JOINT UNION NEWSLETTER
Cheshire West and Chester Council May 2011
Terms & Conditions: Heading for a Dispute!
Discussions over terms and conditions have largely ground to a halt for the period of the Local Elections. This has left everything up-in-the-air until a new Staffing Committee is constituted in mid-May, and meets in early June. Who sits on the new Staffing Committee may well be important, even though the Conservatives still have a clear majority on the Council.
CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER JOINT TRADE UNION NEWSLETTER MAY 2011
Current Staffing Committee Chairperson, Pamela Hall, claimed in a letter to the press that this process is being driven by fairness, and the need to harmonise terms and conditions between staff from the different predecessor councils. All the trade unions are clear this is not the sticking point on any agreement. The Trade Unions have offered significant concessions that address all the harmonisation issues, and save the Council around £1.5m per year.
Unfortunately the sticking point is that the Council seems to want more – much more – out of your pockets. Mainly they want this from Car Allowances, and from the premium payments that staff are paid for working unsocial hours. On these issues the Conservative majority on the Council do not want to harmonise (even to the lowest level) they want to rob us blind. For them harmonisation would mean no enhancements for any unsocial working hours.
It is clear that unless the new Staffing Committee is prepared to move substantially, or if it seeks to impose the Council’s current proposals on staff, then we will be into a formal dispute in June. That will mean balloting for targeted Industrial Action! If this is the case, all the concessions that the Trade Unions have put forward will be withdrawn from the negotiating table.
CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER JOINT TRADE UNION NEWSLETTER MAY 2011
Members should not be mislead into believing that the Council has to make cuts to our terms and conditions to balance the books, or to prevent job losses.
Staff in Highways, Children’s Services, Leisure, Catering and Property are already facing redundancies arising from re-organisations. The Council plans to cut 140 jobs this year. Meanwhile it will be adding £ millions to reserves because it has underspent last year’s budget.
That is not to say times are not difficult, given this Government’s unnecessarily severe cuts - to pay for the Bankers’ crisis. However, everyone of you is already paying for this with a 10 -15% pay cut, resulting from the Government’s 3 year pay freeze. Most low paid public sector workers will get £250 this year- but not in Local Govt. National Insurance and VAT have both been increased, and we face the potential of a 3% increase in our pension contributions – if the Government can get away with it.
For many people the whole change to Cheshire West and Chester has meant nothing but cuts. Many have been relocated with no travelling time, others have lost their free parking, their canteens have closed, their jobs have been re-evaluated under a new pay structure – with the prospect of pay reductions after 3 years. It is difficult enough now having to harmonise terms and conditions (usually down to the lowest) without the Conservatives trying to steal £5m per year from us at the same time.
Remember these are not one-off cuts we will not get them back when things improve. If our terms and conditions are cut now we may never recover them. That is why it is worth fighting now, however hard that may be, and even if it costs us in the short term!
UCATT
So what proposals have been put forward or come out of the Consultation Process?
1. Car Allowances:Management have largely stuck to their position of wanting only to give Essential User Allowance to those doing more than 6,000 miles per year. They originally agreed that the Cheshire “criteria” could still be used in an amended form, but they dropped this position (without bothering to tell the trade unions) just before they wrote to all staff. They wanted to give everyone 40p per mile, including essential users, but have increased this to 45p following HM Customs and Revenue’s decision to increase the figure that is not taxable from 40p to 45p.
The trade union alternative proposal that all Car Allowances would be limited to NJC Band 2 (the rate paid for cars up to 1200cc), which would save the Council about £1m, has been rejected. Local Government employers have refused to increase the national mileage rates this year in an effort to force the trade unions to agree changes, so we are under attack on two fronts here. Any local agreement will need to deal with the possible affect of national changes.
On Essential Car User Allowance trade unions continue to strongly argue for the retention of the 4,000 mile automatic entitlement to ECUA, and also for the Cheshire criteria to be applied to all staff. Trade unions are willing to look at those criteria jointly with management. If ECUA is not paid trade unions are clear that staff will not be required to provide a car for work.
2. Weekend Enhancements:Management continue to take the position that no weekend enhancements should be paid. That is to say, staff should work Saturdays and Sundays for flat rate.
The trade unions have offered to harmonise to a situation where all staff are paid at time plus one half for Saturdays and Sundays, (some staff currently receive double time for Sundays). Staff would also be limited to claiming only one enhancement (the highest), as in Cheshire. Payment of these enhancements is the biggest sticking point in negotiations, as it affects hundreds of low paid (mainly women) staff who work over 7 days in care services. This is also a key sticking-point in negotiating an agreement in Streetscene, where management want staff to work over 7 days (see below).
3. Bank Holiday Enhancements:Management seem willing to accept that enhancements need to be paid for working on bank holidays, as well as a day off, and are considering union proposals.
Trade unions have proposed to harmonise at the current Cheshire enhancements for bank holidays. These are time plus one half, except on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when double time is paid.
4. Overtime:Management seem willing to accept that enhancements for working overtime may be acceptable, but have not specified a rate. They have suggested between 10% and 50%.
Trade unions have offered to harmonise all overtime above 37 hours at time plus one half – giving up double time for Sundays. They have also proposed to work with management to minimise the need for overtime, especially contractual overtime.
5. Night and Evening Enhancement:Management appear to accept there is a need to pay a night time enhancement, but have not proposed a specific rate.
Trade unions have defended the payment of evening enhancements at time plus one tenth, and urged use of a definition of night work similar to that used by Cheshire (i.e. it should include a minimum of two hours worked between 12 midnight and 6 am). Unions have also offered to limitpayment for night shifts to a maximum of 8 hours, with any extra paid at evening rate. This would affect some care staff who current do 12 hour night shifts (8 pm to 8am).
6. Shift Pay:Management want to end all shift payments, which add a set percentage to pay. There is clearly a need to harmonise current payments which vary considerably.
UCATT
Trade unions will only agree to end fixed shift payments if weekend, night and evening enhancements are paid instead. Some staff working day-time alternating shifts (e.g. 6 am – 2 pm, and 2pm – 10pm) would lose out under this arrangement, as these attract little in extra pay.
7. Split Shift Payment:Staff doing split shifts (with a break of 2 or more hours in the middle) are currently paid £1 per day. Management want to abolish this.
Trade unions have long argued that this payment is inadequate to meet the cost of having to do two journeys to work each day, and continue to press for a daily payment of 30 minutes pay. Schools, transport and homecare, where split shifts are common, have no problem with the current payments.
8. Tipping and Clean Down Allowances (Refuse Service);Management seem to have accepted that these payments should continue, as they reflect payments made in the private sector.
Trade unions had strongly argued that these payments reflect real additional work for some staff, but agreed there should be a review of who received the payments.
9. Existing Car Leases (Vale Royal, Chester, E. Port and Cheshire); Management want to abolish all existing lease schemes in favour of a new salary sacrifice lease scheme open to all staff.
Trade unions have questioned management’s ability to terminate early these legal lease agreements made with staff, even if staff face no penalties. We await a Council response to this point and are taking legal advice. While accepting the need to harmonise car lease arrangements, trade unions have demanded a compensation payment for Vale Royal staff equivalent to 12 months loss of benefit unless staff have gained from job evaluation or promotion at LGR. This is because the Vale Royal benefit is so significant in salary terms. Chester’s scheme only subsidised the insurance cost.
10. Childcare Allowances;Management want to abolish the payments made to Vale Royal staff given that Childcare Vouchers are now available to all staff.
Trade Unions have proposed to agree this harmonisation.
11. Call-in Payments:Management have proposed to introduce a new call-in payment which is half the value of Standby Allowance. Staff responding to “call-in” or who return to work while on Standby will both receive pay for all hours worked at the appropriate enhanced rate.
Trade unions have proposed to agree this harmonisation and new payment.
12. First Aid and Fire Marshall Allowances;Management have proposed to increase first aid allowance from £104 to £130 per year, but to abolish any allowance for Fire Marshalls.
Trade unions had pushed for the first aid allowance to be £3 per week (£156) the first increase for 25 years, but propose to agree the £130, and to accept the abolition of the Fire Marshall payments.
13. Long Service Payments and Retirement Lump Sum;Management propose to abolish all one off long service payments but to pay a Retirement Lump Sum so that all staff receive a pensionable payment equal to £20 per year if they retire from the Council.
Trade unions have argued that this should be a payment reflecting loyalty to the Council. Therefore more money should be paid to fewer people e.g. £40 per year but only to staff with more than 20 year’s service with CWAC (and its predecessors). This would more reflect the arrangements currently operating which are designed to reward long service. Figures should be index linked.
14. Pay Protection:Management have been intransigent on this issue, finally offering 6 months protection, with no pay increases or increments, followed by 6 months of half pay protection.
Trade unions have argued that staff should not lose out due to changes which are not their fault, such as re-organisations. As a compromise we have suggested that the current arrangement of 3 years full protection with increments and pay awards would change to: full protection for first 12 months, with increments and pay awards; standstill protection for 12 months (no increments and pay awards); third years pay reduces quarterly down to protected rate. Management are also asked to agree “prior consideration” for staff applying for jobs which reduce or remove their pay protection.
15. Parking Charges;Management have made no proposals on this, but trade unions have called for subsidised parking in CWAC car parks for all staff working in Chester, equivalent to the cheapest daily parking available elsewhere (£4 per day).
16. Redundancy Payments:Management are minded to agree the retention of double statutory redundancy pay.
Trade unions have strongly argued for this as a way to facilitate re-organisations and change, and would propose to agree this if it is tabled. If the Council continues to pursue a reduction to Statutory Redundancy Pay (uncapped) we will seek support of the Teaching Unions in opposing any reduction.
SOULBURY STAFF: As part of the re-organisation of Children’s Services management have proposed that advisory staff on Soulbury Grades be moved onto NJC and JNC job evaluated grades. (They say this is part of harmonisation of terms and conditions, but do not propose to do the same to Education Psychologists on Soulbury Grades.) Soulbury Unions have argued strongly that these are jobs that usually require teaching qualifications and leadership experience, and that the proposed NJC grades are not designed to evaluate teaching roles. The result will be grades that are too low to attract the appropriately qualified staff. Other trade unions are fully supporting the Soulbury Unions in this stance.
STREETSCENE STAFF;As mentioned above, Streetscene Staff are involved in looking at significant proposals to change their way of working; introducing rotas which involve working on any day, and which involve working longer hours in the summer and shorter hours in the winter. Some aspects of these proposals already exist in some parts of the Borough, so there is an element of harmonisation. Currently the main problem for staff is that 3 or 4 weeksof their holidays would be fixed by the rota, although there would be additional weeks off reflecting weekend and longer summer working. Management have made some changes to accommodate staff concerns, have offered to minimise bank holiday working and to allow staff to swap their holiday weeks with other staff, to give greater flexibility. However concerns remain. These might be addressed by running an 18 month trial period, but currently trade unions will not agree any changes until the issue of weekend and bank holiday enhancements is resolved, as part of this central consultation on terms and conditions.
DISAPPEARING ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF:It’s little wonder that a Council audit recently found 1,000 unused mobile phones. The finance and administrative support staff who used to manage these contracts have been cut to nothing, or disastrously centralized, leaving no-one to administer teams or answer phones when you try to contact professional staff who are out and about.
Possible Lobby of Staffing Committee:
If it becomes clear that management are preparing to push ahead with their proposals, particularly on car allowances and weekend enhancements, all trade unions have indicated they will call a Lobby of the Staffing Committee on 14th June. This will be at HQ in Chester. Please look out for details and up-dates – but keep this afternoon free in your diary if you can.
Finally …. Get your details up to date with your union!Remember the Council does not tell your union if you change jobs or move house. You need to do this yourself! Having these details correct is important if we get into industrial action. UNISON recently wrote to all members asking them to confirm their job title, work location, car-user status and e-mail address. If you have not done this please e-mail us at or phone the branch office on 01244 346894 (73345 internal). Members of other trade unions should notify any changes to their reps.
CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER JOINT TRADE UNION NEWSLETTER MAY 2011