January 2014 newsletter

Inside

Job Evaluation Appeals: What you need to do next

Taking the Liberty:

Terms & Conditions: All hot-air and no progress

Are some council assets worth more than others?

City and County of Swansea

Review Organise to defeat austerity cuts Tory chancellor George Osborne promised

hikes brings the increase up to 20 percent since Cameron took office. Benefit cuts hit millions last April, including more than 700,000 by the notorious bedroom tax and many more by cuts to council tax benefits.

And a new TUC study shows that 34 of the government’s 43 changes to benefits have hit people in work. No wonder there are an extra half million people using food banks, Prices have risen faster than wages for 41 and an alarming rise in the use of payday of the 42 months of his government. loan sharks.

Soaring energy bills mean one in ten pensioners has to stay in bed longer just to The branch has consistently warned our keep warm. The latest round of rail fare members that the cuts made by the Conrecently that 2014 will be “a year of hard truths”. This means more cuts. He said a further £25 billion of cuts would follow next year’s general election, almost half from benefits. The real hard truth is that the bosses are raking it in while ordinary people are poorer.

Dems and implemented by Labour-led Swansea Council were the thin end of the wedge. The scale of the cuts should come as no shock to our members who read our newsletter and other information we produce. We told our members that cuts to Local Authority spending had been back loaded by the Labour led Welsh Assembly and that massive cuts were to come though of course we did not have the detail then.

We have always opposed cuts firstly because the money is there - look no further than the rich and big business.

➥ p4

STOP THE COUNCIL CUTS:

DEMONSTRATE

AT THE COUNCIL MEETING

4.30PM - 6PM TUESDAY 4TH FEBRUARY

THE GUILDHALL - Swansea Public Service Not Private Profit

January 2013

Terms & Conditions: what's happened?

As a employee with Swansea County Council there has never been a time when you have needed your union more. Listed below are issues facing the workforce in 2014.

EQUAL PAY In the next few weeks if you have not already done so those eligible should receive offers to settle outstanding potential Equal Pay claims. These payments are to compensate for past pay inequalities; they do not set the pay for the future. UNISON is satisfied that the best deal possible has been negotiated if further lengthy legal proceedings are to be avoided, therefore the settlement is recommended to our members. If you feel you have been underpaid, initially speak to the employer to check if the calculations are correct, if you are still dissatisfied contact UNISON at the UNISON branch office detailed.

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Following UNISON members’ rejection of the employers’ Single Status proposals the lead County Councillors promised meaningful discussions. UNISON entered into discussions on the issues...but these discussions were a sham.

SINGLE STATUS

Single Status is the new pay structure and employees' contracts of employment, that is supposed to be negotiated with the trade unions to ensure a fair pay system. This has not been the case in Swansea, the employers have used Single Status to cut and impose terms and conditions. Following UNISON members’ rejection of the employers’ Single Status proposals the lead County Councillors promised meaningful discussions. UNISON entered into discussions on the issues below but these discussions were a sham and not as promised. These ended just before the end of 2013 with major issues not agreed.

The employers’ response is as follows:-

Retainer Payments Retainer payments will cease as this goes against the agreed principle that we will only pay employees for hours worked.

Car Parking Charges Car Parking will be the subject of review and consultation following the implementation of Single Status.

Shift Allowance Shift Allowance will not be paid.

Standby and Call Out Payments To remain as per the original negotiated position.

Disturbance Allowance Disturbance Allowance will be discontinued.

Severe Weather Policy The position as per the BAFO stands. We will seek to ensure managers apply the policy consistently and sensitively.

Redundancy and Redeployment This policy is open for further discussion to ensure that it can be applied consistently and fairly to the new pay structure.

Incremental Progression at Implementation On the basis that Single Status is implemented on 1st April 2014, the principle to not backdate increments is adhered to (pending further advice) and the first increment post implementation will be 1st April 2015.

We appreciate that this is disappointing to UNISON members and UNISON is pledged to continue to campaign on these issues, however some of you who have not signed the new contract will have received notice to dismiss and reengage you. UNISON reluctantly would advise you that it would be in your best interest to sign the new contracts to avoid dismissal.

Swansea

Unde emplo gover

Service Cuts

UNISON believes the advantage of financial c would not normally get

The council have anno three residential homes care. In one breath they improve services in the c have to make savings cutting, as very minimum have asked for the cou

'Outsourcing' =

The council proposes services including 2 le Bishopston and the Plantasia, Community C

UNISON’s experience is the wages and jobs cut Bearing in mind the coun of this outsourcing this is

'Our' Cou

The choice facing councillors is to fight alongside council work service users, or do th dirty-work for them. To d have chosen the latter councillors, even those trade-union bac apparently willing to s principle.

Whilst services are stra money and jobs are thr the council is even cho spend over half a million on re-furbishing the Civ Council Chamber.

Many press-statemen Labour accept the cuts.

Tory-language, they e the budget-crisis 'opportunity' to 'stream Council and turn it from into a 'speed-boat'.

Councillors could make stand shoulder to shou

Taking liberties: Why ar homes, day-centres and under attack when the C the Liberty for millions?

Councillor's might have tickets like the rest of us

a's austerity: What attacks is the Council making?

er the title 'Standing up for council employees' Labour's pre-election Swansea manifesto said "hard-working council oyees are the council's most valuable asset...Swansea Labour believes local services are best delivered by local rnment". We are far cry from this now. Below are the attacks the Council are making on the workforce:

council officers are taking cuts to railroad many plans that the go ahead.

transition plan as councils normally would have in this are false promises as more and more jobs will be given position, they have stated there is not one. over to the private sector indeed 80% of home care work is being carried out by private contractors whose UNISON has asked which residential homes are at risk pay and conditions are just above minimum wage and and for the council officers to be more specific in sometimes fall below. regards to care service cuts, we have stated how this is causing stress to clients, residents and workers, to date the council is still short on detail with time running out. It is UNISON’s view that the council’s strategy is to close all the residential homes in the near future.

ounced the proposal to close s, day centres and cut respitesay the council is to invest and community in the next that they . The figures show they are m, £500,000 from services. We Council officers will make promises that staff will be ncil’s business and business/ found jobs in the community, UNISON believes these

= privatisation

Earlsmoor Respite Care Home in Brynmill.

Shut by the Council over four years ago and left to rot on the seafront. This could be the future for many services if we do not fight.

Redundancies

to outsource and privatise many of its eisure centres, these being Penlan and following services Parks Maintenance, Centres, Outdoor Attractions.

The employer has served on the Trade Unions that they are proposing to dismiss the equivalent of 687 full time posts over the next 3 years taking into account many of these will be part time UNISON’s estimate is that this will mean that about 1000 jobs will go with about 500 of these to go this year. This means that one in ten Swansea council workers jobs will go.

s that such staff outsourced normally have t in the long term by the new employers. ncil propose to make budget cuts as a result s more than a small fear.

Whilst UNISON is in negotiations to mitigate the number of compulsory redundancies with such a massive number this will be impossible and UNISON estimates at least 600 compulsory redundancies will result with many of your jobs at risk. UNISON has asked the council to be more specific on what posts are at risk; worryingly council officers are failing to be more precise.

uncil: Saint's or sinners?

Labour the cuts kers and he Tories date, they r with no e with a ckground, stand on

their hard working employees and campaign alongside the trade unions and the people of Swansea to refuse to implement the cuts.

Although there is some criticism within the Councillors of the cuts, most of this is restricted to the lack of internal democracy, not the cuts themselves.

They could campaign in the press, the workplaces and our communities, mobilising those who face the cuts to fight for their services, to strike and to apped for demonstrate. reatened, They set a budget that meets the oosing to needs of the people of Swansea, n pounds ensuring mass popularity. This ic Centre would be a bold step and may have legal implications. But it nts from would trigger a welcome political Echoing crisis - especially if our even see councillors campaigned as an with councillors in all mline' the the other councils a 'tanker' who are making similar cuts. e a stand; ulder with

We need less hand-wringing, less 'secret' opposition of corridor-conversations, and far more public fight.

re older-people's d other services Council could sell ? But then our e to buy their own s...

If they did campaign to oppose the cuts we would support them all the way. With or without them, as a branch we will need mobilise our membership to oppose all cuts to jobs, services and terms and conditions

JE Appeals Unison has had a lot of calls from members stating that they are still waiting for someone from the union to contact them regarding their Job Evaluation Applications (JEA) they have sent us. We have a team of five officers who are going through the list at the moment.

We are aiming to contact all our members who have put in JEA application forms by the end of March 2014 the latest. In the meantime we would ask members to get as much information together as possible so that the team will be able to assess their JEA quicker.

Unison is still negotiating the Job Evaluation Appeals process/procedure with the employer and is hoping to come to a conclusion as soon as possible.

For further information please contact one of the following: Dave Evans 07551 154538 Tracy Schoolmeester 07551 154539 Sallyanne Taylor 07551 154440 Malcolm Harrington 07551 154541

UNISON on the move The UNISON Office has moved in the Guildhall we are now in room number 153-G

Residential Residential Care Care Workers Workers in in Glasgow Glasgow staged staged aa two-day two-day strike strike in in January January with with more more action action to come we need the same kind of action in Swansea if we are to save our services to come - we need the same kind of action in Swansea if we are to save our services The rich have got richer and big business has around £800 billion lying idle in its coffers as they can’t see a profitable place to invest. Meanwhile food banks are widespread and cash-your-pay-checks, pawn and charity shops inhabit Oxford Street and the Kingsway.

Through Single Status - though some members deservedly get more pay - many others and their families will suffer hardship and poverty in growing numbers. Most have to work harder and are under more pressure in work.

YOUR UNION

Employees are not replaced when they leave or vacancies are not filled resulting in more and more suffering with stress and stress-related illnesses. All this and for a financial crisis we did not cause. Why

Contact us:

should our members and the people of Wales. Another paper produced by the Swansea suffer for the crisis of the banks Institute for Fiscal Studies - 'Scenarios for and economy? the Welsh Government Budget to 2025-26' - again paints a stark and bleak future for We have also opposed cuts because the Local Authorities/Public Services in Wales. cuts Swansea Council have implemented They calculate that even with the most thus far were never going to be enough, and optimistic economic forecasts we will be the employer was always going to be suffering cuts even then. coming back for more given the scale of the cuts coming from Westminster. The Con- The reality is well before this time if cuts are Dems clearly want to dismantle, destroy or allowed to continue at their present rate privatise as much of the public sector as there will be very little left of non-statutory they can. services left to cut by then.

A document produced by the HR Directors Network in Wales called ‘Facing the Future Together’ starkly pointed out the scale of the cuts that were coming. They calculated in the next four years (2013-2017) £520 million would be cut from Local Authority budgets in

We are not prepared to allow our members to be thrown on the scrapheap; we are not prepared to let the people of Swansea and vulnerable service-users have their quality of life seriously eroded. All cuts must be opposed ♦

Unison Office, Rm 153-G, The Guildhall, Swansea 01792 635271

unison@swansea.gov.uk

Branch Secretary: Mike Davies / Asst. Secretary: Ian Alexander Unison has over 100 trained union reps throughout the council, schools and FE colleges. We will advise, support and represent you collectively and individually on issues from sickness, disciplinaries to legal matters inside and outside the workplace. If you need advice or representation please contact the Senior Steward(s) for your department below or go to your workplace steward. Alternatively please contact the branch office.

Social Services Alison O'Kane - 07856 641234 Alison Davies - 07941 757853 Martin Chapman - 01792 635271 Education Pat Lopez - 07557 560097 Mark Otten - 07789 485009 Eve Morse - 07532 232873 (after 3.30 pm) Chris Bell - 07967 551025

Sports & Social website: www.suss.me.uk

Regeneration/Housing John Llewellyn - 07557 560093 Roger Owen - 07847 942458 Gower College Ron Job - 07963 454041 Resources Rhydian Prismick - 01792 635803 Housing Sallyanne Taylor - 07825 401711

www.unison.co.uk

This newsletter is produced by the City and County of Swansea Unison Branch. Any letters, comments or suggestions for articles should be posted to the branch address or emailed to Unison@swansea.gov.uk. Correspondence is not guaranteed to be published and contents may not necessarily reflect Unison policy.