Stand Up For Salford Issue 2

STAND

the magazine of Salford City UNISON

UP

FOR SALFORD

They say `Cut back’ We say `Fight Back!!!’

Join the Million Strong March on October 20th!

Salford’s Fat Cats Exposed!

Autumn 2012

Salford Council’s £100million cuts… and £100million prestige spending!

A Matter of Life and Death Mental health staff and service users fight back! £10,000 Pay Cut for Binmen?

Refuse!!!

Call Centre Hell IN Salford!

Plus: Nick Clegg’s Puppetry Workshop and a Humanegement Puzzle Page Special!

Dear Salford City UNISON Members STAND

the magazine of Salford City UNISON

UP

FOR SALFORD

They say `Cut back’ We say `Fight Back!!!’

Join the Million Strong March on October 20th!

Salford’s Fat Cats Exposed!

Autumn 2012

Salford Council’s £100million cuts…

And £100million prestige spending!

A Matter of Life and Death Mental health staff and service users fight back! £10,000 Pay Cut for Binmen?

Refuse!!!

Call Centre Hell IN Salford!

Plus: Nick Clegg’s Puppetry Workshop and a Humanegement Puzzle Page Special!

Welcome to

our second edition of Stand up For Salford.

Thank you for the positive feedback we got about the first issue.

There are a number of issues that are dealt with in this magazine, but I want to use this brief introduction to highlight just three of them, and then to talk about an issue that we only found out about as the magazine was due to go to press.

Protect Mental Health Services

The first thing I want to do is say thank you to those of you who have supported our members and service users in the on-going campaign we are having to protect mental health services. Our threat of industrial action, as well as the work we have been doing to put pressure on the Labour Party seems to be having some impact.

Bringing staff and service users together is absolutely vital if we are to tackle cuts to

public services, and I want to thank those in Salford Against the Cuts for helping us to do this again to protect these services.

Campaigning For Admin Staff

As a Branch we are rightly proud of our achievements in protecting front-line services, but we have to admit that we have been less successful in supporting our office-based members who have taken the brunt of the cuts in Salford. If I had one organising priority, it would be to get our membership levels up to the point where these staff can have a voice that speaks as loudly as that of our front-line members. The key to our `Campaign for Admin’ (or whatever we choose to call it after the mass meeting on 8th October) will be that all our members will be speaking up for office staff and telling the public how important they are in terms of delivering services. We want members to help us with this and we want non-members to join so that we can force the Council to look again at its approach of targeting certain services for the greatest cuts.

Outside The Council

Another area of our membership that we have been trying hard to rebuild a proper relationship with are those who don’t work for the Council. We’ve been working to progress Job Evaluation in Salford College, fight for better pay for members in City West and support Salix Homes staff at a time of job losses and PFI transfers.

It’s fantastic that we now have functioning Joint Consultative Committees for Salford Community Leisure and that we are challenging Urban Vision to ensure that Salford City Council staff have their rights respected. I’m also really proud that we’ve been able to challenge the Council on academies and get them to look again at this issue.

5% Pay Cut

Lastly, I want to talk briefly about pay because by the time you read this you will have received a detailed email from UNISON (and the other unions) informing you that the Council is seeking to reduce overall pay by nearly 5% in the next five years: and is threatening to impose such a

Position Name Branch Secretary Steve North Asst Branch Secretary Diane Ogg Chair Lawrence Duke Treasurer Ameen Hadi Health and Safety Officer Alex Gillespie Communications Officer Richard Nelson Welfare Officer Paula Lawless Membership Officer Kevin Corran Lifelong L’ing Co-ordinatorRay Walker Equalities Officers Sue Wray

Bora Oktas

plan if the workforce doesn’t agree to it.

UNISON is totally opposed to both this proposal and the way in which it is being put forward. We don’t believe our members should be dictated to about pay at a time of national pay freezes and spiralling living costs. We need the whole membership behind us on this issue, as management may seek to divide people. We did not cause this crisis and we need to let the Council know that we won’t (and can’t afford) to pay for it.

Thanks Steve Steven North, Branch Secretary SALFORD CITY UNISON CONTACT DETAILS: Branch Office 443 Chorley Rd Swinton 0161 794 7425/793 3126 office@salfordcityunison.org.uk

Email Address Phone steven.north@Salfordcityunison.org.uk 07557281475 diane.ogg@salfordcityunison.org.uk 07557281472 lawrence.duke@salfordcityunison.org.uk778 0617 / 07557281473 ameen.hadi@salfordcityunison.org.uk 07557281471 alex.gillespie@salfordcityunison.org.uk 07557281474 richard.nelson@salford.gov.uk 07971617401 paula.lawless@salfordcityunison.org.uk 07809085203 Kevin.Corran@salford.gov.uk 07971495597 ray.walker@salford.gov.uk 077976789542 susan.wray@salford.gov.uk 07557281476 bora.oktas@salixhomes.org 07748054446

2

STAND UP FOR SALFORD The magazine of Salford City UNISON CONTENTS: UNISON has the alternative! The Million Strong March on Oct 20th and how the bankers’ crisis should be sorted… £100million cuts…£100million prestige spending! Salford Council’s priorities revealed…

5% pay cut imposed? Salford’s Fat Cats exposed! £10,000 pay cut for binmen? Refuse!!!

A Matter of Life and Death: Mental health staff and service users fight back Call Centre Hell IN Salford!

Welfare Warfare – Council’s Welfare Rights and Debt Advice Service cuts G4S Troubled Family Trouble! Would you let G4S near your problems?

No more Academies in Salford – the fight goes on!

Cuts to Youth Service storing up trouble Home Alone – workers in peril Day Centres back under attack Plus: UNISON news, Nick Clegg’s Puppetry Workshop and a Humanegement Puzzle Page Special!

Printed by: Caric Press Ltd, 525 Ringwood Road, Ferndown, Dorset, BH22 9AQ Tel: 01202 871766 www.caricpress.co.uk

ENOUGH IS

£100MILLION OF CUTS - £100MIL By 2015 Salford Council will have made over £100million in cuts. Over the same period Salford Council has spent almost £100million on prestige projects. The Council says that the there’s no alternative to the cuts. UNISON believes that there is…

OVER £100MILLION OF COUNCIL CUTS IN FOUR YEARS! Salford Council has already made £64million of cuts over the last two years, and is looking for another £38million `savings’ over the next two years. These include cuts for staff working in community care, SEN statements, neighbourhood management, youth service and welfare rights, amongst others. Plus cuts to day care centres, SEN transport, community care and the short breaks service, with more to be announced as the budget gets set in the near future.

ALMOST £100MILLION COUNCIL SPENDING ON PRESTIGE PROJECTS… £13,000,000…on a prestige fountain, sculpture and meeting place in Greengate.

This lovely sculpture and fountain, on the site of the former Victoria Bus Station, is funded by Salford Council, NWDA, Europe and the Homes and Community Agency. The Council itself has stumped up at least £1.5million towards the prestige project plus £652,746 for the management company, to deliver “a high quality management and maintenance service for the new public realm”… No-one knows, yet, the full extent of Salford Council’s direct spending on the space. £15,000,000…on the `Ugly Sisters’ Salford Council has agreed to underwrite the leases on the Embankment 101 and 100 buildings opposite Manchester Cathedral being erected by ASK Developments. The Council is guaranteeing 50% of the rent on the first block for the next ten years which is in the Council’s current accounts as £15million.

4

S ENOUGH!

LLION OF PRESTIGE SPENDING!

£15,000,000…on Port Salford Altogether, Peel Holdings’ new Port Salford in Irlam will receive £30million in public money, including a £4million grant from Salford Council and a loan worth £11million, for which the Council is paying £360,000 per year for the first five years. Peel Holdings is the richest company in the North West, run by Isle of Man tax exile John Whittaker, the 29th richest person in Britain, who saw his personal wealth grow by £100million last year according to the Sunday Times Rich List. £20,000,000…on the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Salford Council is currently paying the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra £3million a year as part of its overall sponsorship of £20million. £10,000,000…on MediaCityUK Salford Council has a secret £10million Media Enterprise Zone Fund, with a budget of £2million a year that began in 2011.

The Council will only say that the Fund is “to support the long-term development of MediaCityUK”. £3,000,000…on a Car Park As part of its £7.8million `Chapel Street Acquisition Fund’, Salford Council has bought Stanley Street NCP car park for £3,002,000. £23,000,000…on Salford City Reds and Salford City Stadium As part of its joint venture company with Peel Holdings (the richest company in the North West etc), Salford Council has provided a £22million loan to build the Salford City Stadium. According to the last Salford Council accounts, the company had net assets of only £10,968,173. Salford Council has also given a loan worth £1million to the rugby team.

5

JOIN THE MILL MARCH OCTOB

Austerity isn’t working!

The Government wants to tell us that the cuts are necessary but they are not. The rich, the bankers and politicians are richer than ever, while we face redundancy, attacks on our terms and conditions, privatisation and cuts to our public services.

We know this will just drive the economy into further recession. One does not have to look far to see what the outcome of such policies are - a six day working week in Greece, and youth unemployment in Spain is running at over 50%. It is time for us to say `Enough is enough!’

Salford City UNISON encourages all of you, your workmates, your friends and family to join us on the 20th of October in London. Don’t hesitate! Join us so that we can win the argument. It is not us that should be paying for the crisis - it should be the bankers!

Ring 0161 794 4725 or email office@salfordcityunison.org and book a place on our transport to London now!

6

LION STRONG BER 20TH!!!

UNISON’s ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVE

UNISON’S ALTERNATIVE APPROACH Where should the money come from?

The Cuts Aren’t Working

Making tax fair! Significant sums could be raised without affecting the incomes of the majority if we made sure the financial sector and the superrich paid a fairer share…

The Government’s austerity measures are not working. We are now in a double dip recession and the human scale of the cuts is stark: * Unemployment is now at a 17 year high and predicted to rise to more than 3 million. * Most current job losses are in the public services. * Women are disproportionately affected * Living standards are being squeezed as wages do not keep pace with inflation * Changes to tax credits will result in hundreds of thousands of parents who work part-time losing thousands of pounds a year.

False Economy Most spending cuts are a false economy.

Redundancy costs and knock-on effects on employment, growth and tax revenue and consumer confidence will make the situation worse. * on average every redundancy creates £29,400 in additional costs to the public sector as well as undermining morale and productivity * most of the cost of employing a public service worker is recouped by the state through increased tax revenues and reduced benefit payments. * economic research shows that for every pound spent on local public services, 64 pence is respent in local economies, supporting jobs and businesses. * already £111bn has been added to projected borrowing over the next five years, as a result of lower growth expectations following the Coalition’s cuts

* Between £35bn and £70bn could be raised each year by tackling tax evasion by individuals, companies and other organisations * £23bn could be raised every year by introducing a Major Financial Transactions Tax (or ‘Robin Hood Tax’) on UK financial institutions (see News Items) * £4.5bn could be saved every year by reversing the Government’s cut in corporation tax * £3.6bn could be generated by restricting tax relief on pensions to 20% for incomes over £100,000 a year * £3.5bn could be raised every year with a permanent tax of 50% on bankers’ bonuses in excess of £25,000 * £2.3bn could be raised every year by a extending the 50% tax rate to incomes over £100,000 * £1.7bn could be generated by introducing an annual 1% tax on domestic property values above £2m .

Cutting real waste There are also ways we make sure public money is used effectively. For example… * £76bn could be saved over 40 years by cancelling Trident * £15bn could be saved each year if we brought military spending closer to the EU * £6bn could be saved in reduced tax credits and improved tax revenues every year if private companies paid all their staff a living wage * £3bn could be saved in user fees and interest charges every year if PFI schemes were replaced with conventional public procurement * £1bn could be saved every year by halving the local government agency bill

7

SALFORD FAT CATS…

As Salford Council flies its plan to impose 5% pay cuts for staff over the next five years, we thought members would like to know how the other half live… …Austerity…pay cuts…service cuts…all we hear is `There’s no money’. Try telling that to this band of Fat Cats, all doing rather nicely living off public money…

SALFORD CITY COUNCIL

SALFORD CITY COLLEGE

There’s a 15:1 ratio between the highest and lowest paid staff at the Council.

The Principal pocketed a package worth between £150-160,000 last year – a rise of over £20,000 on the previous year! Three other College staff earn over £90,000.

Top Fat Cats…

Chief Exec, Barbara Spicer, who saw her annual package rise from £210,392 in 2010/11 to £211,607 in 2011/12, thanks to increase in employer pension contributions.

Sue Lightup, Strategic Director for Community, Health and

Social Care, gets a package of £133,777, while Martin Vickers, Strategic Director for Customer and Support Services, saw his total package rise by over £20,000 - from £104,124 in 2010/11 to £124,346 in 2011/12.

Ben Dolan, Strategic Director of Environment and Community Safety, trousers a package worth £124,038, while Karen

Hirst, Development Director, gets a package of £116,945.

Salford City Mayor, Ian Stewart, pockets a £69,000 allowance, while his Deputy Mayor, David Lancaster, almost doubled his pay packet this year, to £44,850. The Assistant Mayors also got pay rises of over £3,500 from their previous roles as Executive Support Members.

Last year, 301 jobs were axed at Salford Council, 206 of those workers earned less than £20,000.

GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY The Fat Cattery somewhere over the Irwell saw one lucky boss pull in a salary band between £125-129,000, three others trouser between £120-125,000, and 33 staff earned over £60,000 last year.

SALIX HOMES Salix has been a bit sneaky with its `financial transparency’, lumping all the Fat Cats in the same basket. Five Executive Officers shared a massive bowl of cream worth £462,000 in 2011, compared to a saucer containing only £368,000 in 2010.

UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD Vice Chancellor, Martin Hall lapped up a package worth £235,000 in 2010-11, including benefits in kind, pension and a `merit award’ (for sacking staff?). That’s a £12,000 pay rise on the year before! Meanwhile ten of his litter of bureaucrats scratch a living between £100-180,000.

URBAN VISION Hard to get Fat Cat figures as staff work for either Salford Council or Capita but we’re sure they’ll all be pleased to hear that director, M Greenwood exercised his share options to get a £20,000 `emolument’ last year.

TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER Here bussy, bussy…Chief Exec, David Leather certainly gets the cream with a £199,936 salary plus a pension and NI package worth over £50,000 (paid to his employers Ernst and Young); and Chief Operating Officer, Bob Morris, is feline ok too with a salary of £189,552 plus a pension and NI package of around £40,000 (paid to his employers Parsons Brinckerhoff). Six others join them on the gravy train with salaries between £90-£129,999.

8

SALFORD COUNCIL CUTS YOUTH SERVICE The restructure of the Youth Service means that potentially 14 people will have to re-apply for eight posts…

F

or `restructure’ read `job cuts’. And, as Salford Council cuts £250,000 from the Youth Service budget, six youth workers’ jobs are in jeopardy…two Senior Youth Work Manager Posts, two Health Worker Posts, one Outdoor Education Post, and, what the Council calls, the “deletion” of an IYSS Manager.

The official consultation on the staff cuts, which included getting the views of young people affected by the changes, ended on September 30th, with the results expected in the near future.

“Although it was initially feared that the cuts would be far greater it is extremely disappointing that front line services to young people continue to be cut” says Salford City UNISON’s Ameen Hadi “Under this Tory Government young people have suffered the greatest with the loss of EMA, exorbitant tuition fees and high and growing higher rates of unemployment.

“Unfortunately, for too long councils have viewed youth services with disdain rather than seeing it as an investment in the future” he adds “We all saw last year how disillusionment can feed despair and lead to things like the riots. It is time the Government and the Council recognise that young people need more investment, not less, and deserve to be respected and their voice heard. Salford City UNISON is happy to campaign with other unions, and alongside young people, to fight for their rights and decent services.”

9

DROPPED

A MATTER OF L

Salford Council has begun a consultation with Mental Health service users around its proposed axing of community care workers who organise and support their weekly drop-in sessions. But staff are already under notice of redundancy…

At Salford Council’s Democracy Day recently, campaigners trying to stop the axing of two community care workers who organise drop-ins and groups for people with mental health issues in the city, confronted City Mayor Ian Stewart.

One service user told him: “As far as I’m concerned it’s a matter of life and death, these drop-ins are so important.”

The people campaigning to save the jobs and the drop-ins are drawn from all over the community – trade unionists, service users, carers, volunteers and activists involved in Salford Against The Cuts. All have united because they know how vital the groups are to people with mental health issues. A saving of £80,000 is a cut too far.

“These drop-ins are keeping us out of places like Meadowbrook, Prestwich and, most likely, cemeteries…” Steve Cullen, service user “The consequences will be that a lot of these people will be isolated and are going to revert back to being trapped, alone in their homes, and we know that Salford already has a very high suicide rate” says Vee Ball, chair of USUC (United Service Users Committee), a carer whose partner has a harrowing disorder and has made 21 attempts on his life.

“Since he’s started to integrate at the drop-ins he’s made friends and those attempts have ceased somewhat because he’s got the backup of these people and he trusts them” she explains “There’s a lot of people at these drop-ins who have a lot of issues similar to him. Trust is a big thing, change is a massive thing, they can’t just chuck them out and say `Get on with it from such and such a date’. They’ve taken a long time to build up the confidence they’ve got now and if they suddenly cut it, it will throw them back into a tailspin.”

Salford Council wants to cut the drop-in support and revert to increased one-to-one sessions. Service users are lining up to tell anyone who will listen that the groups and drop-ins are what gives them reason to get out of their house…

service user who is now vice chair of USUC “My support worker introduced me to Cromwell House and got me out mixing with a new bunch of people. I made new friendships with other service users who understand and don’t judge because we’re all equal and have all been through it. These drop-ins are keeping us out of places like Meadowbrook, Prestwich and, most likely, cemeteries…”

As well as the axing of community care workers and the increased workload on staff having to facilitate more one-toone sessions, Salford City UNISON has joined the campaign in support of the service users and the unfairness of Salford Council’s so-called `consultation’.

“Our members were told to keep the news to themselves at the risk of `upsetting’ service users…” Steve North, Salford City UNISON “It became clear to our members very quickly that, even more than an attack on jobs, this was an attack on services…and that the users of those services would only be consulted after the decision was made” says Branch Secretary Steven North “Our members were told to keep the news to themselves at the risk of `upsetting’ service users, but we reject such a patronising approach.

“These service users are human beings and have the right to become upset when somebody is trampling all over their rights” he adds “The service users say they want to help fight for our members’ jobs and in turn we want to help fight for the services they need.”

Community Care Workers have overwhelmingly voted in a secret ballot to request industrial action to oppose any cuts to this service, and will be asking for the support of all their colleagues in UNISON to help protect this service to the most vulnerable people in our city.

“We know that Salford already has a very high suicide rate…” Vee Ball, carer

The `consultation’ runs until February 2013 and, even though it seems like a fait accompli, campaigners are determined to get Salford Council’s proposals stopped. As well as confronting the City Mayor on Democracy Day, there’s also been a demonstration outside the Labour Party conference and a large public meeting was held at the beginning of October promising further actions and protests.

“I had a flat and didn’t come out, I didn’t see anybody, just the one-to-one sessions and that was it” says Steve Cullen, a

For details on how to join the campaign contact the UNISON office.

10

IN IT…

LIFE AND DEATH

11

A £10,000 WAGE

REFUSE COLLECTORS INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Salford Council plans to take up to £10,000 a year from the pay packets of drivers and loaders as part of £1million savings in recycling…

First Salford Council made refuse collectors financially

dependent on overtime to bring home a decent wage. Now it wants to take it off them. And workers could lose between £6,000 and £10,000 a year each. As a result, a mass meeting of members of UNISON, Unite and GMB has voted to consider industrial action to protect wages if management are not prepared to seriously rethink their plans.

“We’ve already lost money from an evaluation a few years ago, we’ve had a pay freeze, and now they want to hit us again with loss of overtime” says UNISON steward Gary Miller “People just won’t be able to afford to work here and everyone’s very angry because they just fired this on us.”

Indeed, with no consultation or advance notice, Salford Council issued a press release informing people that, from April, in order to make savings of £1million in landfill costs, recycling would increase while black bins would only be collected every two weeks instead of weekly.

The Council intends to employ 16 workers and more wagons to cover the new routine, which would see weekly recycling collections of food and green waste, while the blue and brown bins (paper and bottles etc) would be collected fortnightly rather

than monthly.

As part of the proposals, the working hours of loaders and drivers would change, with overtime virtually wiped out.

“Ninety five per cent of the workforce does the overtime and on average we’ll lose in region of £6,000-10,000 a year” Gary explains “We’ve been getting this overtime week in, week out and the Council is now saying `We’re going to take that off you’.

We’ve got lads working for £14,000. They need that overtime.”

Refuse collectors have been hit hard over the last five years.

First the Government scrapped the workers’ £6000 bonus scheme which supplemented puny wages averaging £12,400.

The resulting Job Evaluation study saw loaders lose £1,500 and drivers lose £1000 off the new wage structure.

As part of the change, the Council brought in a four day working week of 36 hours, Tuesday to Friday, as, through the cuts, they didn’t have enough wagons to manage the workload during the full week. Workers picked up green waste, trade waste, bulk waste and the waste from flats during Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and were paid the overtime. Now the Council intends to reinstate Monday to Friday working, with extra wagons and

12

E CUT? BIN IT!

S VOTE FOR

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT SO FAR? RUBBISH! The Council states that it wants to save £1million on landfill charges with the new recycling regime but it’s had policies in place for four years which have never been properly implemented.

“What’s alarming is that many of the other councils have been doing a flat lid and `no side waste’ policy for a few years to reduce cost of landfill, and the Salford Council website also states that there is a flat lid policy, but it’s not been enforced. Also, a lot of properties have two or three bins and that’s where extra tonnage is coming from. Now the Council is trying to do it correctly. If the Council’s own policies on recycling and refuse collection had been enforced the cost of landfill would already have been reduced. But we’re taking the brunt of it again…”

16 new workers, with the loss of overtime meaning huge wage cuts.

Trade unions want the Council to either bring wages up to a level where workers don’t need overtime to get a decent standard of living, or to keep the overtime in its present form.

A mass meeting of refuse collectors from UNISON, Unite and GMB voted overwhelmingly to defend wages, backed by action short of strike action if necessary, or, as a last resort, strike action. This was taken to City Mayor, Ian Stewart, and the ball is now in his court.

“We explained to him in no uncertain terms the strength of feeling that exists over this issue and the lengths that workers would be prepared to go to protect their wages” says Salford City UNISON branch secretary Steve North “We criticised the Council for taking this public before staff and unions had been told and all he could do was apologise for that and say that it should not have happened.

“The Mayor, the Chief Exec and the Head of HR told us that nothing had been set in stone and that they were willing to look at a way of protecting wages for staff through discussion over the next couple of months” he adds “The unions will go along with those discussions to see if they go anywhere, but we will look to take action if we feel that negotiations don’t work.”

The Council has been trying to put over a positive spin that the new regime will create new jobs, be better for the environment and save £1million in recycling costs. But Steve North argues “The poor should not be robbed to pay the poor.

If they want to create jobs, then the better off can make the sacrifices necessary.”

Gary Miller UNISON shop steward

WHEELIE HARD WORK When wheelie bin recycling first started in 2007-8 an HR study showed how many bins should be emptied per day. Now workers are collecting up to almost 600 extra bins a day…

Brown and Blue bins*:

nine 907 per hour day bins 1000 Actual per day -1500 emptied**:

Black bins*:

nine 1052 per hour day bins 1200 Actual per day -1500 emptied**:

* figs are HR stated for semi/detached

properties only ** figs are averages

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OVERTIME FO NO WAY!!!

Salford Council is trying to get some of our lowest paid workers to do more work for less pay…

While the Council continues to prevaricate on cuts to their top earners they continue to try and make our frontline workers work for less. Although they say they are not contravening national overtime rates, they are trying to persuade members to voluntarily sign up to an `Internal Bank’ which pays workers at a basic rate for additional hours.

In children’s homes this move has caused considerable upset and division among staff. The reality is that there is not enough staff to cover all the shifts, so if the Council does not want to pay overtime the solution is simple – employ more staff.

A similar scheme was proposed in Refuse Collection. Here the union spoke to both full time and agency staff, and agreed we would fight for more full time jobs rather than accept any cuts to overtime. Now management has backed off.

While the Council continues to invest millions in projects such as Media City and Port Salford, and spends hundreds of thousands of pounds on ornamental fountains and top earners, why should frontline low paid staff suffer?

If you hear they are trying to introduce any such scheme in your work please notify the union immediately!

PEANUTS AND PAY CUTS AT SALFORD CHILDREN’S HOMES… “This just beggars belief.

You could be working next to somebody on a different rate of pay than you were two hours ago. If you finish work at 2pm and your manager asks you to stay on because he can’t cover a shift, all of a sudden you become `bank staff’. At 2pm you were on £15 an hour and at 4pm you’re on £11 an hour! And the person who’s been on all day stays on £15 an hour.

While it’s rewarding, it’s not the easiest job in the world working in children’s homes. Yet they want people just to be grateful for having a job…for us to say `Anything is better than nothing’. People are skint, they need the hours and some can’t afford not sign up for it, so it’s difficult. It’s certainly having a detrimental affect on morale and it will have a detrimental affect on the young people in that if you’re on less money you’re not going to want to go that extra mile…”

Lisa Millar, Children’s

Home UNISON Steward 14

OR PEANUTS? PEANUTS AND PAY CUTS AT SALFORD REFUSE DEPOT…

“No matter what rate of pay, weekend shifts are still going to be difficult to cover and Christmas shifts will be almost impossible to cover, especially by bank staff!”

Phil Power, UNISON steward “Most of the extra shifts to be covered will be at evenings and weekends.

We will be working for less than our basic pay to give up time that we should be at home with family and friends.”

UNISON member “Consistency, relationships and knowledge of young people seems to be mattering less and less. It seems at the moment it’s more important filling a gap on a rota as cheaply as possible.”

“I heard Chinese whispers that the Council was going to give agency workers a month’s notice and then take them in on an internal bank, with a zero hours policy. In other words, they would have to sit at home and wait for a phone call to come into work, and if they didn’t get one they would get no pay. This internal bank would have been for extra work that we couldn’t cover.

After the agency workers, our lads could have got the overtime – but on the lowest increment pay of £7 an hour. At the moment drivers on my scale are on £14.22 an hour, so they would be working for half the money for the same job. We had a big meeting, the lads weren’t happy and said `We’re not doing it’. For the time being, the internal bank has been kicked out. It’s dormant but it hasn’t gone away.”

Gary Miller, Refuse UNISON Steward

UNISON member

15

UNPAID LABOUR COMES TO SALFORD COUNCIL Salford Council has been taking on `voluntary unpaid’ labour from the dole to do `work experience’ in street cleansing, gardening and vehicle maintenance. Are volunteers being brought in to cover for gaps left by the cuts?

T

owards the end of the summer, an e-mail was sent to job centres and beyond trying to recruit unemployed residents for `voluntary unpaid work experience’ placements with Salford Council. The lucky takers would keep their benefits, get free bus travel to work and receive a £20 high street voucher after four weeks attendance.

One word in the publicity information stood out - `unpaid’.

“Our concern is that you’ve essentially got an unpaid labour force, with all that entails about pressure on wages, loss of overtime, covering for posts that have already been cut, perhaps even facilitating further cuts” says UNISON steward Richard Holland.

The scheme is called Salford Futures, which is different to the Future Jobs IN Salford scheme where over 800 unemployed residents were found paid work placements in the Council and beyond. Salford Futures, on the other hand, is an unpaid eight week work trial for 16 to 24 year olds, on what the Council calls a `try before you buy’ approach.

While Salford Futures is not part of the Government’s `workfare’ scheme which UNISON opposes, and there is no compulsion for the unemployed to take part in it, there is a concern in terms of both exploitation of the unemployed and the scheme’s affect on undermining staff conditions.

During the late summer, the Council was offering `work placement opportunities’ in street cleansing, gardening and vehicle maintenance, with a `speed dating’ event to match management with unemployed residents. On completion of the eight week voluntary unpaid work experience, the Council states that candidates will receive support to get apprenticeships and to be `showcased’ to potential employers.

UNISON is currently trying to find out from the Council how many people who are on this latest scheme have gone on to get apprenticeships or permanent work.

“The use of volunteers is becoming more widespread in the public sector and we hope that local authorities are not using such schemes in order to make up the slack brought about by cuts, and to further disenfranchise people already in work” says Richard Holland “It’s something that we intend to keep our eye on.”

If any UNISON members have any concerns about the scheme please contact Richard Holland or the UNISON office.

16

WE THOUGHT SLAVERY HAD BEEN ABOLISHED! Salford City UNISON recently passed a motion calling for a boycott of the ConDem Government’s workfare schemes. Here we look at the background to the schemes which place benefits claimants on compulsory unpaid work placements…

O

ne sentence on the Boycott Welfare website kind of sums up the dreaded Government scheme which began in June 2011… “Workfare profits the rich by providing free labour, whilst threatening the poor by taking away welfare rights if people refuse to work without a living wage…”

Workfare schemes, targeting those on Job Seekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance, include Mandatory Work Activity, the Work Programme and Work Experience, and all involve working for no pay, with the threat of sanctions being imposed if people don’t take up the `offer’.

From 22nd October, just missing an appointment with a workfare provider could see claimants left without money for four weeks for the first offence and 13 weeks for the second.

In more serious cases, benefits could be stopped for up to three years.

Companies indulging in workfare read like a Who’s Who of the High Street – Argos, ASDA, Burton, Holiday Inn, Greggs, Poundland, Primark, McDonalds, WHSmiths, Tesco and about fifty others at least. Meanwhile, charities and Third Sector organizations, like Bernados, British Heart Foundation and the Salvation Army are increasingly using workfare schemes for free labour.

“Voluntary agencies and charities are using workfare more and that is a concern for us in UNISON” says steward Richard Holland, worried that third sector organisations and charities using free labour could undercut Council departments in the `value for money’ stakes, leading to more outsourcing of services. At least one office of the Citizens Advice Bureau has used a workfare scheme, as has Age Concern.

When the full facts of workfare are made clear, most British people are horrified, and public pressure together with campaigning actions have made many firms think again and pull out of the schemes…TK Maxx, Sainsbury’s, Shelter, Maplin, Boots and Body Shop are amongst the big names that have withdrawn from workfare.

The motion passed by Salford City UNISON includes the pledge to “refuse to participate in compulsory work-for-benefits placements. We want volunteering to remain just that!”

Compulsory volunteering used to be known as slavery. The whip might have gone, but the economic cat o’nine tails is still being wielded by Cameron and co on behalf of their fat cat friends…

For masses of information on all the workfare schemes and the companies taking part see www.boycottworkfare.org

DAY CARE CENTRE CUTS In recent weeks the union office has received an increasing

number of calls from members concerned about the future of Day Centres in the City.

As you will be aware, the union, with your support, organised a vigorous campaign to defend these services earlier this year and successfully managed to retain these services. We raised the rumours circulating about the demise of these centres at a recent meeting with management and were assured that at this point there were no proposals to discuss. At this time we are awaiting a response from the Assistant Mayor for Adult Services, Cllr Peter Connor, to these rumours.

clear that personalisation should not be used to cut public services. Personalisation is about offering choice to service users, not offering less on reduced budgets.

If you have any concerns regarding cuts in Adult Care or worries about people being placed at risk please contact the union.

We aim to be able to give an update in the near future, and have arranged a union meeting specifically for Day Centre members at 4.30pm on Monday 12th November (venue tbc).

UNISON is keeping a close eye on developments and we are

CUTS PUT STAFF SAFETY AT RISK! Earlier this year Salford Council decided that it wished to get

rid of the long held practice of care workers going out after 6pm in pairs (double cover), in the Intermediate Home Support Service (IHSS). In fact, it had previously been Council policy to go out in pairs due to concerns regarding health and safety.

After months of debate and argument from members opposing this new move the Council has decided to push ahead with the proposal, with it due to be imposed at the end of November.

However, many members remain deeply concerned about their health and safety in lone working after 6pm. The union has asked for the following clarification…

1. Risk assessments – we’ve asked the Council to clarify what the process is for a Home Support Assistant if they have concerns about their health and safety, or possibly other reasons for requesting two staff for a particular client. We’ve asked if their request will be recorded

2. Will Home Support Assistants receive training in dealing with difficult situations before the change is implemented?

3. How will information given by G.M.P. or the Community Safety Unit be shared with them?

4. If their personal safety is at risk what is the protocol? Can they be given direct access to co-ordinators through an on call rota? Can they withdraw from a visit if they feel they may be at risk?

5. Can sample rotas be shared with the union and each team for discussion before lone working is introduced?

Members continue to feel aggrieved that their conditions of service are being undermined and staff have been allowed to take voluntary redundancy while the private sector are being given lucrative contracts. Despite Council assurances that it has no intention of privatising this service, members remain concerned. They continue to be committed to defending their service, their jobs and their terms and conditions.

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WELFARE WARFARE

Just when you need welfare rights and debt advice the most – along comes a £350,000 cut!

WELFARE RIGHTS AND DEBT ADVICE BRINGS £MILLIONS TO SALFORD * In 2010-11 it secured

£9.26million for

residents in Salford.

* In 2010-11 the Service enabled the collection of

The Bedroom Tax…Universal Credits…cuts to Council Tax Benefits and Disability Allowance…When Salford Council’s Welfare Rights and Debt Advice service is needed more than ever before it’s proposing to bring in a `new model’ and a cut of £350,000.

UNISON steward, Richard Holland, tries to figure it all out…

Looking ahead to the welfare reforms, if ever

there was a need for Welfare Rights and Debt Advice it’s now. But that’s looking at it from a logical perspective. There’s no logic to a £350,000 cut to the service, apart from a further attack on wages, terms and conditions.

If they make the cut, it would probably mean having one debt advisor, one principal officer and one or two welfare rights officers handling the problems of over 200,000 people. It wouldn’t be possible.

The process they wanted to use is a `spotlight review’, a quick focused look at a usually failing service. But no-one can suggest that we’re a failing service. In crude economic terms we bring in lots of money for the city and save the Council money on all sorts of levels.

or repossess a property. Health specialists have actually looked at the work we do and it does actually transform people’s lives. It’s very, very good for people’s health to be relieved from stress.

We’ve already had cuts and savings, and people have taken voluntary severance. We’ve fulfilled that, then we get this bombshell that more money - £350,000 - has to be saved across Salford.

They are talking about introducing a `new model’ for Welfare Rights and Debt Advice – which we suspect will mean using untrained, and lower paid people to do the diagnosis, and giving people leaflets and directing them to a website.

£1.99million for the Directorate in charges for home and day care services. * Over the last 24 years the Service has delivered

£78.4million to low income people within the City.

SALFORD COUNCIL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEEDS FOR SERVICE According to a Salford City Council report this year, the results of the ConDem Government attack on welfare will be…

“increased indebtedness; increased arrears of rent The Tories’ whole agenda is making people and Council Tax; increased We challenge benefit decisions and get people take ‘individual responsibility’ for what are use of high interest entitlements to benefits they wouldn’t otherwise actually complex social issues. There’s no lenders and loan sharks; have. We help people to alleviate serious debt acknowledgement about the whole credit increased homelessness industry and what it does to people. There’s problems. If people are no longer paying off presentations and homes debts, they have more money in their pockets no recognition that people who are vulnerable at risk of possession; and can afford to eat and not get ill from the need help. Instead, they’re attacking them big fewer people with contents time with welfare reforms. And if ever there was stress. We prevent repossession and keep insurance; fewer people people in their homes by negotiating affordable a time when Salford Council needed a well run with savings; higher levels Welfare Rights and Debt Advice team, it’s now! repayments on rent arrears. It’s a huge cost to of depression and mental the Council to evict someone from their home health problems.”

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CALL CENTRE HE UNISON IS TURNIN

Salford Council’s Contact Centre was set up to help residents with any problems they had. Then it turned into a standard Call Centre with staff being pressured to hit targets.

Sickness, resignations and stress followed but now the trade union is involved and conditions are improving…

Here UNISON shop steward Patrick Kinsella charts the decline into Call Centre hell and the return of a bit of humanity…

I began working at the Contact Centre in March 2006, and

since then I have seen changes that, I believe, have turned what was initially an excellent idea to provide all the residents of Salford with a comprehensive reporting, informative and easily accessible system, into one that is purely dominated and controlled by statistics, and generated by profit as opposed to service. It is now a standard Call Centre (CC) demanding a fast turnover of calls with, in my opinion, little regard for customer service or care.

When I first started at Orbit House in Eccles, the CC was split into two distinct units based on the 7th and 8th floors. The 7th floor dealt, almost exclusively, with housing issues. The 8th floor dealt with council tax, housing benefit, environmental services, birth, deaths and marriages, highways and planning.

The CC was busy but the level of work, due to the number of staff employed, was always manageable. I firmly believe at this time the ideology of the CC was based around service. Staff were, of course, monitored, especially when going into ‘make busy’. But checks by senior members of staff, almost exclusively team leaders, seemed to be more about making sure that staff were okay and not struggling with a difficult situation.

In 2009, due to an increase in home working and staff leaving the CC and not being replaced, a decision was made to use just one floor of Orbit House and teams became larger, while staff started to be trained in other services. When I was first trained, it lasted three weeks. Once on the 8th floor I was trained on planning, a large, complex service, in just over a week.

I believe that as a direct result of this poor training and increased calls, sickness levels at the CC were at an all time high. This period also saw the increase of call monitoring and the almost constant reference to the importance of hitting targets, statistic gathering and a weekly write up on display boards of the amount of calls taken and answered. Staff were also subjected to far more checks on their call handling ability, with conversations being played back to them and tips given how the call could have been improved. I always felt that this was created to justify the growing number of SAs being created.

Managers’ one-to-ones were much more in-depth, and statistic sheets were always produced showing the individuals call statistics for the period compared to other members of the team. Managers, in most cases, encouraged staff to try and “shave a few seconds of their calls”, and in some extreme cases would pull calls apart, giving blow by blow account of the staff member’s errors! Some of the managers concerned had never even worked in the CC. In April 2011, members of staff including myself, agreed to take Salix calls exclusively. It took us away from services that we felt we’d not been properly trained in and away from the main area of the CC. We moved to Diamond House in February 2012.

Orbit House, we believed, had become dictatorial, management dominated and statistics driven, with staff under immense pressure to focus on targets rather than helping tenants, or `customers’ as the managers called them. Morale was at an all

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ELL – AND HOW NG IT AROUND… HOW UNISON HAS RESPONDED O

ur members told us they felt levels of monitoring were unnecessary, and that, rather than serve to increase productivity, it lowered morale and could be said to reduce the effectiveness of the team, due to stress related absence etc.

In July, CC stewards and I met with Assistant Director for Customer Services, John Tanner, and managers from the Customer Contact Centre in the hope of resolving this issue.

time low and sickness levels high. Members of staff were placed under such levels of pressure that some were forced to resign.

The fact that staff, with great help from Elliot Norris, have finally taken a stand against the continuing situation in the CC has resulted in management concessions. It proves that when negative conditions arise, staff can change situations, with the union’s backing and if they stand together.

“Orbit House, we believed, had become dictatorial, management dominated and statistics driven, with staff under immense pressure to focus on targets rather than helping tenants” This must be built on. There are still situations ongoing at both Orbit House and Diamond House. At Diamond House we sit, all day, with two 50” screens above us, tracking our every move and registering every call. We answer the phone with “Hello, Salix One Call.” Farcical in the extreme, as for most of the callers it is yet another call, chasing the one that has not been responded to previously. We are not encouraged to try and sort this out but send referrals, keep the call short and stay out of `make busy’ as there are `Performance Indicators’ to meet.

We need to continue our fightback, as the CC is seen as one of the jewels in the Customer Service Crown. The staff need to know that our branch will stand by them every step of the way.

We also need to monitor, very carefully, what is happening at Diamond House as I believe the management down here have no respect of care for their staff and no respect for trade unions.

Orbit House is currently taking calls on behalf of Trafford Council.

Colleagues, not properly trained, are taking complex calls from people in desperate situations. These cannot be judged by the speed with which they are handled in order that the management at the CC can simply sell the staff as mere units or call handlers.

The original idea was a Contact Centre, not a Call Centre. We must fight to go back to the original idea as I’m sure the vast majority of staff, and the residents of Salford, want us to…

We asked him what figures he was being instructed to record by managers senior to him, and what was being monitored separately from that simply because it was felt necessary or appropriate to do so.

“The message to all staff who are feeling the pressure of cuts is, `Tell us and we can do something about it’” John explained that he was required to inform the City Council how many calls the Contact Centre picked up and how quickly on average those calls were answered. In response, we suggested that a trial period take place in which they were the only statistics monitored and that all other staff monitoring – listening into calls etc. was suspended.

We felt there would be no negative impact on the service and that it would prove staff did not need to be monitored in the way they had been. To his credit, John agreed to allow a trial period where all other monitoring would be suspended.

At the end of the week, Elliot and I met with Steven Fryer, a manager at the Contact Centre, and he said that he was happy for the trial to continue as it had not thrown up any serious problems. UNISON members had fed back some issues to us and asked that some systems be reinstated and we relayed those to Steven. We felt it showed a good example of staff being willing to suggest ideas that were good for the service, and those were taken on board.

The trial is on-going, and overall this shows that our members should not be afraid to raise concerns with us, as often we can get management to listen. UNISON is here not just to represent individual cases, but also to raise issues on behalf of teams of members. And the message to all staff feeling the pressure of cuts is,`Tell us and we can do something about it’.

I would also ask staff to try to get their colleagues to join the union as we can represent teams most effectively when we have high membership numbers. In those situations management take us seriously and we can make positive steps forward even in these difficult times.

Steve North, UNISON Branch Secretary

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UNISON NEW

THE SERCO CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN Serco has been handed the Government contract for the provision of housing for asylum seekers in the North West. And there’s already a campaign against the company that runs the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordhsire.

Serco has been the subject of many claims of abuse and assault by detainees. For example, in February 2010, 84 women detained in Yarl’s Wood went on hunger strike in protest at their prolonged detention and inhumane treatment at the hands of Serco’s security guards who broke up the protest with brutal force.

Testimonies by detainees, many of whom fled torture, rape and destitution,

have revealed that racial, psychological and physical abuse has been inflicted on them by Serco staff. All of which doesn’t make the company ideal to sort out housing for asylum seekers.

The campaign against Serco and cuts to the asylum seeker housing budget is being run by Manchester based human rights organisation, RAPAR, which accuses the company of putting profit before quality of service. It fears that the company’s attitude will lead to more evictions and destitution for people already facing incredible hardship.

The RAPAR campaign is backed

by Salford City UNISON and more details are available at www.rapar. org.uk/stop-serco.html

FROM SALFORD TO BURMA

Following the recent visit to the UK of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Salford City UNISON has passed a motion backing the Federation of Trade Unions Burma (FTUB) and supporting the campaign for democracy in the country run by a brutal military dictatorship.

MERRY MEN AND WOMEN UNITE!

Calls for a Robin Hood Tax are growing every day and celebs, religious groups, charities, trade unions and millions of people have signed up to support the campaign.

The campaign calls for a 0.05% tax on all the financial sector’s transactions which would very easily solve a lot of the world’s problems – no Council cuts in Bolton, for example. The UK already taxes some bank transactions but if the Government takes it a bit further it could raise £20billion in this country alone…

“One of the reasons the Government has not done more is the immense power of the City of London in lobbying and influencing politicians” states the Robin Hood Tax campaign “That is

why huge public pressure is needed to convince the Government it is more costly to ignore the people than to ignore the banks.”

Everyone knows that the banks and big business got us into this mess.

Everyone knows that we’re expected to pay for their greed. The Robin Hood Tax campaign allows everyone to say `No more…We’re all Robin Hood now…’

And campaigners get to wear a really cool hat too!!!

Check out the Robin Hood Tax video to be totally convinced at http:// robinhoodtax.org.uk and find the campaign on Facebook.

In Burma, forced labour is imposed on workers, including children, and trade unions are banned from operating.

Emerging trade unions operate under very difficult circumstances in neighbouring countries along the Burmese border, and have to make clandestine trips into the country to support workers. They risk imprisonment if caught.

In 2005 Aung San Suu Kyi was given honorary life membership of UNISON and the union has recently funded a capacity-building project to enable FTUB to recruit members, despite the Burmese government proscribing the organisation For more information on UNISON’s links with Burmese people see the international pages at www.unison. org.uk and to get involved in the wider campaign see www.burmacampaign. org.uk

22

WS

SALFORD’S FIRST FEMINIST Equal rights for women, relationships based on mutual respect and companionship, and challenging prevailing attitudes on the washing up. These radical ideas are usually associated with the Women’s Lib movement of the 1970s but were actually being debated 180 years ago in Salford by followers of Robert Owen.

A new book called Up Then Brave Women goes way back to trace the radical women who started Lib, light years before Germaine Greer or even the Pankhursts for that matter. Michael Herbert, well known for his Red Flag Walks and associations with the Working Class Movement Library, even finds Salford’s first feminist – Frances Morrison.

After the death of her husband in 1835, Frances moved to

Salford and wrote papers and gave talks to huge audiences, questioning attitudes on marriage… “…woman has been made a mere commodity of trade, and the fountain of love has either been choked, or its course directed into the channel of worldly ambition” she wrote.

Frances has been almost forgotten in the history of Salford but this book gives her a rightful place in the pantheon of Greater Manchester women who changed the status quo.

Up Then Brave Women Manchester’s Radical Women 18191918 by Michael Herbert is published by the North West Labour History Society this month. Price £9.95 inc p&p from Pat Bowker, NWLHS, 1 Bedford Road Salford M30 9LA. Email patmbowker@aol.com

UNISON TV UNISON now has its own tv channel on You Tube, and amongst the informative and campaigning mini videos are some absolute gems, like New NH$, which is a top spoof on Tory health policies…

“Here at the new NH$ we offer a fast track service in our priority booking programme. A quick swipe of a major credit card and away you go. All we need from you is a cash payment and you can jump in front of anyone else, no matter what their medical need…”

At one point in the hilarious video the receptionist, done up

like a glamorous airline hostess, tells a `customer’… “If it’s tonsils it’s £1,999, if it’s cancer we can set up a low interest payment plan for you…” And the patient trundles off to the `waiting lounge’ awaiting his financial fate.

Elsewhere on UNISON TV you can find comedian/film maker Michael Moore urging support for the NHS, plus Conference speeches and loads of members telling the cameras why they are marching on October 20th.

Find UNISON TV by searching You Tube or there’s a direct link from www.unison.org.uk

23

TROUBLED G4S TAKES ON TROUBLED FAMILIES

Olympic security screwers G4S has been given a three year contract to work with troubled families in Salford. And it looks like the unpopular company is already screwing it up, failing to hit targets and taking work off UNISON members…

I n another worrying aspect of the privatisation of public services, G4S is currently in the midst of a three year Government contract worth £16million, working with some of the North West’s most vulnerable people, including Salford’s troubled families.

G4S calls itself “the largest new entrant into the welfare to work market” and, after taking a fat slice of the funding for itself, has sub contracted companies, including Work Solutions in Manchester (an offshoot of the Chamber of Commerce) to actually carry out the work of supporting families including help with skills, employment and parenting.

Meanwhile, Salford Council staff, who already do this job, are expected to refer families to G4S for them to `help’.

“It’s a bit of Catch 22” says Salford City UNISON steward Lawrence Duke “Either we don’t refer to these agencies and there’s sanctions imposed on the local authority, or we do and they take our work from us.

“We’re struggling to find work for them” he adds “We’ve been given instructions to refer to these companies who haven’t got any accountability. And their results are not judged on outcomes but on how many families they get coming through their service.

How are they proving their worth by numbers?”

G4S revealed how it works at a Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion conference in May, titled Families, Communities Place: A New Way Forward for Delivery. Hot topics included `public sector and welfare reform’, while a presentation was entitled `Cost benefit modelling for working with troubled families’...

On the day, George Selmer, North West contracts director with G4S, gave a presentation that was all about numbers and revenues, and not so much about problem families. He revealed that, six months into the Government contract, G4S had achieved only 15% of its target… “This represents at best a delay, at worst a loss of around £2million of revenue for our supply chain.”

Admitting a lack of referrals and `questions over where the programme fits’, Selmer urged conference attendees to provide more referrals and to `trust’ the programme… “Providers only get paid if they deliver…But if they don’t have enough customers to enable them to hit their targets they can’t afford to maintain the service to the necessary levels…”

Salford’s troubled families appear to be mere profit making machines to G4S, although at the very end of his presentation George Selmer had a slide stating “We talk a lot about numbers, but we never lose sight of the fact that those numbers represent people’s lives being changed…”

For Salford Council employees, it seems that those numbers represent duplication of work that’s already being done by them, for private gain…

“We have to give them the families so they can tick their boxes, we have to give them the business” says Lawrence “What do we do while they are doing that? That’s the grey area. We’ve launched an early intervention service, and what it feels like is that they’re coming in and trying to replace that.”

There’s also a worry that Salford Council might seek the opportunity to axe even more jobs. But even more worrying is the effect this programme might have on the very families that they are meant to be helping.

“We’re supposed to go to the families and say `Look we’ve got this help’ but it’s yet another person involved in their lives which they may not want” Lawrence explains “At least with the Council there is some democratic control over the service but these companies are accountable to no-one.”

G4S is right at the heart of the Government’s privatisation plans, and is mainly accountable to its own investors who forever seek fatter and fatter profits…

24

NO MORE ACADEMIES IN SALFORD! With three new academies established, UNISON and the Anti Academy Alliance is determined to stop any more schools in Salford from transferring…

Union members have been fighting

a battle to stop Michael Gove’s plan to make every school become an academy.

Whether it be a converter academy such as Irlam and Cadishead College, or forced by the Government, the union view is that it is not in the interest of our members, the parents or the wider community.

UNISON was strongly opposed the transfer of Albion High School, Marlborough Road and Dukesgate Primary to the Salford Academy Trust, run by Salford College and the University of Salford with Salford Council a minor partner.

Despite repeated requests for clarification of the reasons for this transfer, no formal explanation has been received, although in an interview with the Salford Star, Councillor Merry, the Assistant Mayor for Childrens Services, said that he was forced by Michael Gove to do this. We believe that the Council should have told the truth to parents, staff and the unions, and defended the schools against this undemocratic attack.

None of the schools can be categorized as `failing’. In the case of Dukesgate, staff were told that improvements made would stop the need for it to become an academy. Again, the performance at Albion High does not merit it being considered for academy status.

Since the outset of academy discussions, members within these schools have opposed the transfer and called upon us to actively campaign against academy status. Their concerns go beyond

Campaigners opposed to Irlam and Cadishead College becoming an academy protest outside the school.

terms and conditions issues, to include issues such as the ethos, culture and democratic accountability of academies.

Although these schools have now become academies we are determined to resist any further conversions in Salford, while continuing to represent our members in these schools to the best of our abilities.

Since the first discussions about the transfers the unions have made it clear that written protection for our members and the school are required. A trade union recognition agreement protecting our members’ terms and conditions, a written promise not to create a two tier workforce and a guarantee against selection.

Although the battle was lost to stop the academies at Albion High, Marlborough and Dukesgate, we were successful (for now!) in stopping Buile Hill School joining them. We are also confident that we will get a full recognition agreement with the Salford Academy Trust.

None of this could have been achieved without the resistance taken by our members. If you hear of any plans to make your school an academy please contact the Branch Office immediately.

The Salford Anti Academy Alliance is now trying to encourage the Council to work with the unions and community to stop any further academies in Salford. If you would like more information about the Campaign get in touch!

At a public meeting held in July attended by over 100 people, the following demand was adopted: The Council oppose all forced academies and immediately notify unions and Salford AAA. The Council should also oppose any converter academies such as Irlam and Cadishead College.

The Council should stop approaching schools to be part of Salford Academy Trust. Any further academisation to be put on hold.

The Council should have a veto over any decisions taken by the Salford Academy Trust and trade unions to be granted a full union recognition agreement, in line with the TUC Model Agreement.

The Council to support a full community ballot over any school in Salford which wishes to become an Academy.

25

CLEGG’S PUPPETRY WORKSHOP With Mr Nick Clegg (The one who stands just behind Mr David Cameron, our Prime Minister) It is time for our favourite puppet-expert to answer a few of your queries. Mr Clegg has been a puppet for two years, giving critically acclaimed performances in the comedies: We are a Coalition; Student Fees – Up! Up! And Away!; and Where Have All The Councillors Gone?

He won a sitting ovation at this years’ Liberal Democrat Party Conference, and was totally ignored at a factory in Slough.

Here, Nick answers a few of your questions: Q. Sooty or Sweep?

This is a good one. I know the answer, but can’t quite remember. I will come back to it.

Q. I am a ruthless dictator and wish to form a `puppet government’. I want to make sure those I install are entirely within my control – with no opportunity for their opinions to be aired. Can you ask Mr Cameron how he does it?

This is a good one. I have asked my good pal Mr Cameron, but he was busy eating the apple crumble I had just cooked for him. He said I should not answer this query yet, as I don’t have the expertise….

Q. My partner has offered to buy me a puppet, but I don’t know whether to choose a glove puppet or a string puppet. The costs are about even, and the mechanics – although slightly different – should not present me with any problems. Which variety would you suggest is best for my needs?

My good pal Mr Cameron has attached strings to my limbs, but gets my other good mate Mr Osborne to insert his hand up my (editor’s note – Mr Clegg was otherwise engaged during this answer) Q. Should you not have stuck to your election pledges of opposing student fees, maintaining taxation for the rich, whilst lowering taxation on the less well off, and (editor’s note – this question has no reference to puppetry and is therefore not allowed) No I’d like to answer this one…Erm. It’s a good one. I know the answer but I can’t quite remember. Can I come back to it?...

Q. Who is the best puppeteer you have ever worked with? And why?

That’s the easiest question so far. Rod Hull was excellent with Emu, and Mr Corbett was very good with Basil Brush.

The Thunderbirds were marvellous, and Bob Carolgese was smashing with Spit The Dog, but my favourite, as I have just been told by my rather brilliant pal Mr Cameron is…MR CAMERON!!! Ouch Mr Osborne, stop wriggling!!!

26

HUMANEGEMENT PUZZLE PAGE As we all know the Human Resource section has been rebranded, and this magazine is almost bent double with laughter at the thought that our esteemed colleagues in that section will be addressed as `Humanegement Consultants’. In their honour we have devised a series of puzzles for you to pit your wits against.

WICKED WORDSEARCH

Can you find these words?

They’re things you might find in and around the Town Hall…

UNISON HUMANEGEMENT MAYOR CUTS SALFORD STEWARD COMMUNITY DEMO PROTEST

1. How many words of four letters or more (excluding proper nouns, past tense, hyphenated words, made up words that include Humanegement) can you make out of the following letters: H.U.M.A.N.E.G.E.M.E.N.T?

THE FAB HUMANEGEMENT PHOTO CAPTION COMP!!!

Win loads of UNISON goodies with this fab humanegement photo caption comp. Simply write a fitting caption for this historic moment in Salford’s history when our new Mayor signed up to something.

Hand your witty entries to a UNISON steward or the branch office and this unique prize could be yours!

2. Anagram solver. Can you solve the following anagrams?

Enema Men Thug Mean Teem Hung Team Gunmen Eh Mange Eh Me Nut Heat Me Men Gun Nag Eh Men Mute 3. Cryptic Crossword:

1 Clues: 1 Across: Heaven sent in extremely large chaps’ time.

4. Wordsearch:

B

N

H

U

M

A

N

E

G

E

M

E

N

T

Z

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Contact the branch office for Salford transport details: 0161 794 7425/793 3126 office@salfordcityunison.org.uk