Inside

Public Service Not Private Profit January 2013

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ReviewCity and County of Swansea

Taking theLiberty:

Organise to defeatausterity cutsorychancellorGeorgeOsbornepromised

recently that 2014 will be “a year of hardtruths”. This means more cuts. He said afurther £25 billion of cuts would follow nextyear’s general election, almost half frombenefits. The real hard truth is that thebossesare raking it inwhileordinarypeopleare poorer.

Prices have risen faster than wages for 41of the 42 months of his government.Soaring energy bills mean one in tenpensioners has to stay in bed longer just tokeep warm. The latest round of rail fare

hikes brings the increase up to 20 percentsince Cameron took office. Benefit cuts hitmillions last April, including more than700,000 by the notorious bedroom tax andmany more by cuts to council tax benefits.And a new TUC study shows that 34 of thegovernment’s 43 changes to benefits havehit people in work. No wonder there are anextra half million people using food banks,and an alarming rise in the use of paydayloan sharks.

The branch has consistently warned ourmembers that the cuts made by the Con-

Dems and implemented by Labour-ledSwansea Council were the thin end of thewedge. The scale of the cuts should comeas no shock to our members who read ournewsletter and other information weproduce. We told our members that cuts toLocal Authority spending had been backloaded by the Labour led Welsh Assemblyand thatmassive cutswere to come thoughof course we did not have the detail then.

We have always opposed cuts firstlybecause themoney is there - lookno furtherthan the rich and big business.

STOP THE COUNCIL CUTS:DEMONSTRATEAT THE COUNCIL MEETING4.30PM - 6PM TUESDAY 4TH FEBRUARYTHE GUILDHALL - Swansea

T

Are somecouncil assets worthmore than others?

Terms &Conditions:All hot-air andno progress

Job EvaluationAppeals:What you needto do next

The choice facingcouncillors is to fightalongside council workservice users, or do thdirty-work for them. To dhave chosen the lattercouncillors, even thosetrade-union bacapparently willing to sprinciple.Whilst services are stramoney and jobs are thrthe council is even chospend over half a millionon re-furbishing the CivCouncil Chamber.Many press-statemenLabour accept the cuts.Tory-language, they ethe budget-crisis'opportunity' to 'streamCouncil and turn it frominto a 'speed-boat'.Councillors could makestand shoulder to shou

Service CutsUNISON believes theadvantage of financial cwould not normally get

The council have annothree residential homescare. In one breath theyimprove services in the chave to make savingscutting, as veryminimumhave asked for the cou

'Outsourcing' =The council proposesservices including 2 leBishopston and thePlantasia, Community C

UNISON’s experience isthe wages and jobs cutBearing inmind thecounof this outsourcing this is

UndeemplogoverEQUAL PAY

In the next few weeks if you have not already done so those eligible should receive offers to settle outstandingpotential Equal Pay claims. These payments are to compensate for past pay inequalities; they do not set the payfor the future. UNISON is satisfied that the best deal possible has been negotiated if further lengthy legalproceedingsare tobeavoided, therefore the settlement is recommended toourmembers. If you feel youhavebeenunderpaid, initially speak to the employer to check if the calculations are correct, if you are still dissatisfied contactUNISON at the UNISON branch office detailed.

SINGLE STATUS

Single Status is the new pay structure and employees' contracts of employment, that is supposed to be negotiatedwith the trade unions to ensure a fair pay system. This has not been the case in Swansea, the employers have usedSingle 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 intodiscussions on the issues below but these discussionswere a shamand not as promised. These ended just beforethe end of 2013 with major issues not agreed.

The employers’ response is as follows:-

Retainer PaymentsRetainer payments will cease as this goes against the agreed principle that we will only pay employees for hoursworked.

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

Shift AllowanceShift Allowance will not be paid.

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

Disturbance AllowanceDisturbance Allowance will be discontinued.

Severe Weather PolicyThepositionasper theBAFOstands.Wewill seek toensuremanagersapply thepolicyconsistentlyandsensitively.

Redundancy and RedeploymentThis policy is open for further discussion to ensure that it can be applied consistently and fairly to the new paystructure.

Incremental Progression at ImplementationOn thebasis thatSingleStatus is implementedon1st April 2014, theprinciple to not backdate increments is adheredto (pending further advice) and the first increment post implementation will be 1st April 2015.

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

Following UNISON members’ rejection of theemployers’ Single Status proposals the lead CountyCouncillors promised meaningful discussions. UNISONentered into discussions on the issues...but thesediscussions were a sham.

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

““

Terms & Conditions: what's happened?

Taking liberties: Why arhomes, day-centres andunder attack when the Cthe Liberty for millions?Councillor's might havetickets like the rest of us

Swansea

'Our' Cou

JE AppealsLabourthe cutskers andhe Toriesdate, theyr with noe with ackground,stand on

apped forreatened,oosing ton poundsvic Centre

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even seeas an

mline' thea 'tanker'

e a stand;ulder with

their hard working employeesand campaign alongside thetrade unions and the people ofSwansea to refuse to implementthe cuts.They could campaign in thepress, the workplaces and ourcommunities, mobilising thosewho face the cuts to fight for theirservices, to strike and todemonstrate.They set a budget that meets theneeds of the people of Swansea,ensuring mass popularity. Thiswould be a bold step and mayhave legal implications. But itwould trigger a welcome politicalcrisis - especially if ourcouncillors campaignedwith councillors in allthe other councilswho are makingsimilar cuts.

Although there is some criticismwithin theCouncillors of the cuts,most of this is restricted to thelack of internal democracy, notthe cuts themselves.We need less hand-wringing,less 'secret' opposition ofcorridor-conversations, and farmore public fight.If they did campaign to opposethe cuts we would support themall the way.With or without them,asabranchwewill needmobiliseour membership to oppose allcuts to jobs, services and termsand conditions

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

Unison has had a lot of calls from members stating thatthey are still waiting for someone from the union tocontact them regarding their JobEvaluationApplications(JEA) they have sent us. We have a team of five officerswho are going through the list at the moment.

We are aiming to contact all our members who have putin JEA application forms by the end of March 2014 thelatest. In themeantimewewould askmembers to get asmuch information together as possible so that the teamwill be able to assess their JEA quicker.

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

For further information please contact one of thefollowing:

Dave Evans 07551 154538Tracy Schoolmeester 07551 154539Sallyanne Taylor 07551 154440Malcolm Harrington 07551 154541

council officers are takingcuts to railroadmany plans thatthe go ahead.

ounced the proposal to closes, day centres and cut respite-say the council is to invest andcommunity in the next that they. The figures show they arem, £500,000 fromservices.Wencil’s business and business/

transition plan as councils normally would have in thisposition, they have stated there is not one.

UNISONhasaskedwhich residential homesareat riskand for the council officers to be more specific inregards to care service cuts, we have stated how thisis causing stress to clients, residents and workers, todate the council is still short on detail with time runningout. It is UNISON’s view that the council’s strategy is toclose all the residential homes in the near future.

Council officers will make promises that staff will befound jobs in the community, UNISON believes these

are false promises asmore andmore jobswill be givenover to the private sector indeed 80% of home carework is being carried out by private contractors whosepay and conditions are just above minimumwage andsometimes fall below.

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

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

= privatisationto outsource and privatise many of itseisure centres, these being Penlan andfollowing services Parks Maintenance,Centres, Outdoor Attractions.

s that such staff outsourced normally havet in the long term by the new employers.ncil propose tomakebudget cutsasa results more than a small fear.

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

Earlsmoor Respite Care Home in Brynmill.Shut by the Council over four years ago and left to rot on the sea-front. This could be the future for many services if we do not fight.

re older-people'sd other servicesCouncil could sell? But then oure to buy their owns...

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

uncil: Saint's or sinners?

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 addressor emailed to Unison@swansea.gov.uk. Correspondence is not guaranteed to be published and contents may not necessarily reflect Unison policy.

Spor ts & Socia l websi te : www.suss.me.uk www.unison.co.uk

Contact us: Unison Office, Rm 153-G, The Guildhall, Swansea01792 635271 unison@swansea.gov.uk

Unison has over 100 trained union reps throughout the council, schools andFEcolleges.Wewill advise,support and represent you collectively and individually on issues from sickness, disciplinaries to legalmatters insideandoutside theworkplace. If youneedadviceor representationpleasecontact theSeniorSteward(s) for your department below or go to your workplace steward. Alternatively please contact thebranch office.

Branch Secretary: Mike Davies / Asst. Secretary: Ian Alexander

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

Regeneration/HousingJohn Llewellyn - 07557 560093Roger Owen - 07847 942458Gower CollegeRon Job - 07963 454041ResourcesRhydian Prismick - 01792 635803HousingSallyanne Taylor - 07825 401711YO

URUNION

YOURUNION

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The rich have got richer and big businesshas around £800 billion lying idle in itscoffers as they can’t seeaprofitable place toinvest. Meanwhile food banks arewidespread and cash-your-pay-checks,pawn and charity shops inhabit OxfordStreet and the Kingsway.

Through Single Status - though somemembers deservedly get more pay - manyothers and their families will suffer hardshipand poverty in growing numbers.Most havetowork harder andare undermore pressurein work.

Employees are not replaced when theyleave or vacancies are not filled resulting inmore and more suffering with stress andstress-related illnesses. All this and for afinancial crisis we did not cause. Why

should our members and the people ofSwansea suffer for the crisis of the banksand economy?

We have also opposed cuts because thecuts Swansea Council have implementedthus far were never going to be enough, andthe employer was always going to becoming back for more given the scale of thecuts coming from Westminster. The Con-Dems clearly want to dismantle, destroy orprivatise as much of the public sector asthey can.

A document produced by the HR DirectorsNetwork in Wales called ‘Facing the FutureTogether’ starkly pointedout the scale of thecuts that were coming. They calculated inthenext four years (2013-2017)£520millionwouldbecut fromLocalAuthority budgets in

Wales. Another paper produced by theInstitute for Fiscal Studies - 'Scenarios forthe Welsh Government Budget to 2025-26'- again paints a stark and bleak future forLocal Authorities/Public Services in Wales.They calculate that even with the mostoptimistic economic forecasts we will besuffering cuts even then.

The reality is well before this time if cuts areallowed to continue at their present ratethere will be very little left of non-statutoryservices left to cut by then.

We are not prepared to allow our membersto be thrown on the scrapheap; we are notprepared to let the people of Swansea andvulnerable service-users have their qualityof life seriously eroded. All cuts must beopposed

Residential Care Workers in Glasgow staged a two-day strike in January with more actionto come - we need the same kind of action in Swansea if we are to save our servicesResidential Care Workers in Glasgow staged a two-day strike in January with more actionto come - we need the same kind of action in Swansea if we are to save our services