Some colleagues are coming under pressure to process appeal information in their own time. It is company policy that all work relating to MRS is conducted in work time. Claim it as flex or time off in lieu. UNISON will support you in this. Contact us if you are having problems in this regard.
Our branch has sent out ballot papers about action to oppose the cut in our redundancy pay. I strongly recommend that you vote yes to industrial action, including strike action, because the alternative is that the employer walks all over us. They have told the union that this is not negotiable. There is clearly a massive wave of cuts coming. Connexions is only the start. The fight over redundancy pay is part of the fight to defend jobs and services. The pay we lose going on strike will be small compared to the loss of our jobs. Big cuts are central to the policies of this government, they go far beyond the '1% efficiency savings' which they spoke of in their election campaign.
Now is the time to ask colleagues to join UNISON. Many new members have joined up in the last few weeks because of the threat we are under. You may wish to consider becoming a steward for your own section. If you would like a workplace meeting to discuss the proposed changes to redundancy pay more fully, please contact the UNISON office or the senior steward in your area.
Don't forget UNISON and the PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union) have called a public meeting to oppose cuts. This meeting will be held at Norwich City Hall, Wednesday September 8th at 7pm.
I always value your feedback.
- Ed Bober, UNISON Steward
Official blog of the Norfolk County Branch of UNISON, the Public Sector Trade Union.
Thursday 26 August 2010
Young Members Meeting and the Norwich Beer Festival
The next meeting of the Regional Young Members Group will take place in Norwich, followed by a social at the Norwich Beer Festival. The meeting will start at 2pm on Saturday 30 October with the venue yet to be confirmed. A ticket to the Festival and accommodation at Premier Inn Nelson (near train station) is provided for those who attend the meeting.
This will be a good event with lots of opportunity for socialising and finding out more about UNISON, what membership means for young people and how to get more involved. Please contact the branch office for further information on how to get involved.
- Kristen Jones, Young Members Officer.
This will be a good event with lots of opportunity for socialising and finding out more about UNISON, what membership means for young people and how to get more involved. Please contact the branch office for further information on how to get involved.
- Kristen Jones, Young Members Officer.
Friday 13 August 2010
Cuts, cuts, cuts
Cuts, cuts, cuts – it is just like the last Tory Government. Many UNISON members were not too impressed with the previous Labour Government but there is no way they would have cut local government funding part way through the financial year causing mayhem in the process. There is no way they would have axed 16 to 19 education, the time students are being prepared for the real world. 65 people in Norfolk Connexions Service providing a front line service to young people now face redundancy. There is no way they would have axed the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project. The axing of BSF sums up what we face.
Many of us were educated in tatty Victorian schools or if we were lucky schools built in the 1930s, 1950s or 1960s when previous Labour Governments improved school buildings as a priority. Many of these buildings are no longer fit for purpose in a computer dominated world and the cost in renovation and maintenance can be colossal. Much better to knock them down and build schools designed to facilitate education in the 21st century. It also provides jobs for the design and building & construction industries.
To me it seems illogical to sacrifice BSF when our very future depends on the quality of education we provide to our young people. We can find money to fund foreign wars that make the cost of BSF insignificant so I really don’t believe this is about being forced to cut the budget deficit. The Conservative and Liberal Government have opted to cut BSF and other public services ordinary people benefit from in preference to cuts in military spending where the UK outspends most of our European partners. The Government claim BSF bureaucratic and costly yet the National Audit Office says it provided value for money!
This may be what people voted for when they voted Conservative at the last election but it flies in the face of everything the Liberal Democrats have stood for over the last decade (they were the only big political party to oppose the Iraqi war remember). I believe what Liberal Democrat MPs who support the Chancellors proposals are doing makes the expenses scandal seem respectable. UNISON members who are seeing their public services cut need to make their views known to their MPs and support the union nationally and locally in opposing what this Government is trying to do to our society. We have to act now before the Tories say once again “there is no such thing as society”.
People in Greece and Spain are showing their Governments they will not accept swingeing cuts to the public services they value. In the UK the campaign against the poll tax showed people power could deliver, we need to be ready to act again.
- Jonathan Dunning, Branch Secretary.
Many of us were educated in tatty Victorian schools or if we were lucky schools built in the 1930s, 1950s or 1960s when previous Labour Governments improved school buildings as a priority. Many of these buildings are no longer fit for purpose in a computer dominated world and the cost in renovation and maintenance can be colossal. Much better to knock them down and build schools designed to facilitate education in the 21st century. It also provides jobs for the design and building & construction industries.
To me it seems illogical to sacrifice BSF when our very future depends on the quality of education we provide to our young people. We can find money to fund foreign wars that make the cost of BSF insignificant so I really don’t believe this is about being forced to cut the budget deficit. The Conservative and Liberal Government have opted to cut BSF and other public services ordinary people benefit from in preference to cuts in military spending where the UK outspends most of our European partners. The Government claim BSF bureaucratic and costly yet the National Audit Office says it provided value for money!
This may be what people voted for when they voted Conservative at the last election but it flies in the face of everything the Liberal Democrats have stood for over the last decade (they were the only big political party to oppose the Iraqi war remember). I believe what Liberal Democrat MPs who support the Chancellors proposals are doing makes the expenses scandal seem respectable. UNISON members who are seeing their public services cut need to make their views known to their MPs and support the union nationally and locally in opposing what this Government is trying to do to our society. We have to act now before the Tories say once again “there is no such thing as society”.
People in Greece and Spain are showing their Governments they will not accept swingeing cuts to the public services they value. In the UK the campaign against the poll tax showed people power could deliver, we need to be ready to act again.
- Jonathan Dunning, Branch Secretary.
Where’s Willie? Trying his hand at Union busting!
Our comrades, the striking cabin crews of BA, have turned Heathrow’s terminal 5 into a “ghost town.” BA, an airline that has marketed itself as a premium brand carrier, is cutting cabin crew staff. By doing so they are undermining the very service on which the BA reputation has been built. By defending both their right to maintain a decent standard of living and a larger vision of the airline’s interests, our Unite comrades have been forced into industrial action. Willie Walsh, BA’s Chief Executive, has comprehensively shown that he wants the strike. He made this desire transparent by tabling a deal that was actually worse than an earlier offer that the union had already rejected.
The BA workers stand accused in the right wing media kangaroo court of indifference to the welfare of a potential 2.5 million members of the travelling public. Their earlier strike action in December was nullified by a bizarre judicial ruling. Quite accidentally a small number of votes had been counted that were from recent former BA employees who had already been made redundant and were not eligible to vote. This statistically insignificant miss-poll meant that this industrial action was always going to come just weeks before the general election. Some government ministers are running scared before the media-created image that Unite is run by militant totalitarians whose goals are malevolent and misguided, and have joined the union bashing chorus as a result. They should, instead, be defending the democratic rights of unions to strike.
Is the pre-election timing of this mere coincidence? Or, as seems more likely, to whip up a taste for orchestrated union-bashing in anticipation of a change in governmental colour?
John McDonnell, MP and Labour Resource Council Chair, has said regarding the BA strike, “This dispute is a prime example of the current industrial relations climate, with the employer not only seeking to win but to break the union too.”
On the Unite website BA sources are quoted as stating that "Some media reports on our flight operations during the period of Unite’s strike have appeared to give equal weight to information we have issued as to claims made by Unite." This was followed by a statement that claims BA’s requirement to perform at PLC-expected standards means that their statements had to be truthful because of this legal status. The logical sequel to this argument was – according to BA – that the press should ignore information from Unite! Apparently the honesty of some leaders of private business has apparently never been called into question! Pardon us, Mr. Walsh, if the antics of people like Fred Goodwin, Bernie Madoff, and the management team of Enron have turned us into sceptics regarding the reliability of corporate integrity.
So UNISON, the public service union, stands as one with her sister Unite: in voices a million members strong we stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity. Our brothers and sisters have the right, indeed the responsibility to defend a decent living standard for themselves and future generations of BA cabin crews. The principles of “negotiation, not imposition” and the right to demand a living wage receives our full support!
- Karen Michael, UNISON steward
The BA workers stand accused in the right wing media kangaroo court of indifference to the welfare of a potential 2.5 million members of the travelling public. Their earlier strike action in December was nullified by a bizarre judicial ruling. Quite accidentally a small number of votes had been counted that were from recent former BA employees who had already been made redundant and were not eligible to vote. This statistically insignificant miss-poll meant that this industrial action was always going to come just weeks before the general election. Some government ministers are running scared before the media-created image that Unite is run by militant totalitarians whose goals are malevolent and misguided, and have joined the union bashing chorus as a result. They should, instead, be defending the democratic rights of unions to strike.
Is the pre-election timing of this mere coincidence? Or, as seems more likely, to whip up a taste for orchestrated union-bashing in anticipation of a change in governmental colour?
John McDonnell, MP and Labour Resource Council Chair, has said regarding the BA strike, “This dispute is a prime example of the current industrial relations climate, with the employer not only seeking to win but to break the union too.”
On the Unite website BA sources are quoted as stating that "Some media reports on our flight operations during the period of Unite’s strike have appeared to give equal weight to information we have issued as to claims made by Unite." This was followed by a statement that claims BA’s requirement to perform at PLC-expected standards means that their statements had to be truthful because of this legal status. The logical sequel to this argument was – according to BA – that the press should ignore information from Unite! Apparently the honesty of some leaders of private business has apparently never been called into question! Pardon us, Mr. Walsh, if the antics of people like Fred Goodwin, Bernie Madoff, and the management team of Enron have turned us into sceptics regarding the reliability of corporate integrity.
So UNISON, the public service union, stands as one with her sister Unite: in voices a million members strong we stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity. Our brothers and sisters have the right, indeed the responsibility to defend a decent living standard for themselves and future generations of BA cabin crews. The principles of “negotiation, not imposition” and the right to demand a living wage receives our full support!
- Karen Michael, UNISON steward
MRS Appeal Info
Now that we have a collective agreement with management, there will be some changes to your pay and conditions. This is universal for all employees of Norfolk County Council and will have been detailed in your MRS letters. If your grade has increased due to MRS , then you may be entitled to back pay, payable from the implementation date of 1/4/07. This will be paid in a lump sum and taxed at a special rate which is less than if the compensation was paid with tax and national insurance at the usual rate.
The arrangements for voluntary retirement have also changed. If an employee has been employed since 31/3/07, are over the age of 60 years, are a member of the Local Government Pension scheme and are due a compensation payment, they can choose to retire between November 09 and 31st March 10 and keep their right to compensation payments. This payment will be subject to tax in the usual way and will be added to their pension contributions. This is an opportunity for anyone who was considering leaving after MRS had been paid to leave now at no loss to themselves. If you choose stay until implementation your compensation will have deductions made at the special rate but will not be reflected in your pension.
At the moment, NCC are asking anyone who thinks that they have an appeal against their grade awarded under MRS to register an appeal. Norfolk County Council have just issued information and advice on how to appeal. It is available through the website (as above) or from your Manager. If you are a Unison member , advice is obtainable from the UNISON office, 01603 222384.
- Alison Birmingham, ASSD Senior Steward
The arrangements for voluntary retirement have also changed. If an employee has been employed since 31/3/07, are over the age of 60 years, are a member of the Local Government Pension scheme and are due a compensation payment, they can choose to retire between November 09 and 31st March 10 and keep their right to compensation payments. This payment will be subject to tax in the usual way and will be added to their pension contributions. This is an opportunity for anyone who was considering leaving after MRS had been paid to leave now at no loss to themselves. If you choose stay until implementation your compensation will have deductions made at the special rate but will not be reflected in your pension.
At the moment, NCC are asking anyone who thinks that they have an appeal against their grade awarded under MRS to register an appeal. Norfolk County Council have just issued information and advice on how to appeal. It is available through the website (as above) or from your Manager. If you are a Unison member , advice is obtainable from the UNISON office, 01603 222384.
- Alison Birmingham, ASSD Senior Steward
Health and Safety - an Issue for Everyone
Forget the idea of ‘Can’t do that, its ‘elf and safety innit…’ that’s often represented in newspapers or on television – UNISON believes that keeping people safe and well when at work is a vitally important issue.
Employers have legal duties to provide a safe working environment and working practices, but sadly, there are still too many deaths and injuries occurring in the workplace – official figures show that across the UK last year there were 229 people killed at work, while 2.1 million people suffered from an illness caused or made worse by the workplace or their duties.
UNISON campaigns locally and nationally to improve working conditions, and the role of the safety representative is very important to this continuing success. Research by the Health and Safety Executive has shown that workplaces where safety representatives work in partnership with employers have up to 50% fewer injuries and accidents.
In order to continue our branch’s successes at making the workplace a better and safer place to be, UNISON are currently running a campaign to remind members (or prospective members) of the benefits of a workplace safety rep. Called ‘Safety in Numbers’, there are currently opportunities to become an accredited rep, which can lead to a professional qualification.
Locally, UNISON works hard, in partnership with Norfolk County Council and the HSE, at making the workplace safer. Whether that workplace is an office or at the roadside, you’ll find that as a UNISON rep., you’re well trained and supported, and of course, as you’re working for a safer workplace, time spent training and undertaking your duties is paid as part of your working hours.
If you’re interested in finding out more, contact the Branch Office for a discussion, or speak to your local safety representative or steward. Alternatively, drop by the UNISON stall which will be in the South Foyer of County Hall during European Health and Safety Week (19th -25th October).
- Glenn Springett, Health and Safety Officer (first posted: 19 October 2009.)
Employers have legal duties to provide a safe working environment and working practices, but sadly, there are still too many deaths and injuries occurring in the workplace – official figures show that across the UK last year there were 229 people killed at work, while 2.1 million people suffered from an illness caused or made worse by the workplace or their duties.
UNISON campaigns locally and nationally to improve working conditions, and the role of the safety representative is very important to this continuing success. Research by the Health and Safety Executive has shown that workplaces where safety representatives work in partnership with employers have up to 50% fewer injuries and accidents.
In order to continue our branch’s successes at making the workplace a better and safer place to be, UNISON are currently running a campaign to remind members (or prospective members) of the benefits of a workplace safety rep. Called ‘Safety in Numbers’, there are currently opportunities to become an accredited rep, which can lead to a professional qualification.
Locally, UNISON works hard, in partnership with Norfolk County Council and the HSE, at making the workplace safer. Whether that workplace is an office or at the roadside, you’ll find that as a UNISON rep., you’re well trained and supported, and of course, as you’re working for a safer workplace, time spent training and undertaking your duties is paid as part of your working hours.
If you’re interested in finding out more, contact the Branch Office for a discussion, or speak to your local safety representative or steward. Alternatively, drop by the UNISON stall which will be in the South Foyer of County Hall during European Health and Safety Week (19th -25th October).
- Glenn Springett, Health and Safety Officer (first posted: 19 October 2009.)
MRS Principles
The Modern Reward Strategy (MRS) has split the workforce into winners and losers. Of course all of us welcome wage rises for those who have been underpaid too long. We also want a united workforce.
In contrast to the official spin of the employer, many colleagues have told me how upset, angry, demoralised and worried they are by MRS. The purpose of a trade union is to protect all its members from any threat of a cut in living standards.
There are women workers earning less than £15,000 a year facing a pay cut in the name of the Equal Pay Act. There are other colleagues who face wage cuts of over £6000 a year, for some this will mean losing their homes. The union branch is at last taking steps to oppose this.
Over two thousand NCC colleagues face a cut in pay through MRS. Others face reduction in Saturday working and loss of car allowance. Others, even if making a small gain now, find themselves at the top of a scale with no prospect of progression in future years. There are many reasons to oppose MRS.
Workers in some other councils, for example Greenwich, have won single status deals which involved no pay cuts. They did this by making a united stand and threatening industrial action. Where unions have not been so bold, single status deals have been a major disaster, leading to over 200,000 local authority workers facing wage cuts all around the country. Unfortunately Unison national office have not publicised the many heroic attempts by workers to resist such humiliation. See http://www.labouruniondigest.org.uk/index.php?page_id=13
It is my belief that the branch should now completely dissociate itself from MRS. Our website still carries material showing MRS as a joint proposal between Unison and NCC. In my opinion it is wrong to continue to display this. We should dispense with any impression that we are party to MRS.
On the matter of imposition, our branch is now preparing to take industrial action in hot spots, with the possibility of a work to rule over wider sections of the workforce should Norfolk County Council attempt to impose MRS on members against their will. I welcome this response from the branch. All members who have expressed their disgust with MRS have played a part in making this happen and there is much more to be done requiring your involvement. We need to reclaim this union for its members. There remains a big risk that some members could be isolated.
NCC are threatening to sidestep collective bargaining, thereby undermining the union. If this happens then in any future scenario needing action or negotiation the unions’ position will be severely weakened. Those individuals who choose to agree to accept individually now may find that when they need a strong union at some future date it will not be there. By so agreeing they will be exchanging short term benefit for long term loss of union strength and reliability. The principle of collective bargaining must be upheld.
- Ed Bober, UNISON steward
In contrast to the official spin of the employer, many colleagues have told me how upset, angry, demoralised and worried they are by MRS. The purpose of a trade union is to protect all its members from any threat of a cut in living standards.
There are women workers earning less than £15,000 a year facing a pay cut in the name of the Equal Pay Act. There are other colleagues who face wage cuts of over £6000 a year, for some this will mean losing their homes. The union branch is at last taking steps to oppose this.
Over two thousand NCC colleagues face a cut in pay through MRS. Others face reduction in Saturday working and loss of car allowance. Others, even if making a small gain now, find themselves at the top of a scale with no prospect of progression in future years. There are many reasons to oppose MRS.
Workers in some other councils, for example Greenwich, have won single status deals which involved no pay cuts. They did this by making a united stand and threatening industrial action. Where unions have not been so bold, single status deals have been a major disaster, leading to over 200,000 local authority workers facing wage cuts all around the country. Unfortunately Unison national office have not publicised the many heroic attempts by workers to resist such humiliation. See http://www.labouruniondigest.org.uk/index.php?page_id=13
It is my belief that the branch should now completely dissociate itself from MRS. Our website still carries material showing MRS as a joint proposal between Unison and NCC. In my opinion it is wrong to continue to display this. We should dispense with any impression that we are party to MRS.
On the matter of imposition, our branch is now preparing to take industrial action in hot spots, with the possibility of a work to rule over wider sections of the workforce should Norfolk County Council attempt to impose MRS on members against their will. I welcome this response from the branch. All members who have expressed their disgust with MRS have played a part in making this happen and there is much more to be done requiring your involvement. We need to reclaim this union for its members. There remains a big risk that some members could be isolated.
NCC are threatening to sidestep collective bargaining, thereby undermining the union. If this happens then in any future scenario needing action or negotiation the unions’ position will be severely weakened. Those individuals who choose to agree to accept individually now may find that when they need a strong union at some future date it will not be there. By so agreeing they will be exchanging short term benefit for long term loss of union strength and reliability. The principle of collective bargaining must be upheld.
- Ed Bober, UNISON steward
Burston Strike Rally
This year's Burston Strike School Rally will be held on Sunday 6th September at Church Green, Burston near Diss, from 11am to 4;30pm.
Tom and Kitty Higdon moved to Norfolk as teachers in 1902. Their Socialist beliefs brought them into conflict with the powerful in society who claimed that the working class should be 'taught their place'. On arrival in Burston in 1911, they came across the regular exploitation of children by farmers and landowners. They also crossed the path of the Rev Charles Tucker Eland who was defeated by Tom at the parish council elections. This led to charges of discourtesy being made against Kitty and the couple were dismissed. As they handed over control to the authorities, the sound of children marching and singing was heard. The schoolchildren, 66 out of 72, had started a strike, which was to last 25 years. This has become recognised as the longest strike in trade union history.
The pupils continued their education on the village green, attracting leading Labour, Trades' Unions and Women's Suffrage activists to the village to speak. A year went by and a national appeal for money was launched to fund a permanent building for the Strike School, which opened in 1917.
The building is maintained today as a museum, which celebrates the courage of the pupils and their parents and teachers and the annual rally continues to celebrate Trade Union and community solidarity.
This year's guest speakers are Luis Marron, Political Counsellor, Cuban Embassy; Richard Howitt MEP; Tony Benn and Diana Holland, Unite Assistant General Secretary
There will be entertainment from John Hegley and live music from Omar Puente plus The Red Flags plus Paseo Malanga Carnival Band. There will also be campaign stalls, a beer tent and food availale.
A highlight of the annual rally is the march, with trade union banners, around the "Candlestick", the name given to roads circling the village.
Admission is free and all are welcome. There will also be ample parking facilities available.
- Nigel Reigate, UNISON Steward (first posted: 28 August 2009)
Tom and Kitty Higdon moved to Norfolk as teachers in 1902. Their Socialist beliefs brought them into conflict with the powerful in society who claimed that the working class should be 'taught their place'. On arrival in Burston in 1911, they came across the regular exploitation of children by farmers and landowners. They also crossed the path of the Rev Charles Tucker Eland who was defeated by Tom at the parish council elections. This led to charges of discourtesy being made against Kitty and the couple were dismissed. As they handed over control to the authorities, the sound of children marching and singing was heard. The schoolchildren, 66 out of 72, had started a strike, which was to last 25 years. This has become recognised as the longest strike in trade union history.
The pupils continued their education on the village green, attracting leading Labour, Trades' Unions and Women's Suffrage activists to the village to speak. A year went by and a national appeal for money was launched to fund a permanent building for the Strike School, which opened in 1917.
The building is maintained today as a museum, which celebrates the courage of the pupils and their parents and teachers and the annual rally continues to celebrate Trade Union and community solidarity.
This year's guest speakers are Luis Marron, Political Counsellor, Cuban Embassy; Richard Howitt MEP; Tony Benn and Diana Holland, Unite Assistant General Secretary
There will be entertainment from John Hegley and live music from Omar Puente plus The Red Flags plus Paseo Malanga Carnival Band. There will also be campaign stalls, a beer tent and food availale.
A highlight of the annual rally is the march, with trade union banners, around the "Candlestick", the name given to roads circling the village.
Admission is free and all are welcome. There will also be ample parking facilities available.
- Nigel Reigate, UNISON Steward (first posted: 28 August 2009)
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