UNISONNews August 1999 No.25

Best value - but council still wants to privatise

UNISON is fighting council plans to put even more Grounds Maintenance contracts out to tender despite them having shown they can deliver 'Best Value'.

The in-house workers came out in the top section for best value in the benchmarking exercise, meaning there was no requirement to put the contract out.

"What is the point of going through benchmarking when even if you deliver best value, you still face privatisation?", said an angry John Mulgrew, branch service conditions co-ordinator.

The sell-off is all the more galling after the last privatisation shambles in Grounds Maintenance.

Garden Aid was deemed not to be best value and was hived off to a private contractor who then couldn't deliver.

It was then given to the second best, (or cheapest), a firm near Linlithgow, with workers having to go there to start work then get back into Edinburgh to do the job!

The council has been inundated with complaints about the service, largely from pensioners who depend upon it.

The in-house bid now looks far more like best value than this.

"Best value is also meant to include consultation - what answer would the council get if they consulted these service users?" asked John.

The contracts at risk this time are in Social Work, Education and Police, due to start in January 2000.

"Government guidelines mean there is no need to put this contract out. Best value is about service and quality, not just cost", said Charlie McInally, Grounds Maintenance steward.

"This casts serious doubt on whether the council is committed to best value, or whether it just wants cheapest is best. Forget the 'best value' spin - this is blatant privatisation", said Morag Stevenson, branch secretary.

Index

 


Amazing solidarity wins benefits deal

Revenue and benefits staff accepted a deal on 20 July to settle a 16 month dispute which culminated in a seven week rolling programme of strikes.

"The deal was won through the amazing solidarity of the members who had voted by 92% for the strike. Most of them stood to gain nothing, but they stood solidly for a better deal for their colleagues. That is to their great credit", said John Mulgrew, chief negotiator.

"The improved offer does not meet all our demands, but we always said we were prepared to negotiate for a fair settlement. It is only sad that it took strike action and disruption of the service to get to this point", added John.

The dispute arose after the merger of the Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit functions. Despite additional responsibilities, the Council graded the combined job up to £4,000 a year less than the old Housing job.

The new deal is considerably more than the rate the Council had tried to push through.

The settlement brings a rise of one salary point for all staff backdated to October 1998 and a further increase from April 1999.

A career scheme should bring everyone up to just one grade below the old Housing job and two grades up from the old Council Tax job, by October this year. Those on higher grades will have salaries protected.

"This means our objectives of improving conditions for the lowest paid and protecting those who had higher salaries have been achieved. A fair deal was all our members wanted and they deserve credit for the dignified way they have seen this through", added John Stevenson, branch vice-chair.

£120 was presented to the strikers by Lothian Valuation Board stewards committee convenor Gary Elliott and secretary Andy Hanlin. Donations came in from all over Britain during the dispute.

Index


 

 

Unfair comparisons cut quality and act against in-house bids

Dim view of street lighting tendering

Despite the council's fine words about basing best value on quality as well as cost, UNISON says the reality is somewhat different.

The Garden Aid shambles on the front page is not an isolated incident.

Now the council is also considering hiving off Edinburgh's Street Lighting.
Their 'benchmarking' exercise came up with the odd conclusion that the in-house Edinburgh service was not giving 'best value' compared with elsewhere.

This is not surprising, given they, as usual, did not compare like with like.
For example, the in-house service does a range of things to ensure safety and proper lighting that are not done by the authorities they were compared with.

UNISON is fighting to ensure that the council doesn't get away with this back-door cut in safety under the guise of best value - or cheapest is best.

If this contract goes out, remember to take a torch out at night!
Further voluntary tendering is expected in Fleet Maintenance and parts of Building Cleaning

"As we go to press, branch officers are demanding meetings with the politicians to make sure they have no doubt that UNISON will fight to keep quality and safety at the top of the agenda, both for our members and for the public they serve", said John Stevenson, branch vice-chair.

"The council's approach to best value needs a major overhaul if they are seriously interested in a partnership to provide efficient quality services", he added.

Index

 

 

Council U-turn on private finance statements

Hopes raised by council Education Convenor Paul Williamson that staff would be safe under private finance partnerships were dashed when the hard questions were asked by union officers last month.

Cllr Williamson told the Evening News his view was staff would remain council employees and that the council would still own the schools at the end of the deal with the private consortium.

But when put on the spot by branch officers, he drew back saying he was expressing a 'political' view as to how much council workers are valued. This was of course welcome, but staff would transfer to the private sector nevertheless.

This comes from a council decision to finance school building and modifications through a Public Private Partnership (PPP), in almost the same way as the Health Service is doing with the discredited Royal Infirmary plan.

The original project meant that schools would be handed to the private sector who would then close some and build others. They would take over the running of the schools, including:-
- school management
- grounds maintenance
- security
- cleaning and
- catering.

That would mean that all these staff would transfer to the private contractor.
And, as UNISON warned last year, the private consortium would still own the schools at the end of the contract. The branch described this as paying a mortgage for 30 or 40 years but not owning your house at the end of it.

The council always said it would hold on to the land, but now also says it has government approval to get the schools back at the end of the contract.

It remains to be seen what effect this fundamental change will have on the costs of the deal.

"We will be pushing hard for staff to remain council employees. If new rules make this possible in the Health Service, there is no reason why it cannot happen in local government", said John Ross APT&C convenor.

"The branch remains committed to protecting our members. Our Affiliated Political Fund representatives are actively questioning the whole concept of these discredited private finance schemes".

The branch will also be raising the issue nationally at UNISON's Scottish Council meeting in September.

Index

 

Private firm to run childrens secure units

In yet another PPP deal the council plans to privatise a city secure unit for children at Howdenhall.

The plan is that a private company will refurbish and operate this sensitive establishment.

Care staff will still be employed by the council, but all the other functions like maintenance, security, catering and cleaning are likely to go out to the private firm.

This is the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Social Work the branch knows of in Scotland.

Timescales are uncertain but local stewards have already raised the matter with management.

UNISON's demands will simply be that, as in schools, the whole staff group, from the cleaner to the officer in charge, are and must stay part of the caring team.

All staff must remain council employees to ensure complete accountability in such an important service.

Index


-

 

 

PFI without people?

The Treasury has set out 'new models' that would allow staff working in health service Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) to stay as NHS employees.

This 'PFI without People' means that ancillary workers will not be expected to transfer to private sector employers.

"The announcement only appears to cover the NHS. However, if it is possible in the accounting rules for the NHS, then there is no excuse for local government to claim that 'PFI without people' is not allowed" says the bulletin.

Scottish Finance Minister Jack McConnell has also announced an overhaul of PFI schemes. The key points are:

Index

 

 

 

Views still sought on pay '99 as Millennium deal goes through

Responses to this year's 3.3% pay offer have been flowing in but some areas have been strangely silent.

It is important that workplaces feed in views before 27 August. If accepted the rise should be paid at the end of September, backdated to 1 April.

A Millennium payments deal has been struck at Scottish level with an extra £100 for people working and £50 on standby with another £50 if called out. Under Single Status, the branch views this as a minimum.

UNISON started local talks months ago, but the council waited for the national scheme. We will now be arguing for enhancements to take into account Edinburgh's special circumstances.

"We hear about the kind of money bar staff are likely to get. The council has to recognise the contribution of care workers and other essential services over the festive period, and pay them accordingly", said Morag Stevenson, branch secretary.

Index

 

 

Union stops redundancies but fight on to save more

Despite thousands of job cuts and hundreds of redundancy notices since reorganisation, UNISON's work has meant that only one member has been made redundant.

Even then, the member had refused alternative options.

Now we have to pull out the stops again. In the same week that the council announced a £10 million surplus, the branch was fighting to stave off compulsory redundancies.

Four members in Recreation have been issued with redundancy notices after their jobs disappeared in a reorganisation.

Another two members are facing the sack in City Development due to the closure of the Capital Skills training programme.

Branch officers John Mulgrew and John Ross are pressing the council to withdraw the redundancies and apply agreed redeployment procedures.

As we go to press, senior management were adamant that these redundancies had to happen to square the budget.

"This is nonsense. A council this size, with their reported surplus, can surely relocate six people", said John Ross.

"One of these members has 37 years service and is only five years from retirement. It would be a disgrace if their long service award was a P45", he added.

Index

 

 

Single status and what it means to you

As members will have noticed from last month's payslips, the new Single Status Scottish agreement is now in place.

This means most staff will eventually be on the one set of conditions, whether they are manual or APT&C staff. It will also apply to the voluntary sector where they are on NJC conditions.

Members will notice little change at first but within three years every job will have to be reviewed under an agreed Job Evaluation scheme.

Part of the agreement reduces manual hours to 37 by 2002 at the latest, phased in by cutting one hour by April 2000.

For most Scottish workers this means going to 38 hours in 2000 but Edinburgh manual workers are already on 38.25 hours and the branch is clear that should be cut by one hour to 37.25 by April 2000.

"The council challenges this, but we believe the Single Status clause is absolutely clear about the one hour cut", said John Mulgrew.

Payslips list a range of negotiations under way. In fact talks on most of these have not yet started. The branch is absolutely clear that where better local conditions are in place, they should continue under Single Status. Watch this space!

Index

 

 

 

£millions won for members

In the first six months of 1999 UNISON won £1.5 million for members injured at work in Scotland.

And as a huge £20 million was won across the UK, UNISON warned employers that they must make the health and safety of their employees a key priority.

"The money we have recovered represents an enormous amount of pain and suffering endured by our members.

"All too often lives are wrecked and careers destroyed by faulty equipment, lack of training and pressure of work," said Danny Currie, branch health & safety officer.

"Employers have a legal responsibility to carry out risk assessments and we will continue to press for improved standards".

Index

 

 

Branch wins union's top magazine award

UNISONNews, the Edinburgh branch magazine, has won the top Best Overall award and £600 for the branch in this year's UNISON Communications Awards. The competition logo is on masthead above.

"We are really pleased about this achievement after winning best entry using a computer and runner up awards in previous years", said editor John Stevenson.

"It is a testament to how seriously stewards and officers take the business of trying to keep members fully informed", he added.

Other Scottish branches also scooped national awards.

Speak in UNISON (East Renfrewshire), took both the Most Promising Newcomer and Best Use of Plain English awards.

Of the four awards in the Best of the Rest Using a Computer category, no less than three went to Scotland - Branchline (South Lanarkshire), Counterpoints (North Ayrshire LG) and Organise in UNISON, (Southern General Hospital NHS).

Index

 

Tribunals lodged

UNISON has lodged Industrial Tribunals for three Edinburgh catering staff who had their hours cut.

Tribunals have also been lodged for workers whose contractual overtime was taken away as a result of a review.

Index

 

On the negotiating Line...

Working time talks

Talks are under way on the Working Time Directive which comes into operation on 1 October.

The negotiations will look at which workers and which agreements may be in conflict with the new rules. Residential workers have been identified as one of the problem areas with the requirement to have 11 hours off between shifts.

The Directive means people cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours a week and lays down rules for time off, breaks etc.

Particularly affected may be some voluntary organisations where some housing association staff can need to be on the premises for up to 100 hours a week.

Index

 

 

Long service marked

The council has announced a new long service award scheme to give gifts to mark 25 years service

 

Careers scheme

Talks are under way regarding a career scheme for Library staff.

Index

 

Branch plays key role at Conference

The branch was a key player again at this year's national UNISON Conference, the union's supreme policy making body.

Edinburgh has nine delegates to the Conference, at least 60% of whom must be women.

Major policy decisions, largely in line with branch policies, were passed on Defending Public Services, Best Value, Minimum Wage, Employment Rights, Working Time, PFI, Pensions and Violence against Women.

Welfare Centres

Edinburgh won an emergency motion demanding full consultation on UNISON Welfare's decision to close its convalescent centres, White Rose and Knole Lodge.

The welfare fund, a separate charity, took the decision because of losses and alleged misuse of the centres.

The National Executive claimed it had no power to change the decision, but Edinburgh's Morag Stevenson successfully argued that it was UNISON's charity and the management board had to take Conference's views seriously.

However the latest news is that the closures will go ahead.

Meanwhile, branch welfare officers are still dealing with convalescence requests and many other unaffected welfare services.

Improvement notices

Edinburgh's George Lee spoke on the need for statutory improvement notices in health & safety. Edinburgh had put a motion on this but the debate was around a similar one from other branches.

Disciplinary action

Edinburgh welcomed new guidance on dealing with harassment of members by members.

But we were disappointed that disciplinary rule changes connected with this, to devolve more power to Regions in a simplified and quicker process, narrowly missed a two-thirds majority. Edinburgh had started the ball rolling on this one.

For details on any decision, contact Morag Stevenson on 0131 220 5655.

Index

 

 

Is the person next to you a member?

The successes on this page are just some of reasons why everyone at your workplace should be in UNISON.

The union is only as strong as its members - our ability to protect you depends on how many members we have.

Give this to a colleague who isn't in the union. And remind them about who negotiated the procedures that protect them in the workplace.

Ask them whether they would have got any pay rises without the union?

Remind them about...

Phone 0131 220 5655 to join. You can also join by clicking here.

Index

 

 

Free Internet with UNISON

Phone 0870 9009090 for your free unisonfree.net CD now. Quoting membership no.

UNISON is the first union to give free internet access to its members through unisonfree.net.

Free access, free email address, free web space to start your own site. It is for members only and you will need your membership number (contact 220 5655 if you've lost yours).

Index

 

 


 

About UNISONNews

The views expressed in UNISON News are not necessarily those of UNISON City of Edinburgh Branch or the union.

All articles/comments to John Stevenson, Communications Officer at 0131 220 5655

P&P by UNISON City of Edinburgh Local Government & Related Sectors Branch, 23 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EN

 

 

Home Page | Index