Service Conditions
REPORT 2004
2004 started with Nursery Nurses in Education involved in a
series of 1 and 2 day strikes in pursuit of a regrading claim.
As the year progressed, with no settlement in sight, they embarked
on all-out strike action and after 3 months they achieved a
rise of up to £2,000 a year and up to £2,500 in one off payments.
The Nursery Nurses solidarity during this time demonstrated
to us all what can be achieved when trade union members act
collectively and, whilst all of them deserve praise for the
way they conducted themselves during the dispute, two of them
deserve special mention for the work they put in to ensure the
strike remained solid. Step forward Agnes Petkevicus and Barbara
Foubister
As the year ends another group of Nursery staff, Nursery Officers
in Social Work, are being balloted on their regrading claim.
Council has made a final offer, based on the Education settlement
which offers them up to a £2,000 increase and a £2,500 maximum
lump sum.
Pay 2004/05
By the time you read this you will have (hopefully!) received
the backdated pay rise which was due to be paid from April 2004.
This took an extraordinarily long time to be settled when you
consider that the final offer was consulted on and accepted
by ourselves and the rest of Unison in the summer.
The GMB and the TGWU, however, took until November to conclude
their internal consultations which is why we have had to wait
until January to receive the pay rise, some 10 months on. The
current processes are clearly not working and will have to be
reconsidered for future pay claims.
The settlement was 2.95% from 01 April 2004 and 2.95% from
01 April 2005.
Pensions
The Government has announced plans to amend the Local Government
Pension Scheme which will result in members losing many of the
benefits they currently enjoy. The changes are due to come into
force on 01 April 2005 in England and 01 April 2006 in Scotland.
UNISON has launched a National campaign along with other public
sector unions against the proposed changes. This campaign may
lead to strike action. As more detailed information becomes
available we will ensure that members are kept up to date.
Single Status
No progress was made on Single Status during 2004 and we are
no closer to agreeing a Job Evaluation Scheme with Council.
The national agreement was to have a scheme in place by April
2005 but that clearly is not going to happen and the fault for
that failure lies with the council who seem to have lost interest
with anything linked to national agreements. That does not bode
well for the future.
Around The Sectors
Social Work Reorganisation
As well as having a major impact on members in Social Work
this reorganisation has implications for members in both Education
and Housing. The trade union is involved in discussions regarding
the formation of the new departments and we have also been negotiating
a protocol for the transfer of staff. At the time of writing
the structures of the new departments are not available but
members may be assured that we will consult as widely as possible
once they are available. For a fuller report on this see the
Secretary's report.
Consumer & Environmental Services
Street Cleansing has suffered over the past year with cuts
being made in the night cleaning rotas which impacted on wages
and long term temps who had their contracts terminated.
These measures have clearly been made as a result of budget
problems arising from the need to remove large amounts of asbestos
from the Powderhall site. To suggest they are improving street
cleanliness at a time when staffing and hours are being cut
to the bone is a statement worthy of the best spin doctors in
the land.
Growth has been seen in the Environmental Health service with
the introduction of Noise Pollution Officers who will patrol
the streets at night responding to neighbour complaints. So
be warned, keep that stereo down.
City Development
The past 12 months have seen a plethora of major and minor
reviews in City Development and a constant theme has been the
failure to have an interface with the Trade Unions. One area
which has seen significant changes is the Facilities Management
function. Generic working was suggested which would have meant
office staff working generically with the Central Emergency
Service which operates through the night and at weekends. Thankfully
common sense saved the day on that one but management then tried
to instruct security staff to sweep the quadrangle during each
shift as the sight of unsightly cigarette ends was offending
some people. Where do they think them up? And some say trade
unions are an irrelevance - I think not!!!
Culture & Leisure
At a time when libraries are having ad-hoc closures because
there is no money to fill vacancies, the politicians decided
to pilot seven-day opening which they think will make the service
more family friendly (hardly family friendly if you are the
one working the new hours). We did get exemptions for current
staff but new entrants and promoted staff will take on the new
working pattern. We are watching this situation very closely
because we have already been told by leading politicians that
access to all council services should be seven days a week and
365 days a year.
The major review of the structures in Culture and Leisure was
supposed to have been concluded with a report to Council but
it became clear that, due to the failure to give staff a role
in developing posts within the structure, over 100 job descriptions
had to be revisited. That exercise continues some eight months
after council accepted the review outcomes. Our lead negotiator
in that review has stressed to management the importance of
involving staff in future if they want those employees to accept
ownership of any changes.
Finance
The centralisation of all the departmental Finance functions
is due to be completed by 1st April 2005. This flies in the
face of a Best Value report which highlighted the need to have
financial specialists in the departments and the benefits of
that arrangement. That report categorically rejected the centralisation
principles.
The reality is because the council's new accommodation proposals
cannot contain our current staffing levels they need to lose
posts and centralisation allows that to happen. You can be assured
our members will not be taking on additional workloads if posts
are lost.
Housing
A priority for the Branch during 2005 will be to respond to
the Council's plans to transfer control of the Housing Stock
to a Housing Association. This would result in the majority
of Housing staff being transferred from the Council to the new
employer and the council losing democratic control of affordable
housing in the city. Glasgow went down this line and transferred
staff are now facing job cuts because of budget problems in
the new organisation.
There will be a motion to the AGM from the Housing Shop Stewards
Committee which will propose a campaign framework for the branch
to adopt in the coming months.
New Council HQ
Work has started on the new and totally inadequate Council
HQ Building in New Street with occupancy expected to be in September
2006. What has not been decided is whether or not the phrase
"any other duties" would cover the requirement to cut the grass
on the roof!
LVJB
The long running review of the Joint Board has finally been
concluded and local stewards deserve credit for an outcome which
avoided compulsory redundancies. We await to see if revised
staffing levels can meet the statutory service requirements.
Further Education
2004 saw the Branch heavily involved in the F.E Sector with
Telford College reviewing almost every area of the college in
preparation for the move to the new campus.
The review was wide ranging covering jobs; hours etc and whilst
it has all but concluded there are still a number of outstanding
issues requiring resolution with disaffection for many staff.
Members unhappy about the way the review has impacted on them
should contact Branch Office.
Queen Margaret College has been granted university status and
as a consequence staff are being asked to transfer to Higher
Education conditions. The Branch is involved in talks on this
and we will ensure that members are kept up to date on progress.
Barony Housing
Barony Housing introduced a new set of conditions of service
which required Scotland wide consultation and co-operation between
several branches. Many thanks to Billy McAllister, our Regional
Officer for all his assistance on this one.
Blindcraft
Because of major budget problems Blindcraft was forced to close
two of its production facilities which resulted in major job
loss. At time of writing the Branch is involved in trying to
secure the future employment of these staff.
Sacro
Members in SACRO realised the importance of trade union membership
when Branch involvement was required to resolve a large number
of industrial relations difficulties.
Many of these still remain unresolved and Branch support will
remain in place over the coming months.
And Finally……..
Thanks to all the Team and local stewards who ensure that members
receive support and representation and of course to the Branch
Office staff, Eileen, Julie, Monica and Nicky who ensure that
the work gets done.
John Mulgrew
Service Conditions Co-ordinator
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