, as well as the broader agenda.The meeting also endorsed plans to step up the union's anti-fascist work in the run-up to next year’s European Parliament and local elections, targeting areas where the BNP is focusing its election bids.In particular, the NEC thanked nursing sector committee member Mick McKeown for getting an item published in Nursing Times pointing out that being a member of an avowedly discriminatory organisation like the BNP is "incompatible with belonging to the community of nurses".The NEC also
agreed the union’s objectives and priorities for 2009;
agreed the budget for 2009 and received a financial report on the first nine months of 2008;
endorsed arrangements for next year’s NEC elections
received a report on recruitment in the first nine months, showing a slight improvement in figures;
received reports on equal pay, including litigation;
received an update on pay negotiations in all bargaining groups, including the recent successful strike by members at Scottish Water and agreement at the Meat Hygiene Service;
ruled that NEC members will in future attend conference as NEC representatives only and not as branch delegates;
congratulated the Westminster City branch on defeating proposals to introduce fingerprint scanning equipment ( news story) and agreed to investigate similar moves elsewhere in the public services;
agreed to send a message of support to members in the Northern Ireland community and voluntary sector under threat from 'dissidents' over their work in community projects;
agreed to send a message of condolences to Birmingham branch secretary Carole Hagans, who lost family members in the recent M6 tragedy, make a donation to the family's charity of choice Feed My Lambs and circulate a request for donations to branches and regions.

UNISON calls on government to fund council houses

(13/11/08) Cash-strapped councils need money to make sure they can provide people with decent homes, says UNISON.The union is urging the government to front up the cash to help councils build new homes, and to upgrade the homes of existing tenants to meet national standards.Speaking from the union's housing seminar in Birmingham today, UNISON head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "Severe overcrowding and waiting lists of four million show that new homes are urgently needed."The chancellor's plans to spend through the recession provide the perfect opportunity to step in and build them, she said."A programme of new homes for tenants to rent from councils and housing associations makes social and economic sense – creating jobs in construction and building supplies as well as meeting housing needs."The government must also take steps to avoid redundancies in councils and housing associations, she said."When there is so much that needs to be done it makes no sense for programmes to be scaled back and staff numbers cut."

Arbitration moves forward

Local government unions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have agreed proposed terms of reference for arbitration over this year’s pay award.The proposed wording is: "The arbitrator is asked to consider the arguments put forward by both sides and make an award to resolve the 2008/9 pay dispute.All parties accept the arbitrator’s decision is final. In particular, this means:
No further industrial action will take place during the arbitration process or following the arbitrator’s decision, and
Any award will be implemented in full without delay." The employers are considering the same form of words and unions hope to receive confirmation from them by the end of the week.Arbitration will consist of both sides making detailed written submissions to a panel of three arbitrators, which it is hoped will be completed by the last week in November, followed by an oral hearing in early December.The joint unions also agreed the 2009-10 claim, for "seeks a one-year, across-the-board pay increase of at least the level of retail price inflation with additional increases for the lower paid".The full text of the claim will include the unions' objective of reaching settlement in time for the award to by paid into members' pay packets by 1 April 2009.A joint union letter will be sent to each authority, asking them to budget for at least a cost-of-living increase to fit in with the claim and relevant UNISON branches are being encouraged to write to their employers also. A template letter will be sent to branches shortly.

Council unions make progress

(27/10/08) Trade unions representing more than a million council workers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have taken another step towards resolving the long running local government pay dispute.Final settlement of the deal will depend on the results of arbitration, which both sides are waiting for. However, last week saw an initial meeting with employers and ACAS to agree the terms of reference.The unions are hoping to hold further talks this week.UNISON head of local government Heather Wakefield said that the union believes that it has a strong case for a fairer deal for local government staff, and is hopeful for an early decision from ACAS.A full report on progress will be given to a joint trade union meeting on 3 November.Meanwhile, local government workers are still on track to get a 2.45% interim pay rise before Christmas -- agreed by employers earlier this month to help those struggling to cope with rising costs.

A fair deal for local government workers

Lib Dems slam public sector pensions

The Liberal Democrats have backed a report calling on public sector final salary pension schemes to be axed. The study was produced by pensions analysts at Hargreaves Lansdowne who claim that funding public sector pension liabilities will place a growing burden on the state. They say the best solution is to make public sector pensions less generous: "Instead of having a garannteed income in retirement,public sector workers should have "defined contribution" pensions."

Projections showed the change would mean future public sector pensioners would have smaller pensions than their counterparts today. Jenny Willott, the Lib Dem pensions spokeswoman, backed the call for public sector pensions to be reformed, saying "It is unfair and irresponsible to keep heaping this burden on future generations"

Council workers get interim pay rise

(17/10/08) Local government workers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales are set to get an interim pay rise to tide them over Christmas.UNISON today confirmed that the employers have agreed to the union's request for a 2.45% pay rise for staff, with an extra £100 for the lowest paid, backdated to April.The increase is an interim measure – final settlement of this year's pay award is awaiting the results of arbitration.UNISON head of local government Heather Wakefield welcomed the employers' decision to pay the uplift backdated to April."With Christmas just around the corner, 2.45% will bring some comfort to local government workers struggling to cope with the rising cost of everyday essentials," she said.She added: "UNISON believes we have a strong case for a fairer deal for local government staff, which we are taking to ACAS for arbitration, and we are hopeful for an early decision."Members should receive the pay rise and back pay in their November pay packets.Trade unions will meet with the employers again on 23 October to discuss the terms of reference for arbitration.

More details in Pay news bulletin 21 (PDF)

Inflation hits 5.2%

(14/10/08) UNISON has renewed its call for the government to drop the unfair squeeze on public service pay following the latest rise in inflation.Figures out today show consumer inflation has soared to 5.2%, with higher gas and electricity bills causing much of the increase.However, care workers, nurses, teaching assistants and road sweepers don’t have to see the figures to know that costs have risen at an unprecedented rate, said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis."They feel it where it hurts every time they do the family shop, fill up their car, or see another red bill come through the letterbox."The government has taken bold action to rescue the banks; it should now support the army of public sector workers who play a vital role in our local communities, and drop the unfair squeeze on their pay," he said.The latest increase in inflation strengthens the case to reopen the NHS pay deal, Mr Prentis said, pointing out that the agreed rise will leave health workers with a pay cut for next year.Local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are also looking for a fair deal as they take their case to arbitration, he said, adding: "With each rise in inflation, our case for higher pay for both these vital groups of staff grows stronger." National Statistics inflation page

A half point cut is not enough, says TUC

Commenting on the half percentage point cut in interest rates, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'While we welcome the international co-ordination that has brought simultaneous cuts in the UK, Europe and the USA, a half per cut is simply not enough.
'The inflationary threat is melting away, and the question now is how deep and long the slowdown will be.
'A deep cut in rates would not simply provide important help to businesses and mortgage payers, but also help end the financial crisis as it would make risky and insecure loans much more likely to be repaid.
'The Chancellor was right to remind the Bank that they have a remit to back government economic policy. A half per cent cut is not enough to support today's finance package.'

Unions appeal for quick resolution to pay dispute

(01/10/08) Local government workers have a right to expect a pay increase by Christmas, says UNISON.The union has joined the GMB and Unite in urging ACAS to begin arbitration as soon as possible to resolve the long-standing dispute over pay in England, Northern Ireland and Wales."UNISON is extremely disappointed at the employers' refusal to make a fair pay offer and has been left with little choice but arbitration," said Heather Wakefield, the union's head of local government."With the cost of everyday essentials rising by the day, our members cannot afford to take another pay cut," she said."Local government workers have a right to expect a pay increase by Christmas, and UNISON will be presenting solid evidence to ACAS to back up our claim."The union will also be keeping a watchful eye on the number of redundancies coming through from local councils, Ms Wakefield added."We will all suffer if local services do not have enough staff to run them efficiently."

A fair deal for local government workers

Public servants ‘just want fairness on pay’

(20/09/08) Public service workers are crying out for fairness – and fairness is the catchphrase for this year’s Labour conference , which opened in Manchester on Saturday: “fair rules, fair chances, and a fair say”. But there is no indication that a fair deal on pay is in the offing. During a panel discussion on the economy, both the chancellor and the prime minister signalled the government intends to hold fast to its unjust public service pay policy.“I know and understand people’s frustration about wages,” Gordon Brown acknowledged. “We want to be fair to all those who contribute to our public services.”But he offered no hopes of an inflation-linked pay rise to help public service workers cope with soaring living costs.“We will maintain and extend investment in public services,” Mr Brown pledged. “But we used to get into an inflationary spiral,” he continued. This time, he said, “we are going to tackle the inflation problems at source.”Chancellor Alistair Darling also suggested that increasing public service pay would fuel inflation. “It is important that we are fair and we continue to put money into public services, but it is also important that we avoid getting into a situation where inflation is entrenched in this country,” he said.They were speaking in response to a question from UNISON’s Wendy Nichols, who warned that you can’t deliver top-class public services with a demoralised staff.Though the union recognised Labour’s investment in public services over the past 11 years, “many public service workers don’t,” she said. “They feel stressed and demoralised and angry.“We’re not asking for riches; we’re asking for fairness,” Ms Nichols said. “Is that too much to ask, prime minister?”