Subject: Leafleting on Saturday 16th March
Worcestershire 37 to 35 Consultation - Branch Response 14/03/2024
Dear Member
There have been some communications today between Worcestershire County Council and UNISON’s Regional Head of Local Government, Claire Campbell.
As a result, we are putting the leafleting campaign on hold while further discussions take place.
We will not therefore be meeting on Saturday as originally planned. Thank you to everyone who had let us know they were ready to do so.
UNISON has made clear to the Council that this is not a commitment to withdraw from leafletting in respect of this issue, merely a gesture of good will while discussion continues.
We may well be leafleting in 1-2 weeks with a slightly different leaflet. Can I please ask you to delete any electronic copies of the leaflet and shred any copies you may have printed.
Many thanks
Sue Davidson (she/her)
Office Manager (09:30-16:30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday)
UNISON Worcestershire Branch
30 Love's Grove, Worcester WR1 3BU
01905 26186
SDavidson@unisonworcestershire.co.uk
Enquiries@unisonworcestershire.co.uk
Website www.unisonworcestershire.co.uk/
Worcestershire 37 to 35 Consultation - Branch Response 13/03/2024
Dear Member
You have probably heard by now about Worcestershire County Council issuing us a notice of the plan to change contractual hours from 145 employees from 37 to 35 hours. UNISON is deeply concerned about the recent planed change to employee terms and conditions enforced by Worcestershire County Council. These changes are not just detrimental but also reflect a worrying trend in employment law known as 'Hire and Re-Fire'. This practice forces employees into accepting altered terms and conditions, often to their disadvantage.
This is not an isolated incident. Across the UK, there has been an increase in such practices. According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), this method of changing contracts under duress has affected one in ten workers since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's a tactic that undermines job security and erodes worker rights.
Worcestershire County Council should be setting an example for fair employment practices rather than exploiting legal loopholes for their benefit at the expense of their employees' welfare. We urge them to reconsider these changes and engage in open dialogue with UNISON representatives.
We call upon all members of Worcestershire County UNISON Branch who believe in fair employment practices to support us in fighting these changes.
What we are asking:
If you are a Worcestershire Resident, we are asking for you to write to your local councillor to request them to put a halt to the enforced changes. You can find your local councillor by visiting: https://www.writetothem.com/. Please see attached template for some suggested wording.
We have also set up a petition to show the strength of sentiment within Worcestershire against these employment practices. It only takes two minutes and you can do this by following the following link: https://www.change.org/Stop_Fire_and_Rehire
Speak to your friends and colleagues about this issue and ask them to get involved.
If you can spare just 2 hours this Saturday 16th March (10:00-12:00), please join us for a leafletting campaign in Worcester to make local residents aware of this situation and the actions above. Please contact the Branch Office on 01905 26186 or enquiries@unisonworcestershire.co.uk for details of where to meet up. Maps and leaflets are all ready to go, and many hands make light work!
Together we can send a clear message that 'Hire and Re-Fire' tactics are unacceptable, protecting our community members from such unjust treatment.
Kind regards
Jack Kay
UNISON West Midlands – Regional Organiser
24 Livery Street,
Birmingham
B3 2PA
t: 07813 722 729
e:
j.kay@unison.co.uk
Worcestershire 37 to 35 Consultation - Branch Response 20/02/2024
Dear Member
This email is primarily aimed at those members who are directly affected by the proposed reduction of hours from 37 to 35 for those in non-exempt posts.
If this applies to you, you will have already been invited to a 1 to 1 meeting about this. If you are part time / already on 35 hrs per week / in an exempt role, this will not affect you currently. However, as we have not been provided with a list of those staff affected, we have had no choice but to send it to all County Council members. In any case, we feel this is something other members may wish to be aware of.
The Branch has made clear to the council on several occasions that UNISON strongly rejects the proposals, as did members in their individual consultations, many of which were also attended by Branch case workers. We were prevented from carrying out our usual consultation process (attached), by the decision of the Council to only undertake individual consultations, and not to inform us of the names of members affected. We have been advised by UNISON’s lawyers that the Council have not broken employment law by failing to carry out a full consultation via collective bargaining, by designing the process as a consultation seeking to obtain individual agreements with employees. However, if they wish to take this any further, they will need to hold a full 45-day consultation period under collective bargaining.
The Council is due to announce the outcome of the individual consultation period by Friday 23rd February.
Whilst we cannot pre-empt that decision, we can start to put into place an action plan for UNISON members, in the event of an outcome which is not favourable to members.
This is what we propose as an action plan:
Together we are strong, so we encourage all members to engage, participate, and take action. If you know of any affected members who aren’t receiving our emails, please encourage them to get in touch as soon as possible, as this is the main method of communication.
Kind regards
Jamie Edwards-Taylor
Branch Secretary
(enquiries@unisonworcestershire.co.uk)
Worcestershire 37 to 35 Consultation - Official Joint Union Response 18/01/2024
The Joint Trade Union side of GMB have met to consider the final consultation meeting and have agreed on this joint response to the proposal to move the remaining eligible staff from 37 hour contracts down to 35.
Following feedback from our members we cannot accept the proposal or recommend anything but for our members not to accept it either. The original proposal looked to make a saving of around £900,000 but following the consultation you have made us aware this is closer to £500,000. It has also become apparent that this figure may move lower still with a number of these roles being fully capital funded.
Although we appreciate the difficult financial position that the council is currently facing but do not accept this proposal and lowering the wages of those involved by 5.4%.
It is our view that the backlash from this as well as the loss of goodwill is not worth the small amount of savings it brings about considering the scale of financial changes required. There is also nothing within this proposal which would look to prevent the financial detriment which would be faced by the employees involved.
When we consider the cost of living crisis being faced across the country how can the council expect the staff to accept a wage decrease.