Stand Up For Salford Issue 4

the magazine of Salford UNISON Winter 2013 Issue 4 Free

...PAY CUTS, SERVICE CUTS, CAMPAIGNS AND VICTORIES...

INTRO Welcome to the Winter 2013 edition of Stand Up For Salford‌ This issue we have for you stories of campaigns against ConDem Government cuts and Council connivance, complete with union victories in the fight for better work conditions and pay. We also have some fun seasonal stories, and a competition to `think the unthinkable’.

the magazine of Salford UNISON Winter 2013 Issue 4 Free

CONTACT SALFORD CITY UNISON:

Branch Office 434 Chorley Road, Swinton 0161 794 7425/793 3126 office@salfordcityunison.org.uk

...PAY CUTS, SERVICE CUTS, CAMPAIGNS AND VICTORIES...

Printed by: Caric Press Ltd 525 Ringwood Road, Ferndown Dorset, BH22 9AQ 01202 871 766 www.caricpress.co.uk

Enjoy!

UNISON OFFICERS AND CONTACT DETAILS Branch Secretary Steven North (07557281475 or steven.north@salfordcityunison.org.uk) Assistant Branch Secretary / Diane Ogg (07557281472 or Education Co-ordinator diane.ogg@salfordcityunison.org.uk) Branch Treasurer Ameen Hadi (07557281471 (07557281471 or ameen.hadi@salfordcityunison.org.uk) Branch Chair Lawrence Duke (07757281473 or Lawrence.Duke@ salfordcityunison.org.uk) Welfare Officer Paula Lawless (07809085203 or Paula.Lawless@salford.gov.uk) Communications Officer Richard Nelson (07971617401 or richard.nelson@salford.gov.uk) Health and Safety Officer Alex Gillespie (07557281474 or alex.gillespie@salford.gov.uk) Membership Officer Kevin Corran (07971495597 or Kevin.Corran@salford.gov.uk) Equalities Officers Sue Wray (07557281476 or sue.wray@tesco.net) Bora Oktas (07748054446 or bora.oktas@salixhomes.org) Lifelong Learning Coordinator Samantha Fargher (Samantha.fargher@salford.gov.uk) Education Coordinator Alec McFadden (alec_stuc@hotmail.com) Lifelong Learning Coordinator Samantha Fargher (Samantha.fargher@salford.gov.uk) International Officer Olu Ayodele c/o office@salfordcityunison.org.uk and Labour Link Officer Young Members Officer Rose Stanyon (rose.stanyon@scll.co.uk)

Contents 2014 Must Be The Year of Decent Pay How Refuse Workers Won Pay Rises, Better Conditions and More Jobs…

We Saved Mental Health Services From Privatisation Is Anyone Listening to the Parents of The Grange Kids?

Bedroom Tax Horror Continues Ten Ways for the Mayor To `Think The Unthinkable’ Agency Workers and Safeguarding Concerns Stressed Out at Work?

Welcome the Wellbeing Board Youth Service Cuts Salford City UNISON at Work in Schools and Colleges The `Bank of Salford’ is there for you…

The joy of UNISON: Members and Stewards reveal all!

And…Can You `Think The Unthinkable’?

Win £30 worth of shopping vouchers!!!

A Message from Salford City UN Secretary Dear UNISON Member Welcome to the fourth edition of Stand up for Salford. If you work for Salford Council, you will no doubt have seen the diagram on the Council’s website: `Message from the City Mayor - We must think the unthinkable’…

Despite having cut nearly £100m from jobs and services already, the Council is preparing for a further £75m worth of cuts. The Mayor is telling us to prepare for the worst, to “think the unthinkable”.

Many of us are already doing that…

UNISON members in Salford don’t have to `think the unthinkable’; we already encounter the unthinkable… …Thinking the unthinkable about the sacrifices we and our families already have to make. Thinking the unthinkable about informing people that the services they rely upon are being taken away from them. Thinking the unthinkable about disabled children who

may no longer be able to access respite at The Grange or vulnerable adults having to be supported by private carers who aren’t allowed to spend more than 15 minutes with them.

UNISON members in Salford don’t have to think of the unthinkable; we already encounter the unthinkable and from what the Mayor tells us this is only going to get worse.

UNISON is the body through which we can all (officers, stewards and members) come together to fights cuts to jobs and services. This is difficult given the onslaught we all face and success is not easily found despite our best efforts.

This magazine will feature views from those members faced with a pay cut this coming April, and from those who see their jobs under threat. However, success is not impossible – even at the hardest times – and we want this magazine to make that clear also, which is why we feature articles from successful campaigns for decent pay in Refuse and Recycling, against attacks on Mental Health services and in fighting

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m Steve North, NISON Branch

proposed cuts to Youth Services.

As I’ve been writing this, the news has just come through that the Mayor will not be seeking to fill the post of Chief Executive or Strategic Director for Customer and Support Services. £70,000 for the proposed Council Manager is still a wage that most of our members could only dream of, but this definitely indicates a step in the right direction.

There is much in this magazine that will cause concern, but I hope that there are also sections that you find inspiring...

We want to see the Mayor build on this commitment to making sure Council resources are spent on the right things by involving unions, service users and the public in drawing up of a budget that

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genuinely protects the services that we all need and that challenges this Government, and any future Labour Government, to support Salford.

Perhaps what is most disappointing about the Mayor’s statement on £75million cuts is that two of the years considered for further cuts would fall after the next General Election. By May 2015 we could have a different Government led by a different political party, so why the grim prediction? We know that this is because - despite its positive messages on the Bedroom Tax and Energy Prices – the Labour Party is not prepared to commit to abolishing this Government’s proposed cuts for 2015-16 and 2016-17, even if it forms the next Government.

Perhaps what is most disappointing about the Mayor’s statement on £75million cuts is that two of the years considered for further cuts would fall after the next General Election UNISON has challenged Salford’s Labour Councillors to come out and state clearly that they do not believe a Labour Government should go along with Tory spending cuts, in the hope that this will put pressure on Ed Miliband and Ed Balls to change their mind. As of yet, they have not done so…

But we can’t afford to wait. We have to continue to fight against austerity wherever we are able. It’s hard but unless we are prepared to genuinely `think the unthinkable’ - and make way for a Salford of fewer opportunities for young people, less support for the elderly and the vulnerable, and low-paid jobs for those of us who can get them - we have to continue to plug away day by day in the hope that by standing together working people, trade union members, can make the politicians listen.

We have to continue to fight against austerity There is much in this magazine that will cause concern, but I hope that there are also sections that you find inspiring.

As always, UNISON appreciates your support and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to get more involved. If there is not a steward in your workplace and you feel it is a role that you could either do or would like to learn, please get in touch. If not that, then please consider talking to your workmates about joining the union.

The stronger we are together the more we can achieve.

Please enjoy Christmas and New Year and I hope to see you all at the AGM in February.

Thanks.

Steve Steven North Branch Secretary, Salford City UNISON

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2014 Must Be Decent Pay

£1 an hour pay increase anyone?

We in Salford were really disappointed

when UNISON agreed to accept a meagre 1% pay rise for 2013-14. As a Branch we encouraged, and then supported, the North West region’s opposition to 1%, but unfortunately it was only our region and Greater London that were prepared to speak out against this dire offer and recommend that members vote to reject and to strike if necessary.

In the last few years we have lost 18% of our wages in real terms…even without that statistic we all know that our wages are not stretching as far as they used to, and we are all having to make difficult choices or, in many cases, having any choice taken away from us.

We have had the arguments about pay restraint being necessary to protect jobs (the jobs are going anyway) and it is becoming a necessity now for many people that 2014 is the year we get the pay rise we deserve.

The Joint Trade Unions (UNISON, GMB and UNITE) have agreed the following opening claim for NJC (Green Book) Pay for 201415: “A minimum increase of £1 an hour on scale point 5 to achieve the Living Wage and the same flat rate increase on all other scale points” This would mean a £1/hour increase for all staff on NJC Pay. It might seem optimistic, but we’re glad the unions have opened with such an ambitious claim. If our employers are going low then there is no sense us

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e The Year of “I am a single women so with only one wage, and near to retirement (Feb 2014), I still have a mortgage and bills to pay. The pay cut will affect my daily life as I can just manage my finances and struggle with food bills and petrol coming to work. This gets worse near the end of the month.”

Children’s Service Worker

starting down there with them. We need to aim high and fight for what we can. This year it is too important not to try.

“The pay cut has affected my family life. As a single parent to two children I worry constantly whether I will have enough money to pay my bills and feed my children to the end of the month now. I will be in a worse position come next April when pay protection ends and I really don’t know how I will manage. I have worked for the authority for 32 years and feel unappreciated and saddened by the current situation.”

Children’s Services Worker

It is not just important that we try to secure a decent pay rise in April 14, but also how we try and that is why Salford Branch along with others will be submitting the following motion to any UNISON body that we can take it to in the hope that it becomes our union’s position:

“I am deeply disappointed with Salford Council knowing I am to receive a pay cut of £1,500. I have worked for the Authority for more than 25 years and have been committed Given the decision to pursue a claim for “ A minimum throughout. It saddens me to increase of £1 an hour on scale point 5 to achieve the think an Authority doesn’t value Living Wage and the same flat rate increase on all other its employees and makes them scale points”, this body of UNISON affirms the following: feel undervalued. As I am a 1. That because the Government has made it clear that it is not single parent it is to affect me all round, my children, my home prepared to agree a negotiated settlement of more than a 1% and my life style…Thank you increase we should not be drawn into protracted discussions Salford.” and should announce a campaign of industrial action if and Children’s Services Worker when it becomes clear that the employers are not prepared to move significantly beyond a 1% pay offer.

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“The loss of 9% of my salary as at 1st April 2014 will have a big effect on my family, in a year that my daughter will be going to university. In real terms it will mean less support for her and more cut backs in every area of our lives including, food, clothing, leisure, and replacement of ageing items such as white goods and a car, which I am contracted to have to do my job.

We have already struggled over the last three years with the rising cost of heating and insurance but it has been the rising costs of car use that has been the biggest burden.

Insurance and repairs plus finding the money to put petrol in has been a constant worry. As you will know local government were negotiating with us on an annual basis up until three years ago and we have not had a rise in allowances across the country since then. The last time it was looked at by staff side and our employer the cost of petrol was at £1.03p per litre and we are now paying £1.36p a litre. This, apart from rises in maintenance and insurance which have also gone up. We are running our cars on behalf of our employers at a loss.

The salary cut for myself and my colleagues, some of them one parent families, will have been much more than 9% over the last three years.

I am not sure on what basis our employers can consider this carries on, as it is not a benefit but a return for what we are paying out. The constant struggle to maintain running a car has an effect on morale.”

Children’s Services Worker

2. That we should seek to coordinate any action on pay – not only with other NJC unions – but also other trade unions both public and private to really challenge the austerity measures of this Government.

3. That any offer that falls below the rate of inflation (applicable at the time) should be rejected by UNISON’s negotiating bodies – and that if such a final offer below inflation has to be put to the membership (if required

by UNISON’s pay consultation procedures) it should be accompanied with an unequivocal recommendation by the NJC Committee to reject it.

4. That 2014-15 must be the year we genuinely seek to defeat the pay freeze and pay restraint and reassert the central importance of collective pay bargaining to our membership and union.

We know that the Government believes we should only get a maximum of 1%. Therefore there is no point negotiating unless our own employers within Local Government are prepared to go against what the Government recommends.

If they are not prepared to do this (and we should know pretty quickly) we should not waste the next 6 or 9 or even 12 months in pointless negotiations…we should ballot and we should join with other unions in dispute and take any action necessary to achieve a pay award that we deserve.

We are all concerned about the loss of income such action might bring, but we need to understand that a day’s wages equates to less than 0.3% of our annual salary. The threat of coordinated action on pensions in 2011 delivered a new offer from our employers that was worth much more than that. The action itself on November 30th saved us from losing the equivalent of day’s salary every month in increased pension contributions. Don’t let anyone tell you that strike action does not work. It rarely achieves everything we want, but it frequently achieves more than we lose by doing it.

All this being said, we don’t want to have to strike. Even if the financial benefits would outweigh the losses we don’t want to disrupt the services that the people of Salford rely on us to provide. We only want our employers to be fair and give us the rise we deserve. However, if they don’t, we need to let them know that we are valuable and we are important…and unfortunately it is sometimes only on the occasions we are not at work doing our jobs that our employers are prepared to recognise that.

We will keep you updated with developments as they arise.

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“I am very saddened that I will be taking a very large pay cut from April 2014. I have worked for this Authority for over 27 years, and have seen a lot of changes over those years.

We have been on a pay freeze for over three years and had attacks to our Essential Car user Allowance and attacks to our pension. I am really going to struggle financially as my husband is also on a pay freeze. I am earning less now than I earned over ten years ago. When we went through job evaluation it was the first pay rise I had for over ten years as I was at the top of my scale.

I thought `Yes, at least the Council has recognised all the hard work I had put in’. But then this year all my dreams were shattered when I was informed I was one of the losers in the next round of pay cuts. I was more upset to think that all the hard work and effort and loyalty I have given to Salford over the years were shattered. I was even more upset when the Chief Executives and the higher earners were not even prepared to take a 1% pay cut. I have been trying to make changes and savings to my monthly outgoings to help me prepare for what is to come.

I am very angry and upset with Salford Council, as they will still expect the same level of work for £25,000 less than what I am paid now. I also feel for my colleagues and members who are in the same position as me, as we go through these cuts together.”

Paula Lawless, Welfare Officer, Salford UNISON

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TEN WAYS FOR THE MAYOR TO In light of ConDem Government cuts of a further £75million over the next three financial years, Mayor Ian Stewart has asked staff to `think the unthinkable’. So we’ve come up with a few ideas to help him do that…

1) Fight the ConDem Government which is responsible for all this when it has loads of money for High Speed trains, wars and MPs’ heating bills.

Will Salford Council put up a fight?

Look, there’s a flying Eric Pickles going over the Civic Centre…

2) Ian Stewart himself to donate some of his £69,000 salary towards services that are being cut. And maybe some of our other highly paid Assistant Mayors and Senior Officers could do the same. Look, there’s another flying Eric Pickles going over the Civic Centre…

3) How about stopping the £3million a year sponsorship of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra? The Mayor might say that the Council has a contract with the band but what about the social contract with vulnerable residents?

4) MediaCityUK is still gobbling up almost £2million a year, with most of it going towards the funding of The Landing (£1.7million this year). Now, if we ask Salford residents which they would rather have – a posh office block with a 5 star private club, or for a disabled kids’ short term respite centre to stay open, how do we think they might respond? For that amount we could even continue to support all our vulnerable adults that have moderate needs, rather than casting them out to fend for themselves.

5) No more bridges! No more competitions for bridges! Crescent bridge comp? £40,000. Crescent bridge budget? £1.9million!

6) No more apps! The Council is lining up between £50,000 and £100,000 towards a £150,000 `heritage’ app for mobile phones, as part `replacement’ for the Salford Quays Cranes they’ve just demolished.

7) Stop funding Peel Holdings! The richest conglomerate in the North West has had £12million in public money given by Salford Council, or filtered through the Council, over the last twelve months. Port Salford alone is getting a total of £15million from Council coffers – a £4million grant and £12million loan which is costing the Council £360,000 per year in repayments for the first five years.

8) Sell the Council’s 50% stake in Trinity IPC, a joint venture company with Bruntwood Estates. The land near the Irwell and Trinity Park is currently a car park bringing in £13,612 per year, but is worth over £3.2million.

9) Call in the Salford City Reds £1.5million loan – if the club can afford to offer £1million contracts to rugby stars they can pay their bills first. The Council could also sell its share of the AJ Bell Stadium that doesn’t even carry the city’s name any more, and recoup our £22million loan.

10) No pay-offs for highly paid Council officers who `resign’!

Choices, Mr Mayor, choices…

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`THINK THE UNTHINKABLE’…

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UNISON Seeks to Open Dialogue with Anti-Cuts Councillors At UNISON’s 2013 Local Government Conference a motion was passed opposing `the sustained attack on public services resulting from the savage cuts to local government funding being inflicted over more than five years by the ideologically driven Tory led government’ and supporting any councillor who is prepared to stand up against cuts.

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he motion noted the emergence of a group called Councillors Against the Cuts which believes “that instead of implementing the Coalition’s cuts, councils and councillors should refuse to do so and help workers and communities organise in resistance”. Councillors who are in the group also pledge “to vote against all cuts to services and jobs, increases in rents and charges, and increases in council tax”.

The motion called upon our National Executive Council to initiate a debate in the labour and trade union movement about how councils and councillors should respond to the continuing savage spending cuts, and requested that UNISON Labour Link establishes a dialogue with Councillors Against the Cuts in order to determine the scope for joint campaigning activity.

Our Branch was proud to support this motion in the hope that UNISON’s support might encourage councillors in Salford to consider adding their names to the growing list of councillors prepared to oppose cuts.

Salford City UNISON Branch Secretary Steve North emailed all of Salford’s Labour councillors to see whether they were prepared to engage with UNISON in the discussion about what councillors can do to oppose cuts. Of all the councillors contacted, only two, Councillor Roger Jones and Councillor Gena Merrett, had the courtesy to reply. Unfortunately, neither of them was prepared to engage in the discussion – believing, despite arguments to the contrary, that they must vote for cuts whether they like it or not.

It does not appear that Salford’s elected councillors intend to oppose the £75m of further cuts our city is facing in the next three years, therefore we as a union must continue to work with service users and the wider public to oppose cuts wherever we can. If by doing that we convince either sitting councillors or new council candidates to support us then this would be a great step forward.

Please check out Councillors Against the Cuts at http:// councillorsagainstcuts.org

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Youth Service Cuts Will They, Won’t they!

Earlier this year, in April, Salford Council announced that they wished to make cuts of £640,000 to the Youth Service budget, with the potential to make thirty people redundant. Young people and youth workers, supported by both UNISON and Unite, launched a public campaign against these cuts and petitions demanding the Council not to decimate Youth Services… …In the summer, Children’s Services management announced that, not only had the £640,000 cut been withdrawn, but also other unmade cuts totalling £160,000 were also going to be written off. In total the Council report concluded that £800,000 would be found from Salford City Council’s growing reserves to offset any cuts.

Before you get too excited, this victory has lasted all of three months! The Council has now announced a further restructure, with savings of over £300,000 and more than ten jobs at risk, to be implemented by April next year.

Clearly the Council are picking sums off the top of their head, or possibly from some other part of their anatomy. They are clearly making things up as they go along.

Young people have been some of the worst hit because of the recession, losing Educational Maintenance Allowance, having to face the imposition of tuition fees, and losing access to benefits, while no-one does anything about growing youth unemployment.

For these reasons alone the Council should step back from these cuts. If not, UNISON will campaign with others, to stand up for young people’s services and try and force the Council to reconsider.

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WARD CLOSURES AND BED SLASHINGS

Members of Salford City UNISON and

Greater Manchester West Mental Health UNISON supported a protest this month outside the Meadowbrook Unit at Salford Royal Hospital against ward closures.

The Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMW Trust) is proposing to `redesign’ older adult mental health in-patient services, slashing the number of beds available for people with dementia, acute anxiety and depression in Salford by almost a half, from 66 to 35.

As part of this process, the Trust wants to close the Claremont ward at Meadowbrook and `re-locate’ it, with less beds, miles away at Woodlands in Little Hulton. The Hawthorn facility in Bolton would also be closed, reducing the overall beds in both areas from 116 to 70.

The GMW Trust argues that the units in both Salford and Bolton are `under capacity’ – but minutes from the Salford Mental Health Partnership Board from 2011 state that “The population is aging

and with this comes the prediction of a 61% increase in dementia by 2026 and increasing demand on mental health and social care services”.

The Trust’s move is part of its programme of over £10million of cuts across Salford, Bolton and Trafford. Indeed its own report states that the loss of beds will help it achieve “the required savings target”.

The bed slashing is justified by the Trust as a way of “enhancing the patient experience”, as, “patients to be managed in the community for as long as possible”. However, support services in the community are themselves currently being slashed by the cuts.

The Salford protest outside Meadowbrook followed another demo outside Bolton Hospital, also supported by local UNISON branches… “We will fight to stop all the proposed closures of mental health wards in Bolton, Salford and Trafford” says James Gold, branch secretary of Greater Manchester West Mental Health UNISON.

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September 29th 2013: `TORIES NOT WELCOME HERE’

Thousands of UNISON members joined the

50,000 strong march against cuts and austerity to `welcome’ the Tory Party Conference to Manchester.

Before the main march, around six hundred trade unionists and campaigners joined a Salford feeder march and a rally at Bexley Square addressed by reps from the fire service, teaching unions, NHS, anti-fracking groups and the jubilant Hovis workers who had just won their strike against zero hours contracts.

Salford UNISON branch secretary Steve North, introducing the speakers, urged the need to fight back over what he called “an ideological attack by this Government on working people”.

As they skulked into their conference, behind steel barriers and through streets thronging with people opposed to their policies, the Tories certainly got the message that they weren’t welcome in Manchester and Salford…

TALKING

How refuse staff beat off pay cuts and dodgy working conditions to get pay increases and more jobs, by Gary Miller, UNISON Steward for Refuse and Recycling

How did the dispute begin? As a

consequence of job evaluation, the employer tried to implement a reduction of the number of vehicles on the road required to complete the work and the loss of completion bonuses. This was followed by an attempt to introduce a system which would have resulted in further substantial cuts in pay. We also felt pressured into adopting questionable working practices that affected our health and safety, and there was a constant threat of overtime exclusion should we not complete the work over the week, regardless of any uncontrollable circumstances.

“We were sick of being treated like a group of workers who didn’t matter and could be pushed around…”

Protracted discussions with management were proving unproductive, and the employer was reluctant to acknowledge UNISON’s assessment of the situation, so the conflict started to develop into a full blown dispute.

Regular shop floor meetings were held with members, which gave the negotiators the opportunity to measure the membership’s feelings – and they were not shy in venting their frustration!

The outcome was that we decided to take the health and safety aspect of our roles more seriously. We were no longer prepared to take risks with our health for an employer that was trying to cut our pay. What did this mean exactly?

• Long hours in difficult conditions were having a terrible impact on members, so we decided to register for work at our official start time at 6.30am and finish at 4pm.

• We started to take the breaks we were entitled to, instead of working through them to complete the rounds.

• Members returned back to the designated depots with proper washing facilities at dinner time instead of taking their lunches on site.

• Single bins were placed on the lifts instead of two at the same time.

We were clear that we weren’t working to rule, but that we were just making sure that our health was being taken seriously for a change. Having taken our goodwill for granted, management were horrified when they saw the consequences of us simply doing what we were supposed to be doing in the first place. The consequences were… * Long delays in getting crews out of the depot onto their collection patch. * The public given a substandard service delivery because of uncompleted work.

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RUBBISH * Excessive complaints from the public which created additional costs to resolve. * The Council unable to meet service targets. * Massive overtime costs running into hundreds of thousands of pounds to pick up uncompleted work.

We didn’t want any of these things, but we were sick of being treated like a group of workers who didn’t matter and could be pushed around. We always wanted to seek a resolution and we found one.

Management told us they wanted to talk and that they could see our point. Many of the issues about our wages were not in their direct control but they told us they would support our cause to HR. As a result…

• Both the Drivers and the Loaders pay scales were reviewed by the employer and together with some minor concessions the Drivers have accepted an increase in salary of £1,900, and the Loaders have accepted an increase of

£1,070 which is to be dispersed over the next three years.

• A new overtime agreement was implemented which benefited all UNISON members.

• Recruitment of 18 new posts mainly offered to long serving agency staff, with addition positions in October 2013. * Successful negotiations led to members receiving double time payments over Christmas / New year. * More overtime for members by moving trade collections through the week onto Monday collections.

Lessons learnt? Lech Walesa once said: “The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.”

In other words don’t undermine the determination and resolve of UNISON members, particularly refuse collectors!

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Mental Health Saved from Pri Kevin Corran, a steward for Community Mental Health, tells how UNISON achieved no compulsory redundancies, no cuts in pay, terms and conditions, no loss of service to any individual and of course, no privatisation…

At the start of 2013, staff in Salford’s

Community Mental Health Services were given a grim message about the future of our service. We were told that Greater Manchester West NHS Mental Health Trust (who we were seconded to and managed by) would no longer continue to provide that role and that, as such, we would probably be outsourced to the private sector.

The staff who were to be affected by this, care workers and support workers – knowing full well what privatised care can often mean for staff and service users – were terrified by this prospect. We weren’t about to sit back and let it happen.

Everybody in the service is a UNISON member and through the union we approached our senior managers within the Council to make it clear that we felt the Council should take back the direct management from GMW and give us security as in-house staff.

First of all we were told it wasn’t possible, but we weren’t prepared to accept that.

We could see that savings could be made by placing us under the management of existing Council managers thus allowing the Council to keep the money it spent on GMW managers.

As a result of our persistence – and our reputation as a group of workers who have never taken the word “no” particularly well – we convinced commissioners within the Council (the officers who decide who gets to provide what services) to let us try and find a Council-delivered model. Workshops were organised over a three month period that pulled together the Council, GMW, UNISON and a service user rep, and together we came up with a plan that we all felt could work. It gave us within the union the opportunity to show that our involvement is not just about protecting staff, but is also about making sure that the situation on the ground is reflected.

Between us we developed a model that we felt would work. It would involve some sacrifice (from all parties) but no compulsory redundancies, no cuts in pay or terms and conditions, no loss of service to any individual and of course, no privatisation. In fact the model we came up with was seen as so positive that the Council has been willing to pledge more capital investment into it than they are taking out from revenue funding.

Once the workshops had finished we were told that a full consultation of thirty

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Services ivatisation! days with staff and ninety days with service users would take place before any decisions were made. We are still in that consultation and as has been stated there are some challenges to manage around changes to the service, but nothing we feel we can’t overcome.

I wanted to write this because I believe that this story sends two messages to anybody struggling against privatisation or other attacks on services: If you’re persistent and you’re organised through the union you can get management to listen, no matter how hard that might seem. Proper consultation works and UNISON involvement at all stages of consultation – from initial discussions around in-house delivery, through to the more formal stages – means that the voice of the workforce is heard from the start. Yes it is about protecting hard working members, but it is also about making sure that the voice of the people who deliver the service and who have ideas to make the service better are heard.

The journey from potential privatisation to an exciting in-house model full of opportunities for a really good service going forward has been a difficult one,

but it’s been well worth it!

I’m sure we as a union will learn a lot from what we have achieved and I hope that management will do also because what we have delivered here is good for everyone who believes in good, directly provided services.

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SAVE THE GRANG Are You Listening

Earlier this year the Council announced it was consulting over respite care for families with children with disabilities.

The intention was to remove respite from The Grange, make the place a long stay residential home and consider privatisation of this resource.

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rom the outset, our union members opposed the change, not primarily because of the implications for their jobs but out of concern for both the children and the parents who needed the respite.

Children, parents, staff and other professionals all oppose the closure of The Grange as a respite centre. They have shown how the change has not

been thought through and has crassly put financial savings (`cuts’, to you and me) first, without considering the impact on these families. The Council should be hanging it head in shame for what they have put these families through – and are continuing to put them through.

The Mayor’s intervention has been poorly thought out and has compromised his

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GE g?

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Rent-a-crowd

role in making a fair decision. The Save The Grange campaign, of which the Union has been a part, has been led by parents from the outset. The questions that they have raised have never received a satisfactory response…

• These are children and should be supported by childcare workers. Let’s hope that the Council has no plans to move children in care into The Limes!

• When a foster care placement breaks down or is unsuitable where do these children go?

• No consideration has been given to safeguarding at the adult unit, Granville.

The Campaign has been successful so far in holding the Council to account. It have forced the Council to reconsider further, but only very grudgingly. No acknowledgement or apology has been made to the Campaign for the inappropriate vilification or slurs, particularly against the union. Everything we have said has been true, something that the Council cannot say in this case.

In September the Save The Grange campaign, led by parents, called a lobby of Ian Stewart who was attending a Salford Youth Day event in Eccles.

The Mayor responded by putting out an official press release stating…

re-consider its priorities?

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the parents who, despite having very busy and stressful lives have stood up to the Council and fought for their rights. They are an inspiration to us all.

“I am appealing to the UNISON local branch officials to call off their misguided lobby – better to sit down and discuss any issues like sensible adults, rather than resort to the usual renta-crowd placards and megaphones, which do not set a good example for our young people” Margaret Tunnacliffe, who has two children with disabilities currently using The Grange, said at the time… “The Mayor’s press release is disgusting… is that what he thinks of us, a `rent-a-crowd’?

The parents called this lobby, not UNISON, and I, as a parent, think that standing up for children with disabilities, is showing a good example”.

The ConDem Government has mercilessly attacked disabled people Ameen Hadi, who have suffered the worst under Branch Treasurer austerity, while the Council will give us The Grange Proposals the mantra that it has to make the cuts…but · To close The Grange as a centre for children with surely a Labour Council disabilities who need short term breaks, and re-open it should be trying to as a centre for children with long term needs who are protect the vulnerable currently receiving that care outside of the city.

– does it not need to · Children who currently go to The Grange will be either sent to `specialist’ foster carers if under 14, or put in Granville, currently an adult facility, if between 14 and 17.

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A Festive Story for the Bleak Mid-winter I

t was the January after the December when some people decorate their homes with bright lights, trees and decorative tinsel, causing power-outages across the land. In an office, throughout the festive period, the sixty watt lamp had burned.

Hunched over a large scroll of parchment sat Hermann R. Zoursses, who was frustrated.

“How can I save more pennies?” he was heard to mutter “How can I please my boss, Ban Qui Balanz?”

For days and days Hermann had pondered this question with the central heating on full, scribbling and scrawling until his quill had worn out. The ice painted the roads outside a velveteen white. “I have already stopped the gritters” he mused sadly. Indeed the large accident that had occurred outside his window only the night before reminded him that sometimes making budgetary decisions could be a trying task.

“I have restructured the grave digging service” he thought, looking out at the line of coffins up against the wall “so that we employ only half of the people we used to.” He wondered when these victims would be moved because they did not lend themselves to making the building look picturesque in the ice laden moonlight.

“I have rationalised the rubbish collection” he smiled, although the smell from the bin outside was beginning to seep through the office window. This coupled with

the sight of the broken vehicles, the coffins and the frozen blood on the road… “Good job I laid off the Official Photographer” “I have reorganised the IT department so that less people are doing more – same as the Call Centre!” Hermann was chuffed at this before consulting with his computer again which had crashed twenty minutes ago: he had tried to report it, but had got a voicemail…

“The only services I haven’t touched yet are the people services” he considered.

“What is essential about keeping children, old people, the infirm, the disabled, and the enduringly mentally ill safe?”

Just then his colleague, Bob Crunchitt, entered. He had asked for leave over the festive period but Hermann needed help with the other, less important, tasks. Bob was wearing a short sleeved vest, as it was so warm in the office. “Could we not turn the heating down Mr Zoursses?

The whole building is roasting – a bit like my turkey at home where Mrs Crunchitt

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and Tiny Tim Crunchitt and the rest of the family Crunchitt were enjoying what we can afford after not having a pay rise since 2008.”

Hermann suddenly had a `Blue-Sky Moment’.

A pay freeze AND pay cut!! A revision of EVERYBODY’S pay and conditions!!!

HA! HA! For those whose pay we can’t cut (`anyone like me’, he thought) we will FREEZE!! (A bit like pensioners, he chuckled). All the rest can be `reevaluated’…

“Crunchitt, come here! I want you to fill in this form, and answer some questions” he said jovially. …And so it was that Bob Crunchitt and his family endured more festive misery, along with everyone who had been `reevaluated’, except Ban Qui Balanz – who enjoyed a contractual `bonus’ ( and he didn’t pay for parking either!).

Eventually the bodies were removed from the crash site by agency staff, who were employed after a `shortfall’ was identified…

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BOB THE SALFORD COUNCIL WORKER A story of our times…

It was getting darker in the mornings and darker in the evenings when Bob was travelling to and from his work with Salford City Council.

Every journey Bob reflected upon the fact that he hadn’t had a pay rise since 2008, and that his journey now cost him about twenty times as much as it did then.

But Bob was unperturbed. Salford wasn’t a bad place to work, after all. True, they had reneged on his protected pay from the last “reorganisation”, and a few of his workmates had disappeared, but in these times of austerity…

One day Bob arrived at what was the Civic Centre, but now looked strangely unfamiliar. The roofs were stripped of tiles, and beams and eaves were exposed. There was no glass where windows used to be, and the whole building seemed to be in darkness.

A workperson was stood in the entrance to reception – where there were no longer any automatic doors, just some string stretched across thrice between door frames.

“What’s going on?” enquired Bob. “Cuts mate,” was the reply. “We’ve ‘ad the winders, and we’ve ‘ad the roofs. It’s the bricks we’ll be ‘avin’ next.”

“But this is my workplace,” stuttered Bob. “Still is, mate. Jus’ no buildin’ as such.”

“Is my desk still in there?” Bob asked.

“Dunno mate. We’re not on desks. We’re on roofs and winders,” adding quickly “and bricks.”

“Who is on desks?” “’Arry and Joanne. But you’ll ‘ave ter ‘urry.

They’ve ‘ad most of ‘em away already.”

Bob had left his mug on his desk. It was his special mug. He hoped his desk had been left behind, just so he could get his mug. He’d had it since 2008, when he could afford a new mug.

Bob ascended the now carpet-less stairs (Jenny and Iona were on carpets) and into the open plan office that was his workplace. Only now it was even more open plan than it had been. The breeze through the glassless windows, and the tile-less ceiling, and the door-less doors gave the office a more outdoor feel. And there were no desks, and consequently no mugs. Harry and Joanne had already been.

“At least we are now a completely paperless Council,” Bob quipped to noone in particular, as there was no-one in particular there…

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D R

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£1.5MILLION? IT’S PLANE OBVIOUS Open Letter to Ian Stewart re the Windfall to Salford Council from Manchester Airport Group

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Dear Ian It was fantastic to read that the ten Greater Manchester Councils will soon receive a share of the £48m windfall declared by Manchester Airport Group this week. The announcement is a real testimony to what public ownership can deliver for the public purse.

I understand that Salford City Council is one of nine Councils that collectively own a 29% share in the Airport Group (with the tenth, Manchester owning a larger share than others) and as such we in Salford are expecting our local authority to receive roughly £1.55m following this announcement.

As a publicly-owned entity the Airport has long been supported by Salford residents – along with others of course from across Greater Manchester. As such, we hope to see those residents benefit from this return on their long-standing investment.

Salford UNISON believes that the £1.55m should be put to good use in protecting services and jobs for the people of the city – starting with those areas where campaigns already oppose certain cuts.

We believe a great first step would be for the Council to announce that it will pledge a small amount of that money to allow respite care to continue for children and young people at The Grange in Eccles. As you know this is an issue that the parents and carers of disabled children have been campaigning on and we believe it would be fantastic news for them if the Council were to guarantee on-going respite care at The Grange for their loved ones.

Please could we further suggest that some of the money is used to maintain care for Salford residents with `Moderate’ care needs? As you know, the Council is currently considering withdrawing support for people with moderate care needs and cites reduced resources as the principal reason for doing so.

Salford Council has long had a positive reputation for how it has provided care for vulnerable people and we should not lose our status as the only Council in Greater Manchester to provide such support easily. This year’s Council budget tells us that the Council will save £300,000 if the proposals to withdraw that care go through. The unexpected announcement if this £1.55m should mean that we no longer have to do that; which would again be fantastic news for the most vulnerable in our city.

These are just two suggestions that we hope you will consider.

Overall, I want to say on behalf of our members that an announcement from you as our Mayor, saying that Salford City Council will put back every penny of this money into services for the people of our city would be a welcome announcement for all Salfordians.

We hope you can consider our suggestions and we would welcome the opportunity to be part of the discussion on where this money can be put to best use.

Yours sincerely Steve North Salford City UNISON Branch Secretary

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CUTS CAN BE BEATEN! Could some of the most vulnerable

people in Salford take on the Council and win? When mental health service users heard that their vital drop-ins and support workers were in danger, they enacted every trick in the activists’ handbook to try and preserve their service…

As the pointedly named U.S.U.C. (United Service Users Committee), they occupied the Salford City Council chamber as a full meeting of councillors was about to take place, they went on every march and demo carrying a huge Mental Health Cuts Will Kill In Salford banner, they picketed offices of the Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust, they even got a private audience with Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, and stopped yet another Salford Council budget meeting in its tracks.

This 18 page booklet, produced by Salford Against the Cuts, is their story, with added police, politicians and bureaucratic pedants…

“Recent years have seen services stripped and cut to the bone” writes UNISON activist and Salford Against the Cuts secretary Kevin Corran in the introduction “In 2012 we were promised that the directly elected mayor Ian Stewart would do things differently – not a bit of it. The struggle we have had to defend mental health services in the city really began when he was elected…”

Well, well, well worth a read!

Cuts Can Be Beaten: How mental health service users took on Salford Council… and won!

By Stephen Cullen and Paul Gerrard Published by Salford Against the Cuts price £1 (£2 solidarity) available from the UNISON office.

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READERS’ COMPETITION!!!!

How would you like to assist our erstwhile City Mayor?

He has asked us to `Think The Unthinkable’ Can you `Think The Unthinkable’?

The best `Thinks’ will win Shopping Vouchers worth £30 Just remember they must be clean and printable.

Send to Stand Up For Salford, UNISON Branch Office, 443 Chorley Road, Swinton Or email: admin@ salfordcityunison. org.uk marked Think The Unthinkable

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BEDROOM T HORROR CO Doubling of tenants in arrears

The statistics reveal all about the

Bedroom Tax…According to the group False Economy, 41% of Salford Council’s housing tenants have been pushed into rent arrears…while new figures from City West Housing show a doubling of its tenants in rent arrears, from 34% in April when the Tax was first introduced, to 74% six months later in October.

Indeed, City West presented a powerpoint report to the Council last month, and under a title of ‘The Scale’ laid out the stark consequences of the Tax which affects 1,672 of its tenants…

1,076 are `under-occupying by one bedroom’, and 596 `under-occupying’ by two or more bedrooms, with an arrears total of £421,219 – a jump of £78,660 since April.

So far, only 238 City West tenants have moved to smaller properties and there have been 43 exchanges of homes.

Which means that 1,391 tenants are either trying to pay the Tax or having their benefits reduced for `under-occupying’.

Meanwhile, anyone wanting to downsize their home will find that City West has a waiting list of six years for a one bedroom property, while Salix has stated “We cannot unfortunately guarantee that everyone who wanted a one bedroom

home would be allocated one.”

So far, no-one has been evicted in Salford because of Bedroom Tax related rent arrears but the social housing companies are refusing to back a No Eviction policy.

During the summer it got to the point where the United Nations, which normally investigates housing problems in socalled `under-developed countries’, came to Britain to see the scandal first hand.

The UN’s Special Rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, actually came to Salford and heard Pendleton resident, Dave, explaining that “I could lose my flat after Christmas, I’ll be on the street…what else can I do except live on the street? I can’t afford another £14 a week”. After visiting Salford and other places in the UK and meeting those affected she announced ““My immediate recommendation is that the Bedroom Tax is abolished”.

The United Nations will hear her full report in Geneva in March but meanwhile the protests continue, with Salford Against The Bedroom Tax taking an active lead.

Watch out for more marches and keep in touch through the Salford Against The Bedroom Tax Facebook group or the No Bedroom Tax website www. nobedroomtax.co.uk

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TAX ONTINUES…

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It’s everyone’s duty to challenge discrimination!

UNISON has written a report to the Council with our ongoing concerns about how people are treated due to their race but this would equally apply to gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Recruitment and Retention For many years the aim has been to have a workforce that reflects the wider community.

The latest BME census points to a 10% BME population and it is clear this figure is not reflected in the workforce.

Black UNISON members continue to feel that it is harder to gain career progression. New jobs are few and far between but even when there is a vacancy the feeling is that it is not what you know that can get you to the top.

The Union continues to be concerned that Equal Opportunities is applied, ensuring a transparent selection procedure.

There also is a feeling that managers making decisions about career progression view Equal Opportunities as `treating everyone the same’ rather than positively recognising difference and addressing any prejudice of thought or deed.

Staff Support There are 2 issues here: 1. Dealing with service users: Given the wider political environment it is not unusual to face racist comments, whether direct or indirect. However there seems very little discussion about how to deal with such comments. When comments are made, at best they are ignored. This does not create a positive working environment. There is a continued view that BME people are under represented in receiving supportive services and over represented in punitive action.

2. Working in teams Sometimes BME staff feels like they are given the worst tasks within the team by the manager or by other workers. Cliques develop, isolating them, which can often lead to them distancing themselves or where there is more than one BME worker reciprocating.

From our experience BME workers do seem to be over represented in grievances and disciplinary matters. Also, in terms of reorganisation and restructure they also feel they are more likely to be moved.

There seems a difficulty in HR, with managers responding to specific complaints of racism.

They seem to be embarrassed or scared that it has been raised, rather than investigating the matter within a supportive environment.

There also seems to be a lack of understanding of indirect discrimination and I would be surprised whether these staff have been on appropriate anti discriminatory training. This sometimes leads to accusations of racial discrimination, first to be brushed under the carpet or, where it is pursued, for there to be a very protracted investigation.

Again this makes it more difficult for that worker to ever return or feel comfortable to stay within this setting- hence retention difficulties.

Conclusion We have raised these issues with management and are awaiting a positive response to the concerns. If you are suffering discrimination please contact the Branch Office and we will offer you confidential support.

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North West Unite Against Fascism

NICK GRIFFIN MUST GO! Regional Conference

Sunday 24th November 2013

10.30am - 5pm, Unite the Union North West Regional Office, Jack Jones House, 2 Churchill Way, Liverpool L3 8EF. If you would like to attend on behalf of the Branch please contact the Branch Office on 794 7425 and help to build UAF’s Nick Griffin Must Go campaign, to stop Nazi Nick from being re-elected North West MEP in 2014.

Speakers confirmed so far include Mohammad Taj (TUC President) and Manchester City Councillor Daniel Gillard plus reps from trade unions and UAF.

The Conference is supported by North West NUT, Unite the union North West, UCU North West Region and others.

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Corporate Health an A Step Forward For S Salford City UNISON has lobbied for some time for a corporate body to be set up specifically to look at the Health and Wellbeing of Salford Council employees.

We know that the cuts have meant more work and more stress. This is an issue that the Council needs to take seriously and while we don’t yet feel we could say that staff welfare is at the top of the Council agenda, we do believe that the setting up of this body is a step in the right direction.

First of all, the Board has important people involved and is Chaired by Assistant Mayor for Humanegement, Councillor Paul Dennett. This will mean it should have some clout and will be able to deliver on what is agreed. Secondly, the Board rightly involves a trade union voice and we have already been using this voice to help set the agenda as to what needs to be done.

At the time of writing, the two immediate issues the Board will be taking forward are a questionnaire for all staff on your experience of the workplace and some much needed training on mental health awareness for all staff with supervisory responsibilities.

We know what you were thinking when you read `questionnaire’ and we don’t blame you. These are normally irrelevant documents, drawn up by people who have a vested interest in the outcome and who could probably find out who you

are if you’ve put something they don’t like reading. It does look as though this one will be genuinely different. It has been drawn up by John Hudson from Salford University and the unions have been really involved in making sure that the right questions are asked and that people can feel confident about filling it in.

We haven’t seen the final version yet, but hope to be able to encourage our members to respond to the questionnaire as we believe it will help us in tackling the more difficult issues you face when coming into work. Watch this space for more info but the current plan is to see this distributed to staff in December.

As for the Mental Health Awareness Training, this was an issue specifically raised by UNISON after the positive feedback we got from stewards after they attended a course on this issue that we recently held at the Branch Office. Many of them told us that a bit of awareness had opened their eyes to the reality of mental health and mental illness, and we thought…`Well, if it’s enlightened stewards then it could enlighten managers’.

We know that there are managers and supervisors who don’t care about the wellbeing of their staff, but we really do

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nd Wellbeing Board: Staff Welfare

believe they are the minority and we feel that many simply don’t have the tools to deal with the challenging issue of mental health. We also applaud the Council when it seeks to employ people from difficult backgrounds where mental health issues may be more of a concern, but want to make sure that those new employees are coming into a workforce that understands the problems they might have to deal with.

That’s why, as well as a staff questionnaire on issues like stress, bullying and workloads, we want to see some training for all managers and

supervisors on mental health so that our members who are managers feel more confident in approaching this issue. The rest of us can benefit from enlightened managers who know how to support the one third of us who will experience mental health issues in the course of our working lives.

If you feel that there are any issues we should be raising through the Corporate Health and Wellbeing Board that would help you and your colleagues, please get in touch and let us know.

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UNISON Reache Aided Schools a Here Diane Ogg, Salford City UNISON Assistant Branch Secretary, explains how the union is reaching staff at Voluntary Aided Schools and Academies, including a collective Pay and Grading Programme…

I

am currently working very closely with Salford City Council and Head Teachers from Voluntary Aided schools which entails consultation on an individual school basis.

When Salford City Council implemented the new pay and grading ( P&G) model on 1st April 2013, Voluntary Aided Schools and Academies did not, as they are a separate employer. However, since then Salford Diocese has recognised and agreed it would make sense that faith schools within the authority fall in line with state schools.

In view of this I am currently supporting members within the schools/academies who now wish to adopt the new structure, and, whilst working on the implementation of the P&G model, with support from our Regional Office, our aim is to negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement, achieving recognition of the Trade Union in the workplace. As you can imagine this is not a straight-forward process purely because of potential individual school impact.

‘Introducing the Living Wage’ One of the key features of implementing this structure is the living wage which has seen the salaries of our lowest paid employees increase to £7.45 per hour which is a welcome prospect for many workers within the education environment.

This programme will be running for several months.

‘Defending Pay and Conditions in Schools’ During this time, UNISON has been visiting all Academies in the North West as we want to make sure that school support staff know they have a trade union they can be a member of that will look after their best interests. So I incorporated my visits into the pay and grading programme. UNISON represents more education staff than any other trade union in the UK. 350,000 members in education gives us a powerful voice. Collective Bargaining also permits members to achieve workplace democracy.

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es Voluntary and Academies

Ameen Hadi and Diane Ogg on the teachers’ strike march in June.

‘Landscape Changing in terms of Government Policy in Education’ It is my aim to have at least one steward in every school within Salford, and/or one contact so that we can maintain a link with the school. During my visits I highlighted to members our main campaigns at the moment - defending school support staff jobs; terms and

conditions in the face of cuts to academy budgets; the safe administration of medicine; asbestos in schools and violence against school support staff.

Membership in schools has increased considerably in Salford and I would like to think this is a result of regular visits and close relationships that I have developed with members in the past few years.

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UNISON at Salford City College

For the past couple of years, reps

at Salford City College have been working closely with HR on the College’s JE Scheme which is now near to completion. Throughout the process reps have been involved in supporting members at their individual evaluations and have been involved in moderation right from the outset.

Once scores and salaries have been communicated to staff again UNISON reps will be on hand to support members in understanding their scores and in any appeals that may result.

At the College, UNISON reps also form part of the Well Being Committee which has been set up to discuss and improve staff welfare and well being.

Through this group, and JCC, UNISON has made valuable suggestions, such as Mental Health Awareness training for all staff - but in particular for managers, so that they are more aware of how issues such as stress and mental illness can affect people in the workplace and how they can better

support staff dealing with such issues.

This training is currently being supplied

by UNISON trainers.

Finally, UNISON reps also meet with HR and other unions four times a year at JCC to discuss issues that affect staff throughout the organisation.

Issues such as the College financial position, College policies and staffing issues are regularly discussed.

If you need any help, you can contact any of our Salford City College reps at the email addresses below: Jan Boden – jan.boden@salfordcc.ac.uk Nick Brown – Nicholas.brown@salfordcc.ac.uk Jonathan Bielby-Nichols – jonathan.bielby-nichols@salfordcc.ac.uk Michelle Ollerhead – michelle.ollerhead@salfordcc.ac.uk

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Sponsoring Wardley Football Team 2013 Primary School Junior

Just look at our little football team, they are extremely proud to wear the UNISON

logo just as we are proud of them! The school team needed a sponsor and we were delighted to assist. I was invited to go along to say a few words at a whole school assembly where the team donned their ‘strips’ with pride. Don’t they look the business!

Anyone wanting to enquire about Salford School Team sponsorship can contact myself, Diane Ogg, Assistant Branch Secretary, and we will see what we can do.

Diane.ogg@salfordcityunison.org.uk

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UNISON Supports Stop G4S Campaign!

S

alford City UNISON has passed a motion supporting the Stop G4S campaign and has called on the National Executive to back the campaign too.

G4S runs prisons, electronic tagging and court management services, and seeks expansion into policing and probation services. It was awarded the COMPASS asylum seeker housing contract for Yorkshire and North East England, and a recent parliamentary hearing was told of systematic failures including missed deadlines, sub-standard accommodation and forced evictions.

G4S is also contracted to run part of the Government’s ‘Work Programme’, despite having no experience in this area, and has been accused of cherrypicking claimants, coercing claimants into inappropriate jobs or training in order to receive contractual payments and referring people unnecessarily for benefit sanction in order to meet targets.

Meanwhile, in Occupied Palestine, G4S is involved in gross human rights abuses and violations of international law through the services it provides to the Israeli Occupation Forces. The trade union movement in Europe is taking a leading role in the campaign, for example, G4S in Norway was petitioned by trade unions and others, calling for it to cease activities complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the mistreatment of Palestinians.

Our branch has called on Salford City Council to end any existing partnership or contractual relationships with G4S and to pledge not to enter any further such relationships. The motion also calls on the UNISON National Executive to encourage regions and branches to support and work with the Stop G4S campaign, and to prepare a G4S briefing for all UNISON sponsored MPs and also for councillors so that they can raise questions about G4S’ activities and work practices.

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UnFair Access to Care Services The Fair Access to Care Services (FACS)

guidance has formed the basis for deciding whether people are eligible for adult social care in England for the past seven years.

It has turned from a positive measure to a rationing tool for local authorities. Salford claims it cannot afford to offer people with moderate needs access to services and is about to embark on a process of reassessing over 1000 people in Salford who fall into this bracket.

What will it mean? It will mean that many people who need support for their personal care will not receive it. Other needs, not determined substantial, will not be met, leaving these people even more vulnerable to abuse, neglect and isolation.

It may lead to a scandal but as one social worker put it: removing these services is a scandal in itself!

The Union is aware that such cuts will create an added burden for staff and put them in potentially dangerous situations. If you are concerned about your workload or concerned about your Health and Safety please contact the Branch Office.

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Zero Hours, Agency Workers and the Living Wage!

Our branch was proud to have

supported the struggle of Hovis Workers who successfully fought off the introduction of Zero Hour Contracts and the use of Agency staff at their work place. The Branch Committee, inspired by their example, believe our union with others should mount a serious campaign against such practices.

In Adult Care the use of such contracts is widespread. They are usually accompanied by firms’ unwillingness to pay travelling times between visits. In effect, it means that, not only do those workers have no sick pay, leave or guaranteed income, but they are paid less than the minimum wage. It is the duty of those in full time employment with permanent contracts to stand up for our fellow workers.

continuity of services to have a stable workforce. Surely the risks are too great to carry on in this way.

Salford City UNISON is committed to a campaign to rid Children’s Services of agency work - but to achieve this aim we are asking members to sign up to our campaign. To add your name, please contact the Branch Office.

We must say to the local authority to only commission care firms who do pay a Living Wage.

With regard to agency, we are particularly concerned about Children’s Services use of agencies with some of our most vulnerable families and children. Surely it would be better for staff morale and

UNISON supporting the Hovis workers.

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Safeguarding Teams Demands…

NO MORE AGENCY STAFF Dear Nick Page UNISON has consulted with our members from the Safeguarding Teams …who have raised the following concerns… ·

The safeguarding teams have been reorganised over and over again, and the strength of feeling that there has been no period in which to consolidate has led to this current position. Staff feel dispirited, disenfranchised and disempowered.

·

It seems the Authority feels it can appoint internally without reference to equal opportunities, and this has caused dissent and may lead to staff withdrawing the good faith that has always been the bedrock of successful social services.

·

The use of agency staff to `plug holes’ illustrates that this Authority is unable to attract workers with necessary experience – we welcome newly qualified workers through Salford University, however this places extra demands on existing workers to supervise and train and has not given us a stable workforce.

The members, in light of this situation, make the following demands…

1) No further arbitrary redesigns of the Safeguarding services, or parts thereof, without full consultation with the staff teams and service users.

2) No further arbitrary staff changes/`unsolicited’ promotions without due equal opportunities processes being applied.

3) No further appointments of agency staff – a full and comprehensive recruitment campaign to fill vacant social care posts appropriately.

4) If it is difficult to attract staff we demand that the senior team look at our pay and conditions, and improve them so that we are paid in accordance with the responsibilities of the role and in line with the better paid authorities in the North West. …These steps and meaningful discussions can produce a positive way forward.

Yours sincerely Richard Nelson, Children’s Services Convenor, Salford City UNISON

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WHY I BECAME A SALFOR Here, Michele Phillips, a Salix Homes steward, explains why she got more involved with the union and the joys of being active…

I have received a lot of help over the

years through the union and have learnt a lot on the way. As our organisation was losing some of our stewards to Pendleton Together Housing Group re the Pendleton PFI, I felt it was a good opportunity to step-up. I have always believed in equality and have found myself over the years giving advice, and therefore I decided to stand for election so that I could help others.

I have taken the first stewards course and believe that I’m better prepared to assist, with further courses to learn more in the pipeline. I have assisted in a number of cases already.

I’m currently collating information and preparing a report to assist the first response team to have their rota reviewed - where managers had failed to see the need to review and action a change to the benefit of all staff members so that overtime and time-off are evenly distributed across all teams. This is still an ongoing review.

I have already accompanied and supported staff when giving witness statements for disciplinaries and am regularly attending JCC meetings which empower us to raise issues directly with the management if middle managers are not listening to our members’ concerns.

I’ve also attended UNISON Branch committees where local and national events are co-ordinated, and support is offered on various issues from libraries, NHS, Social Services, Salix, City West Housing to Call Centre staff etc.

It is truly amazing the knowledge that these people bring to the table and, without newspapers or a public forum like the BBC to promote them, they manage to get the word to normal working people that ‘the money for the services’ is available. If a government were to chase one small area of the business/banking world for their tax evasions there would be no need for the majority of the lower paid or those being made into the underclass to suffer… But they want people to feel they daren’t say `No!’, or to challenge the rights they are losing, and also to watch services and their salaries being steadily eroded away.

A union is just that - a group of people who act together are the union – and, as such, I am proud to say this is what I stand for, and work for freely to effect a positive change and to encourage those people not to give up or give in… …UNISON will be there to help you to help yourself and your colleagues gain positive outcomes. We will arm you with information – this is true power!

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RD CITY UNISON STEWARD

“I got involved with Unison to meet interesting people and visit exotic places. In twenty-odd years I haven’t been disappointed – I’ve met many memorable individuals and I’ve visited Orbit House several times!” Ray Boyle, Customer and Support Services

“I wanted to be a Unison steward as I wanted to make positive changes happen for me and my colleagues rather than changes being made for me and my colleagues” Daren Wright, Steward, Salix Homes

Why I Joined UNISON “I’d heard of UNISON way before I qualified as a social worker so I was already quite open to the idea of joining.

meetings in Council chambers to the vast protest in Manchester against the cuts in public expenditure.

Social work is one of those professions where we are so accountable that we need an extra layer of protection so I always felt a proper, established Union body would suit my needs as a public sector employee. I had the good fortune of my local Union Representative being in close proximity at work. Paula would always tell me about how the Union fought for the employment rights of its members and spoke of the inspirational work the Union does, from opposing BNP

Paula was also able to point out the many benefits of joining the Union, from legal advice and dental plans to car schemes and services to LGBT members. I had always wanted to join based on the reputation of UNISON, however, Paula’s expertise, knowledge and passion made me join up on my first day in service!!!”

Jonathan Fairclough Social Worker - Looked After Children’s Team

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THE ‘BANK OF SALFORD’

The not for profit `bank of Salford’ is beating off the sharks…

W

hile legal and illegal loan sharks are trawling the economic seas of recession, Salford has its own not-for-profit `bank’ to fend them off. Salford Credit Union exists for its members and provides relatively low rate loans, plus savings accounts for anyone who lives or works in the city.

When you join the credit union, you open a share, or savings account, and become a part owner of the co-operative, sharing in any profits, or dividends, at the end of the year. There’s no fat cats trousering bonuses.

The Credit Union is good for small loans, used for things like Christmas presents, holidays or financial emergencies, and decisions are normally made quite quickly, with a choice between paying weekly, fortnightly or monthly, at rates cheaper than many of the high street companies. It also has no fees or charges for paying the loan off early, A comparison table produced by Salford Credit Union shows that interest paid on a loan of £300 can be over a fifth less than a doorstep or payday lender, whose typical APR rates are quoted as 272% for doorstep lenders, and 4214% for payday lenders, compared to 25.36% for the Credit Union.

Beginning up the road with the Rochdale

Pioneers in 1844, there are now 56,000 credit unions in 101 countries around the world, of which two hundred million people are members. In Ireland 70% of people are credit union members, and in Salford there’s now a big push to get people using this affordable, ethical alternative to the high street and doorstep lenders and loan sharks.

Salford Council employees can also have savings or loan payments taken direct from their payroll - see attached form or the online form at www.salfordcreditunion. com For further details of Salford Credit Union see the website, phone 0161 832 1998 or email info@salfordcreditunion. com The main office is at The Old Bank Building, 6 Great Clowes Street, Lower Broughton, Salford, M7 1RE Open times Monday-Friday 9am-4pm and Saturday 10am-1pm.

Salford Credit Union is also at Eccles Gateway Tuesdays 10am-2pm and Pendleton Gateway Thursdays 10am2pm.

Membership for adults is a one off payment of £3 and is free for children under the age of 16.

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Salford City UNISON

AGM 2013 Wednesday 12th February

2014 5pm – 6:30pm

The Council Chamber, Salford Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, M27 5AW

Refreshments Provided AGENDA 1.Formal Election of Branch Officers and Stewards 2.Treasurer’s Report 3.Annual Report from the Branch Secretary and Questions 4.Motions 5.Branch Rules 6.Business Plan and Key Objectives for 2014 7.Guest Speaker

All motions must be submitted to the Branch Office by Noon on Wednesday 8th January 2014.

ALL MEMBERS WELCOME

It’s your union. Please come along and have your say.