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Good News! – Pay Cut for Adoption Workers Stopped

Austerity, News, Solidarity, UNISON Campaign

North London Business Park, Unison workers go on strike
29/04/15 BP
Credit: Anne-Marie Sanderson

You may recall that a group of workers were due to be TUPE transferred to the North London Regional Adoption Agency at the start of this month. Shockingly they were informed at the last moment that if they transferred they would lose their Recruitment and Retention payment. This was after being part of the work done to deliver a good Ofsted rating. The Council argued this was not part of their terms and conditions. This would have meant a pay cut of 15%! Only when our union stepped in with legal advice to say they would take a court case on this if the Council went ahead, did the Senior Management back down and now these workers will transfer with their usual wages including the R&R.
It is unlawful to inflict a detriment on workers changing their terms and conditions due to a TUPE transfer. This was absolutely the line our Family Services Senior Management were pursuing.
It pays to be in a trade union. These workers went through a difficult time for several weeks and months not knowing what their income was going to become or where they would end up working. However, they stuck it out and acted together patiently waiting for positive news which did in fact come.
Solidarity to those workers!

IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENT: Pensions Auto-enrolment in September

Local, Pensions, Report, UNISON Campaign

IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENT: Pensions Auto-enrolment in September

All Barnet Council employees that meet all of the following criteria:

  • You earn over £192 per week (or £833 per month)
  • You are aged 22 or over and
  • You are under state pension age.

And are not already in the Pensions Scheme were enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme LGPS on 15 September 2019.

You will be able to see in your payslip this month just how much the Council has paid in to your Pension Pot and how much you have contributed.

This month you should receive a letter from the Council explaining why they have enrolled you into the Pension Scheme.

If you have any questions please note the dates and times of Pension briefings below.

Barnet Council wide Pension briefings:

Oakleigh Road Depot Wednesday 25th September 2019, 6am to 10am

Harrow Depot Thursday 26th September 2019, 6am to 10am

Colindale Building, Room 1.9, Friday 27th September 2019, 9am to 2:30pm

If you need any support or advice, please contact the Barnet UNISON office on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Homeless: Barnet UNISON quest to find an office

Austerity, Local, News, Uncategorised

Dear Members

Since the formation of Barnet Council in 1965 there has always been an office for our members to visit and meet with their reps first when it was NALGO and now Barnet UNISON.

Barnet UNISON has moved a few times over the last decades. We were based in an old mortuary in Hendon until the Council moved services “lock, stock and barrel” to North London Business Park (NLBP).

We remained in NLBP until the Council began its new accommodation strategy.

We were moved to Barnet House and we are still here.

It is really important for our members that they have access to their trade union.

Currently we have large numbers of members at Oakleigh Road depot, NLBP, Colindale.

Over the last 12 months we have been in discussions with the Council to find suitable accommodation that is accessible and provides confidentiality.

Why are we not at Colindale?

The set up in Colindale is open plan and the Council were unable to secure an enclosed office where we could meet, greet and discuss issues with our members. It is important that members are able to access Barnet UNISON without others knowing.

Subsequently we have been looking at some other properties. Originally we were going to return to Building 2 NLBP for a limited amount of time but that has not materialised.

Time is running out.

At the moment we are still in Barnet House because the building is still open for Housing Needs service which has not moved to Colindale. At some point Barnet House will be closed and we will be out on the streets hence the need to find something suitable.

We are still hoping to find a solution with the Council but we need to be prepared for potentially being homeless.

How you can help?

We are calling on all members to keep a look out for anywhere they think might be suitable for a Barnet UNISON office.

It’s important that members understand that the branch does not have funding for an office and therefore any costs would have to be taken out of our existing budget. This is a real concern because we have a large and diverse membership and we struggle to live within our budget each year. We will of course be contacting our union to ask if they are able to provide extra funding for accommodation and we will report back to our members the outcome of that request.

 

Important Announcement: John Burgess Branch Secretary

Uncategorised

Important Announcement: John Burgess Branch Secretary

Dear Members

Our Branch Secretary John Burgess is currently off sick and at this time we are unable to say when he will return.

The reason for this announcement is to alert members that our resources are reduced at this time as we do not have any resources to cover his absence.
We are working hard to prepare a plan by which we can ensure that are still able to support all of our members regardless of their employer.
If you are in need of support please make sure you ring the branch on 0208 359 2088 or email contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

We are asking all of our reps to call into the office is you feel able to offer some support to the branch.

I am sure all of our members would want to wish John a speedy recovery.

The Branch Meeting on 4th September at 12.30pm in Colindale Conference Suite 1, will still be taking place. 

Thanks,

Helen Davies
Branch Chair
Barnet UNISON

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