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Yo Ho Ho: Join Barnet UNISON Festive Mental Health social worker picket line
Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers begin a week of strike action on Monday 4 December.
Please see details of the location and times of our picket line.
What can supporters do?
1. Visit our picket lines all week commencing 4 December to 8 December
between 8- 12.30 pm (see attached graphic).
2. Please sign #BarnetUNISON email campaign to Barnet Council Chief Executive Please click on the link and follow the instructions. https://action.unison.org.uk/page/135744/action/1 Let us know when he replies.
Please send a solidarity message to our strikers by emailing our office at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
3. If you are on social media, you can help by liking/sharing or commenting on our many posts. Here are our social media sites.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/barnet_unison
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarnetUNISON
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnetunison/
4. Please write by email or by letter to:
John Hooton, Chief Executive of Barnet Council John.Hooton@Barnet.gov.uk
Address: London Borough of Barnet; 2 Bristol Avenue; London NW9 4EW
Cllr Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council Cllr.B.Rawlings@barnet.gov.uk
Address: London Borough of Barnet; 2 Bristol Avenue; London NW9 4EW.
Solidarity
Barnet UNISON.
End.
Background:
- Open letter to Executive Director of Adult Social Care – Mental Health social work dispute.
- Open letter to Director of Adult Social Care – Mental Health social work dispute.
- Open letter to Cllr Barry Rawlings Leader of Barnet Council
Open letter to Cllr Barry Rawlings Leader of Barnet Council
Dear Councillor Rawlings,
We are Barnet UNISON Mental Health Social Workers. Mental Health Social Workers have taken 9 of 32 announced strike dates. We took strike action as a last resort after 18 months of trying to negotiate with senior managers at Barnet Council about concerns that mental health social work services are not able to run at a safe level because there are not enough social workers, particularly experienced social workers, to meet rising demand. As a consequence, waiting lists continue to rise to dangerous levels and burnt-out staff are leaving for better paid social work roles in universities with no statutory responsibility, or better paid specialist roles in the NHS. In the last 12 months 14 permanent and locum mental health social workers have left their roles, in addition since the strikes began 2 more social workers have since handed in their notice taking the total to 16 social workers or 66 % of social workers, will have left in the space of one year. Furthermore, locums who come and go in a short period of time can also negatively impact people with mental ill-health who benefit from consistency and the trust they are able to build with the professionals they work with.
We recognise the context of 13 years of a Tory government which has taken a scythe to vital public services. However, Barnet Labour Council cannot hide behind this fact to abstain themselves from any responsibility for providing a safe mental health service in Barnet. In 2022 when Barnet Labour took an absolute majority in Barnet for the first time in almost 50 years, you said that you would work with residents to “make big changes to the borough”. For mental health social work services those changes have meant a waiting list in community mental health services that has grown from about 4 months to 15 months and a staff retention crisis.
Barnet Labour were elected on a manifesto pledge to “champion good mental health and increase a Barnet Charter for Mental health”. This sounded promising but in reality, this new charter was launched without any input or discussion with community mental health social workers, on a day when mental health social workers were picketing the same building.
We have been disappointed in Barnet Labour Council’s response to our strike. We have seen quotes given to media from councillors which parrot the same line that senior managers have been telling Barnet UNISON for 18 months. Repeating false claims that there isn’t a recruitment and retention issue in mental health social work. These are claims for which we have repeatedly and consistently asked senior managers to provide evidence, but none has been forthcoming. It is examples like these which Barnet Labour must take responsibility for and should not be hiding behind the inadequacies of central government mismanagement.
As a Labour Council we ask for you to show solidarity with not only UNISON members who deserve fair pay but more importantly Barnet residents who deserve a safe service and no waiting lists. We are asking for your help to bring an end to this dispute, reverse the decline in mental health social work services and make Barnet an example that other local authorities can aspire to emulate.
We are asking for a meeting with you to discuss how we can achieve this.
Yours sincerely,
Barnet UNISON Mental Health Social Workers.
Barnet UNISON – eNews 09 November 2023
London Living Wage Week: Barnet UNISON message to employers is “Pay Up Now!”
London Living Wage Week: Barnet UNISON message to employers is:
“Pay Up Now!”
This week is London Living Wage for more details of the campaign please go to https://www.livingwage.org.uk/living-wage-week
As soon as Barnet UNISON heard the new rate had changed from £11.95 to £13.15 an hour we contacted the Leader of Barnet Council, Chief Executive of Barnet Council and Chief Executive of The Barnet Group to ask what they are doing to ensure that all contractors adopt the new pay rate.
Last week we heard that the Chief Executive of The Barnet Group has sent a message to staff stating:
“We have made a commitment to pay the London living wage if we can afford to, to comply with the Living Wage Foundation accreditation it needs to be implemented by 1st May 2024.”
We already know from a survey of our members that pay is the one biggest issues. We are in the worst Cost Of Living Crisis in 76 years, things are not getting better, they are getting worse.
Barnet UNISON will shortly be conducting a mass consultation pay ballot with our members which will ask two questions.
1. Do you think you should wait until 1 May 2024, or should you be given the new pay rate now?
2. If you want the pay now and management refuse to pay, are you prepared to take strike action? Yes or No?
The choice of what we do next will be from our members. We are a branch that does support its members as we saw last year with the Barnet Ten strikes and now, we have social workers on strike about pay.
Whatever happens, you the members will decide what we do next.
We will be organising meetings in workplaces and a big online meeting to discuss this issue.
If you want to book a meeting on pay or would like more information about the mass consultation pay ballot email us at contactus@barnetunison.org.uk
Barnet Unison- eNews 03 November 2023
Join Brighton & Hove & Barnet UNISON social worker picket lines ONLINE Tues 7 Nov 12- 1pm
This is an invitation from Barnet and Brighton & Hove UNISON inviting supporters to attend our Online Solidarity Social Worker picket lines on
Tuesday 7 November 12- 1pm
Here is the link for the meeting 👇👇👇
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87914968590?pwd=dDV1NFd5VkJZRUxwQmZYeG5GWkRmdz09
Meeting ID: 879 1496 8590
We will have live feed from the picket lines in Brighton and Barnet.
We are in the worst cost of living crisis in 76 years and our members have had enough.
End.
Statement from Mental Health social workers in Barnet
We are deeply disappointed that despite two years of social workers raising increasing concerns regarding the safety and sustainability of mental health social care, Barnet Council continues to deny that there is a recruitment and retention problem in mental health social work.
42% of social workers within the Mental Health Social Care Service have left within the past year whilst more still have formal plans to leave the teams within the next few months, meaning this figure is closer to 50%. Furthermore, the majority of workers who have left have been those with by far the most experience, with many of these workers previously working their entire careers in mental health services within Barnet. When looking at information regarding the mental health experience of permanent staff members, one team has lost 75% of the experience within their team in less than one year. The result is that social workers who are recently qualified make up the bulk of the teams.
The loss of experienced social workers has significantly contributed to increasingly high waiting lists. The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman consider it reasonable for a person to wait 4-6 weeks for an assessment. The waiting list within Barnet is now up to 15 months. This time last year it was 6 months, demonstrating the significant detrimental impact that not retaining experienced social workers is having on the service.
Mental Health Social Workers continue to express concerns that, as they are not able to assess and meet the needs for residents in a reasonable time, people with severe mental ill-health are not receiving the support they need to remain well and live in the community. This can lead to otherwise avoidable, or delayable, deterioration to mental health and can result in the person’s compulsory admission to hospital on a mental health ward. Social workers have been raising that this is not fair on those who experience mental ill health, nor those who support them, such as family and friends. It is also not in line with the principles or ethos of the Care Act 2014, which is underpinned by a responsibility for local authorities to promote wellbeing and to prevent, delay, and reduce a person’s needs for care and support.
The teams require a stable team comprised of permanent and experienced staff. This cannot be achieved when staff are leaving at such high rates. Mental Health Social Workers have therefore been asking Barnet Council to apply a Recruitment and Retention payment which is already in place for social workers within Family Services.
Alarmingly, despite all the evidence provided to Barnet Council, it continues to report inaccurate information regarding recruitment and retention, claiming much higher rates than are true. This has resulted in continued dismissal of the concerns raised by the workers.
According to the British Association of Social Workers, Social Workers have a responsibility to promote and work to the Code of Ethics, which has underpinned social work practice since 1975. The code sets out that social workers are expected to bring inadequate resources to the attention of their employers and that they should be prepared to challenge ineffective procedures and practice. Social Workers are regulated by Social Work England which sets out professional standards for all social workers in England. These standards state that social workers should raise concerns about unsafe practice and should challenge practices, systems, and processes where necessary.
Social workers therefore have a duty to raise concerns and advocate for those whom they serve. Mental health social workers in Barnet have been meeting these responsibilities throughout the two years they have been raising increasing concerns. We see industrial action as a necessary extension of our responsibilities as social workers to advocate for those we serve, particularly those who may not be able to advocate for themselves.
We are challenging the lack of a safe service and the unreasonable and increasing waiting lists which put the residents of Barnet at risk of harm. We are asking for a recruitment and retention payment to maintain a stable and permanent workforce of experienced staff. We will continue to advocate for the residents of Barnet and unless Barnet Council implements a reasonable recruitment and retention payment to keep experienced staff in Barnet, we will continue to return to the picket line come rain, shine, or more rain, to raise awareness and fight for residents.
Why? Because we are social workers and THIS is what social work looks like.
Signed
Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers.
Barnet UNISON: eNews 19 October 2023
Industrial relations hit a new low in Barnet Council.
Barnet UNISON will always speak up for our members regardless of employer. We are a trade union, and our role is to organise and support members in the workplace. The last 13 years Austerity policies have had a detrimental impact on our members. Many of our members are exhausted, overworked, stressed out and the cost-of-living crisis is plunging many of our members into debt.
Our branch has organsied many strikes over the last couple fo decades.
However, in our recent strike of Mental Health social workers there appears to be a change in approach towards Barnet UNISON. This is surprising and disappointing that we are now under a Labour Administration. Many of our members are expecting things to be different than when the Tories were in power. Its 17 months since the last election and by 12 October, Barnet UNISON will have taken 20 days of strike action which is more than we had under the last 6 years of the Tories.
To those who keep asking, Barnet UNISON has tried to keep an open dialogue with Barnet Labour Party.
Below are a list of concerns:
1. Barnet Council have refused to talk to Barnet UNISON about life and limb cover. This is the first time in 28 years of being a Barnet UNISON rep in Barnet Council that this has happened. “This never happened under the 20 years under Tory rule in Barnet Council.”
2. Barnet Council emailed staff before the strike asking members to respond if they were taking strike action. Whilst the employer can do this, this is the first time they have done this in the last 28 years . “This never happened under the 20 years under Tory rule in Barnet Council.”
3. Barnet UNISON wrote to the Chief Executive pointing out the email to members was intimidatory and that senior managers should approach me about Life and Limb cover. Barnet UNISON was assured that senior managers would contact me. We have had three days of strike action and another 3 days of strike action this week and to date no one has contacted me. “This never happened under the 20 years under Tory rule in Barnet Council.”
4. Managers have sent several managers to one of the workplaces to in our view to try and intimidate our members. These managers never go to this workplace, and they don’t work in Mental Health Services. This is a childish act which is backfiring. However, the message is clear that management in Adult Social Care are trying to sidestep having to deal with Barnet UNISON. This never happened under the 20 years under Tory rule in Barnet Council.
5. Barnet UNISON has seen an email sent by a senior manager to a UNISON member who was on strike and therefore unable to respond, asking if they were taking strike action. This email shows that senior managers had no plan for life and limb cover. We know because some of our members were contacted on the picket line. This is a shocking lack of respect for the service but towards Barnet UNISON. This never happened under the 20 years under Tory rule in Barnet Council.
Before Barnet UNISON members took strike action Barnet Council had been claiming for 9 months that there were no recruitment and retention issues.
On the eve of the formal strike ballot Barnet Council changed their minds and said that there was a recruitment and retention issue but not just in Mental Health but across Adult Social Care. They made an offer of 2.6%.
Barnet Council have consistently denied that they need recruitment and retention payments but last year in a report on Mental Health services they agreed to a recruitment and retention payment (6.2%) for one job role.
Barnet Mental Health social workers rejected the 2.6% deeming it an insult.
Barnet UNISON members working for Adult Social Care have rejected the 2.6% and Barnet UNISON will be registering our claim in a formal meeting on 11 October. If an agreement cannot be reached the issue will be escalated to a meeting with the Chief Executive. If we do not reach an agreement at this meeting a formal dispute will be raised, and Barnet UNISON will be requesting a lawful strike ballot for these members.
Our members are clear that the only way for the service users to receive they urgently need is for the Council to address the chronic staffing issues.
- Already the wait for an initial screening, which should be completed in 5 days as per the policy is now 12 weeks.
- The waiting list is now up to 14 months.
The service is in crisis, but managers are in denial.
Each day of strike action increases the waiting lists. The longer senior management fail to take this seriously pushes the service deeper into crisis.
Since 1 September 2023 two staff have already left and there are more planning to leave if things don’t change.
Now is not the time for macho politics. Senior management need to come to the table with a sensible offer. If Family Services can pay up to 25% on top of basic, then Adults need to match it.
End.