Calling all UNISON Local Gov branches - take action now...

.....support KNOWSLEY UNISON's call for a special conference on pensions - we need to step up a gear in the fighting to defend our pensions and we need a democratically lay led campaign.

So pass this simple motion at your September branch committee!


We request a Special Local Government Service Group Conference to
discuss the current situation of the Local Government Pension Scheme in
accordance with Rule D.3.4.11.


Full email from Roger Bannister Knowsley unison follows.


Email

knowsleyunison@btconnect.com

30 August 2011


TO:     BRANCH SECRETARIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT BRANCHES


Dear Colleague

Special Local Government Service Group Conference on Pensions

At our Branch Committee meeting on 25 August 2011 the following Motion
was unanimously approved:


We request a Special Local Government Service Group Conference to
discuss the current situation of the Local Government Pension Scheme in
accordance with Rule D.3.4.11.

The reason for this measure is that we feel that too many important
issues in relation to the current pension situation are unresolved.
Whilst we acknowledge the progress currently being made  towards
balloting members for strike action, there has been no decision in
relation to how to deal with any proposed settlement of the Dispute, (a
situation that could arise before a ballot), and whether any such
settlement is debated at a Service Group Conference prior to being put
to members. Neither has there been any discussion or broad based
decision on the nature and tactics of any strike action to be employed,
and against the background of UNISON not taking strike action alongside
the PCS, NUT and ATL in June, the question of the broadest possible
campaign across public sector trade unions is clearly crucial.

I am therefore requesting that you pass the above Motion, send it to
Heather Wakefield, copied to Dave Prentis and copied to this Branch for
coordination purposes.

Yours sincerely


Roger Bannister - Branch Secretary
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UNISON ANGRY AS COUNCIL TRIES TO SILENCE STAFF

Plymouth city council as you may have heard have derecognised unison!

Solidarity to all unison members working at PCC

Please send solidarity msgs to
office@unisonplymouth.net, copied to dturner@unisonplymouth.net

Tweet
@plymdaz @cityplymUNISON

And there will shortly be a facebook group.

There are 2 press releases below from the branch with more info:

UNISON ANGRY AS COUNCIL TRIES TO SILENCE STAFF

UNISON reacted with anger today at the news that Plymouth City Council has withdrawn Union recognition for the largest union representing staff.

After months of talks, the final proposals put by PCC were once again reviewed by UNISON lawyers.  The message was clear, signing up to this deal was not possible as it appears to discriminate against certain groups of staff.  UNISON has serious concerns about the impact of these proposals on certain groups of staff and has raised issues with the Council throughout the process.  The Council has ignored UNISON's request to continue talks to find a solution.  

In fact, rather than talking about how to address inequality, the Council have chosen to try to silence UNISON and stop them speaking up for their members' rights.  Some of these proposals would result in groups of workers losing up to 20% of their income.

Plymouth City Council made it clear there would be no further negotiations on these far reaching cuts to staff terms and conditions.

Helen Willis, Regional Manager, said:

"Once it became clear we could not sign the agreement Plymouth City Council have sought to play legal games by derecognising us in an attempt to impose this invalid collective agreement. They claim to have the support of Unite and GMB but we have been informed today that both unions have sought the withdrawal of their signatures. UNISON is the largest union and if the council is serious about valuing staff they need to listen to their representatives.

"We urge the council to return to the negotiating table and respect the long held rights of UNISON members to have their voices heard."

Message of support received today from a Plymouth City Council employee and non union member:

`I am not a member but I fully support you.  I am a customer facing worker we have recently lost staff and hours to a restructure.  We are going to lose even more pay under these proposals - I will end up losing nearly 200.00 per month.  You have a lot of support from staff who are not in a Union so are not heard.'

Ends
 

Second press release  

 

PRESS RELEASE – PCC TERMS AND CONDITIONS

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

UNISON - WE WILL NOT CAVE IN!

 

UNISON has hit back against Plymouth City Council claims that its failure to sign a collective agreement cutting the pay and conditions of its staff will lead to further redundancies.

 

Following negotiations earlier this year, UNISON sought updated legal advice on the new package which was revised after Unite and GMB initially rejected the first proposals.  The updated advice was clear – that in signing this agreement, the union could be party to actions of the council which may have a disproportionate impact on groups of low paid women.

 

UNISON has constantly raised these issues all the way through the discussions, and raised them again following the Councils slightly improved "final offer".

 

Darren Turner, UNISON Branch Secretary said:

 

"UNISON's position is and always will be to defend and improve the pay and conditions of our members. Our members do not join because they want us to sign away hard earned benefits at the first sign of pressure from the employer

 

The Council issued notice of changes before agreement had been reached and it now seeks to blame UNISON for its errors"

 

UNISON believes that the Council have also demonstrated a disappointing lack of concern for the provision of vital public services. The cuts will hit those providing home care, emergency social services, those looking after our parks and keeping our streets clean.

 

Meeting with the Regional Secretary this morning, members said:

 

"We are out on the road, unseen and unheard. No-one sees the impact of these cuts on us. UNISON hasn't signed away our rights. I'm proud to be a UNISON member" Domicillary Care Assistant

 

"The Council need to realise we're not just numbers on a spreadsheet. If UNISON had signed I would have struggled to pay my mortgage this month"

Home Care worker.

"Thanks to UNISON, I'm not going to lose 20% of my income this month"

Out of Hours Social Worker.

 

Joanne Kaye, UNISON Regional Secretary said:

 

"The updated advice we received makes it impossible for us to sign the agreement in its present form – and the Council's failure to understand this is not only petulant, but shows a complete lack of understanding of the legal framework in which we live.  Would the Council sign an agreement against the advice of its legal experts?  If they would, surely the council taxpayers of Plymouth need to know this, as such an action would place the Council at risk

 

Low paid women already are being hardest hit by cuts, and this would make it even worse. The Council's position that it would rather cut 300 jobs than address those equality issues is provocative and unhelpful. We call on them swallow their pride and sit down with us to negotiate around the modest changes we have requested."

 

UNISON has requested the following changes:

·         To ensure that predominantly female groups of workers are given the same protection as male workers.

·         To maintain the current occupational schemes for maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

 

UNISON has also called on the Council to settle the outstanding equal pay claims against the Council. This has the potential to save the Council a substantial amount of money in legal fees.

Branch Secretary: Darren Turner
 

City of Plymouth UNISON represents roughly 1500 staff working across Plymouth City Council. Approximately 80% of its membership is female.
The branch has a website www.unisonplymouth.net.
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Sign the epetition to reverse rpi to cpi change on pensions

Hat tip to Vino for finding this.
Please sign and forward msg on.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1535

Public & Private Pension Increases - change from RPI to CPI

Responsible department: Department for Work and Pensions

Many workers in the Public and Private Sector have contributed to their pensions on the understanding that on retirement these Pensions would be increased each April by the preceding September's Retail Price Index (RPI) rate. From April 2011 the Government has transferred these increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure which in the Treasury's own words "...is designed to take account of the fact that consumers tend to shop around, switching to cheaper alternatives when prices of similar goods change." This change, which has been introduced in most cases without any prior consultation, will mean a steady reduction in spending power for pensioners as they progress into their retirement. Given the promises that have previously been made, the RPI measure should be reintroduced without delay to ensure that the spending power of these Public and Private pensioners is maintained.
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Southampton UNISON/UNITE vote to reject new proposals and carry on striking

Please consider making a donation if you haven't already!

Latest info from Mike Tucker unison nec

Almost 600 UNISON/UNITE members met over the lunchtime of the 10 August to debate revised proposals from the Conservative controlled City council. Under the revised proposals, there would still be a two year freeze on increments and a two year pay freeze, the pay cuts were reduced as following.
 
Those up to SCP 25 – no pay cuts
SCP 26  - pay cut reduced from 4.5% to 2%
SCP 27 to SCP 41 – pay cut reduced 4.5% to 4%
SCP 42 to SCP 62 – pay cut reduced from 5% to 4.5%
SCP 63 and above – pay cut reduced from 5.5% to 5%
 
All those on SCP 26 and above receive an additional 4 days paid leave to their pre 10 July entitlement. £500,000 improvement in salaries of social workers as determined by proposed review.
 
The joint UNISON/UNITE strike committee put forward 2 options as to how to respond to the Conservatives proposals. These were:
 
To agree to enter into detailed negotiations on these proposals with a view to seeking an improvement during August and to ballot union members on the final package in early September. While these negotiations and ballots are held, the industrial action will be suspended as from Monday 15 August. If the proposals are rejected in the ballot, a joint UNISON/UNITE membership meeting will be held to re-start the industrial action.
 
 
To continue with the industrial action in accordance with the rules of our respective trade unions. The trade unions will remain willing to negotiate with the Council while the industrial action continues.
 
The strike committee did not recommend either option. Following a debate which lasted one hour and involved a cross section of UNISON/UNITE members, by a vote of 4 to 1 the mass meeting voted to support option 2, to reject the proposals and to continue with the strike action.
 
At present, refuse collection, parking enforcement and street cleansing remain on strike until the 14th August. On the 10th  August, around 400 social care staff struck for a second day. Social workers in adoption, fostering and the adolescent resource centre also ended a 7 day strike on the 10th August.
 
Given the decision to carry on the industrial action, we are again repeating our request for financial support. The branch has received a substantial donation from the national industrial action committee and the regional industrial action fund in recent days. We have also received many generous donations from UNISON branches around the country. However, over £300,000 has been spent in the dispute so far, and with strike action into the fourth month, we are again appealing for messages of support and donations.
 
We are very grateful for the support we have received from the Region already.  But as the strike action enters its fourth month, we need your solidarity more than ever.
 
Best wishes
 
Mike Tucker
UNISON National Executive Council Member /
Branch Secretary

For an update on the industrial action go to the Branch web site www.soton-unison-office.org.uk
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Guardian live blog on pensions

From:
Subject: Guardian live blog on pensions

Hi All,

FYI this is going out to all people on my press lists – but please send on to anyone else who might be able to get involved.

The Guardian are running a live, online discussion about pensions – follow this link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/aug/02/live-clinic-public-sector-pensions

We need public sector workers – and even members of the public – to go on and voice their opinions about how unfair the government's attack on pensions is to public sector workers.

Thanks,


UNISON Press Office
UNISON Centre
130 Euston Road
NW1 2A
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