UNISON Halts Two-Tier Workforce Con

UNISON celebrated a major victory last week after a breakthrough deal with the Prime Minister signalled the end of the two-tier workforce.

Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford told UNISON that Mr Blair had approved plans saying that private contractors "must provide no less favourable terms" than the public sector.

Manchester Branch Secretary Mo Baines welcomed the move as "a major victory. This decision will stop companies making a profit by simply cutting the pay, terms and conditions of staff."

Previously, contractors had been able to undercut councils when bidding for public contracts by replacing existing staff with new staff on even poorer wages, fewer holidays and impoverished terms and and conditions of employment.

Mo Baines continued, "At last the government has fulfilled its commitment to level the playing field between in-house services and private contractors. All we ever wanted was fair treatment. UNISON knows that the services our members provide bear comparison with anything the private sector can offer, providing that the comparison is a fair one. These new rules will mean that private contractors cannot artificially reduce their costs by building future wage cuts into their tender price."

Local Government Pay Review - Have Your Say

This year's pay settlement was just the start of UNISON's determination to tackle the neglect of all our members working for local councils.

Under the terms of the pay deal agreed last September, a Local Government Pay Commission has now been established by the National Joint Council Employers and the Trade Unions. The Commission will investigate the key long term problems of equal pay and low pay which UNISON highlighted in the pay dispute. The implementation of Single Status will also fall within this remit.

The Commission will report to the NJC in September 2003 and its recommendations will provide the basis for future negotiations. If you have a story about any of the key issues we have identified or any other pay-related matter that you want us to address, we want to hear from you. Your stories and experience will make UNISON's case even stronger. You do not have to be identified if you do not want to. Please contact the Gwen Colgan at the Branch or you can email your views directly to: [email protected]

Supporting the Fire Brigades Union

North West UNISON donated £5,000 to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) hardship fund to support them in their industrial dispute for fair pay and a modern and efficient fire service for the rest of us. The Branch has supported the FBU over the length of the current dispute. Many members attended the TUC organised rally in London in January and numerous stewards' meetings have collected money and distributed FBU flyers and leaflets. The Branch will continue to support the FBU until a satisfactory resolution to this entirely avoidable dispute is achieved. Click here for more information.

Unions recommend FE pay rise

Unions are recommending a new further education pay offer which will see our members in the Further Education sector in Manchester get a 3.5% or £500 pay rise backdated to August, and establish a minimum wage of £5 an hour for support staff from April.

The package, agreed at talks with the Association of Colleges, will also see a working group of the national joint forum set up to look at strategies to modernise pay in the vital sector of Further Education which currently educates over 650,000 16-18 year olds and 3.5 million adult learners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For more details, contact Brian Stangoe at the Branch.

More Private Finance Insanity

A project to computerise the country's magistrates' courts has been branded the shoddiest PFI project ever.

The private company behind the scheme was meant to develop a new IT infrastructure that would link magistrates' courts electronically, making the legal system more efficient.

But it has been reported that the cost of the project has more than doubled since the original bid, now costed at £319 million. And after more than 10 years of development, the system is still not ready. MP Edward Leigh, chairman of the influential Public Accounts Committee, said "the project is one of the worst IT projects I have ever seen."

This fiasco shows the dangers of PFI contracts. Costs doubled, risk did not transfer, the public picked up the tab and the contractor paid no penalties. Even worse, there was a viable in-house system available.
UNISON has led the way in calling for a public enquiry into PFI, a form of privatisation that is demonstrably more expensive than the public sector equivalent. Click here for more information on PFI.

Fair Access to Care..?

The Fair Access to Care policy stems from the 1998 Modernising Social Services White Paper. However, as Wendy Allison, Assistant Branch Secretary, points out, the name of this policy is deeply misleading.

"It implies that care will be available to all who need it and provided on an equal basis. However, Department of Health (DoH) guidance makes it very clear that this is not the case."

Four 'needs bands' are stipulated in the policy, and councils are being asked to determine their own cut-off point for provision. The bands are: critical, substantial, moderate and low. A report went before the Council's Executive Committee in February which recommended that Manchester's cut-off point be between substantial and moderate. This means if you can't do most things for yourself you'll receive care, but if you can't do 'several' (their wording) you won't receive any. Obviously, it is very difficult to define what 'several' actually means.

What is very clear is that this will have a huge impact on Social Services. Already two day centres in Older People Services are threatened with closure, one of which (Openshaw) was purpose-built only 22 years ago and has excellent facilities. Service users there are campaigning against the closure, since although some service users will be given alternative day services, others will receive inferior services to those currently offered.

But what about those who do not fall into Manchester's new criteria? The guidance states that the Council will still be able to provide advice and information, but if they actually want any care they are likely to be referred to other (private) agencies.

If this still sounds like Fair Access to Care to you, then consider the following. Not only does DoH guidance state that "councils should take account of the resources allocated and available," but also that "it is not the intention of DoH that individuals with similar needs receive similar services up and down the country." In other words, Access to Care enshrines the postcode lottery as a matter of Government policy.

UNISON is very concerned at the effect that this 'modernised' Fair Access to Care policy will have on vulnerable service users. The Branch will continue to point out the policy's serious shortcomings, and, as ever, help to develop more effective procedures which ensure that neither staff nor service users are disadvantaged by the policy. There are other implications for Care Services arising from this policy, so if you want more information, contact Wendy at the Branch.

UNISON Manchester Branch Motions to Conference

Branch Secretary Mo Baines proposed the Branch's motions, which were agreed by the Branch Executive Committee to be forwarded to Conference in June for debate. The motions include:

• Funding Fair Pay in Local Government - this would see UNISON re-double its efforts to lobby Government to fund the Single Status agreement, and end unequal pay in Local Government.
• Local Government and the Euro - builds on current anti-Euro policy to publicise the Euro-effect which cuts public funding in member countries.
• Review of Conferences - recommends the current annual round of Service Group and Annual Conferences be cut back to reduce disruption and costs.

UNISON Manchester Annual General Meeting

This year's Annual General Meeting will held in the Friends Meeting House (behind Central Library) on Thursday 20th of March at 12.30pm.

As ever, all Branch members are invited to attend. Facility time of an hour and a half (plus half an hour total travelling time) has been granted by the Council, so please make every effort to come down and take part in your union.

There is vital business to conduct plus reports on the Branch election results, the ongoing Single Status negotiations and on threats to the Local Government Pension Scheme. And as we all know, inquorate meetings send exactly the wrong signal to employers. It is important that the meeting is well attended to demonstrate to all that the Manchester Branch remains as strong as ever so that it can continue to defend members' interests, fight privatisation and provide the best services to all its members. At the minimum, one member from each workplace should attend so they can report back to their colleagues.

News in Brief

Almost 5,000 members benefited from UNISON's free legal service in personal injury cases last year, receiving more than £33 million between them. Just one more reason that you're better off in UNISON.

Don't forget that all members are entitled (and urged) to vote in the Branch elections. Ballot papers were sent out on week ending 20th February and must be returned by the 19th March for the votes to register. Any problems, contact the Branch Staff. Results announced at the AGM.

Can't make your mind up about the USA's motives in Iraq? Let right-wing millionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch put you straight. "George Bush is acting very morally and courageously. The greatest thing to come out of this war in Iraq would be $20 a barrel for oil."

Tens of thousands of UNISON members attended the Stop the War demo in London - the biggest rally in this country's history - on February 15th. And don't forget that the Stop the War coalition, supported by the Muslim Association of Britain and CND are planning a rally here in Manchester on Saturday 8th March at 1pm. For more details call (0161) 273 8283.