This is my personal blog. I was Branch Secretary of Lambeth UNISON from 1992 to 2017 and a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of UNISON, the public service union (www.unison.org.uk) from 2003 to 2017. I am now a retired member of UNISON.
I am Chair of Brighton Pavilion Constituency Labour Party and a member of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC).
Neither the Labour Party nor UNISON is responsible for the contents of this personal blog.
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Thursday, October 09, 2014
Trade union negotiators in local government - an apology
Three years ago I begged our branch secretary not to put the county council's re-organisation package to the vote. I knew that the members WOULD ACCEPT redundancies, pay cuts & freezes, a loss of sick pay, the removal of Fringe pay (London Weighting) and overtime premiums, overtime itself, and lower rates for redundancy pay. They would stomach all of this for the promise of fewer job losses. The branch secretary assured me that the members would not stand for such draconian measures and would undoubtedly vote them out. They voted them in. I fear history is about to repeat itself.
I'd be interested to know the demographic of UNISON - the relative percentages of....shall we just say backroom (admin. and managerial) and front line? I suspect that, despite all we hear, a lot of members of the former group, disgruntled as they may be, are still doing relatively o.k. They are not desperate. I'm sure they will vote for the new proposals and if they do Unison is surely a dead duck, if it isn't already.
Brian Stratton wanted to suspend the strike based on the last offer. There has been nothing on the GMB website about the strike - so they seemed set to push to end the action. "Suspend" - you can't turn these things on and off. We are already 6.5 months after the settlement date, having taken just one day of action. UNISON has a majority on the NJC - but we are probably playing to the lowest common denominator in order to maintain unity (in defeat). We have a leadership that is basically incapable of leading and want a quiet life.
I'll be surprised if anything gets agreed before next April. Working for a Council (Essex) which is currently consulting on taking us out of the NJC (giving us the lovely options of opting into performance related pay or being 'dismissed and re-engaged'), would we still be able to get whatever the national agreement is for this year if it isn't agreed until next year?
Three years ago I begged our branch secretary not to put the county council's re-organisation package to the vote. I knew that the members WOULD ACCEPT redundancies, pay cuts & freezes, a loss of sick pay, the removal of Fringe pay (London Weighting) and overtime premiums, overtime itself, and lower rates for redundancy pay. They would stomach all of this for the promise of fewer job losses. The branch secretary assured me that the members would not stand for such draconian measures and would undoubtedly vote them out. They voted them in. I fear history is about to repeat itself.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to know the demographic of UNISON - the relative percentages of....shall we just say backroom (admin. and managerial) and front line? I suspect that, despite all we hear, a lot of members of the former group, disgruntled as they may be, are still doing relatively o.k. They are not desperate. I'm sure they will vote for the new proposals and if they do Unison is surely a dead duck, if it isn't already.
I share your pain.
Why apologise for the national negotiators?
ReplyDeleteThey did not call off the strike.
The NJC committee did.
That is all.
For now.
Brian Stratton wanted to suspend the strike based on the last offer. There has been nothing on the GMB website about the strike - so they seemed set to push to end the action. "Suspend" - you can't turn these things on and off. We are already 6.5 months after the settlement date, having taken just one day of action. UNISON has a majority on the NJC - but we are probably playing to the lowest common denominator in order to maintain unity (in defeat). We have a leadership that is basically incapable of leading and want a quiet life.
ReplyDeleteI'll be surprised if anything gets agreed before next April. Working for a Council (Essex) which is currently consulting on taking us out of the NJC (giving us the lovely options of opting into performance related pay or being 'dismissed and re-engaged'), would we still be able to get whatever the national agreement is for this year if it isn't agreed until next year?
ReplyDelete