I n s i d e Public Service Not Private Profit September 2014 R e v i e w ➥ p2 Strike Oct 14th Demonstrate Oct 18th Break the pay-freeze No to Cuts & Austerity p r i v a t i s e r o b t h e p o or f ee d t h e ric h fe a r a nd wa r c u t p u b l i c s e c t o r - p a y r a c is m It's not hard to understand government thinking... City and County of Swansea Strike Oct 14th e can’t afford not to fight over pay. Inflation in August was at 1.6 percent using the government’s preferred measure - but the index that includes housing costs was at 2.5 percent. That means if the government is pushing through 1% or worse for some of the lowest paid workers in reality it’s pushing through a pay cut. 19th Century Average real weekly earnings are 8% lower since the Con-Dems came to power and 15% lower for under-25s. No wonder an estimated half a million people a year will be receiving food parcels by 2016. The Con-Dem government and its big business backers are taking us back to the 19th century with poverty pay and the destruction of public services. July 10th Following our strike on July 10th, there is also a chance to broaden the resistance to Tory austerity. 500,000 NHS health workers started a ballot this month for strikes against poverty pay. As in local government, a 1% offer is an insult to people who struggle to keep our services running day after day in the face of Tory cuts Services cut Strikes can also help to galvanise the wider fight to defend local government and the health service from closures, cutbacks and privatisation. All of us have experienced our jobs getting harder as more and more staff who have left have not been replaced, and the work stays the same or increases. Cuts to vital services also make it harder to do our jobs resulting in worst services for our community and our friends and families in Swansea. On 10 July 1.4 million of us struck against the government’s 1 percent pay cap. If NHS workers vote to strike (the planned date is 13 October) the next day (14 October) hundreds of thousands of local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will strike. Local government workers in Scotland began a ballot over pay on 9 September, with a potential to join the strike on 14th October. Ballots And even more trade unions could join in. Firefighters, members of the FBU, held strikes over eight days in August as part of their long running pensions dispute. W
Transcript
Inside
Public Service Not Private Profit September 2014
Review
➥p2
Strike Oct 14th Demonstrate Oct 18thBreak the pay-freezeNo to Cuts & Austerity
privatise
rob the poor
feed the rich
fear and war
cut
public
se
ctor-pa
y
racism
It's not hard tounderstandgovernmentthinking...
City and County of Swansea
Strike Oct 14th
e can’t afford not to fight over pay.
Inflation in August was at 1.6 percentusing the government’s preferredmeasure - but the index that includeshousing costs was at 2.5 percent. Thatmeans if the government is pushingthrough 1% or worse for some of thelowest paid workers in reality it’s pushingthrough a pay cut.
19th Century
Average real weekly earnings are 8%lower since the Con-Dems came topower and 15% lower for under-25s. Nowonder an estimated half a million peoplea year will be receiving food parcels by2016. The Con-Dem government and itsbig business backers are taking us backto the 19th century with poverty pay andthe destruction of public services.
July 10th
Following our strike on July 10th, there isalso a chance to broaden the resistanceto Tory austerity. 500,000 NHS healthworkers started a ballot this month forstrikes against poverty pay. As in localgovernment, a 1% offer is an insult topeople who struggle to keep our servicesrunning day after day in the face of Torycuts
Services cut
Strikes can also help to galvanise thewider fight to defend local governmentand the health service from closures,cutbacks and privatisation. All of us haveexperienced our jobs getting harder asmore and more staff who have left havenot been replaced, and the work staysthe same or increases. Cuts to vitalservices also make it harder to do ourjobs resulting in worst services for ourcommunity and our friends and familiesin Swansea.
On 10 July 1.4 million of us struckagainst the government’s 1 percent paycap. If NHS workers vote to strike (theplanned date is 13 October) the next day(14 October) hundreds of thousands oflocal government workers in England,Wales and Northern Ireland will strike.Local government workers in Scotlandbegan a ballot over pay on 9 September,with a potential to join the strike on 14thOctober.
Ballots
And even more trade unions could join in.Firefighters, members of the FBU, heldstrikes over eight days in August as partof their long running pensions dispute.
W
continued from front pageCivil service workers, teachers and fire-fighters could all potentially join a strike on14 October. It would be a wastedopportunity if the maximum numbers don’tstrike together.
National Demonstration
The TUC and STUC have also calleddemonstrations on Saturday 18 Octoberunder the slogan “Britain needs a payrise”. These demos needs to be a massiveshow of strength and anger against theTories. From 18th October the movementagainst austerity could really developmomentum.
Therefore there is a growing mood toresist. But we’ve been here before. Backin 2011 we saw massive strikes of 2.5million to defend pensions. Then someunion leaders stepped back from the fightand the movement lost momentum. Thatcan’t be allowed to happen this time andwe need to organise to put pressure onour union leaders to see the fight throughthis time.
There are some in the unions who mayargue that we can wait for Labour to saveus. But Ed Miliband and Labour arecommitted to pay restraint and austerity ifthey are elected next year. Ed Milibandsays that Labour will stick to Tory
spending plans - that means cuts and lowpay will continue.
Organise
Therefore every steward and memberneeds to organise in our workplaces tomake sure that the strikes and protests inOctober are just the beginning of thefightback. Two big one-day strikes, nomatter how powerful, won’t be enough toshift the Tories.
We need to strike on October 14th - andwe need a series of strikes that showCameron we’re fighting to win.
he employers refuse to renegotiate on the1% final offer.
The trade union side claim this year isdesigned to call a halt to poverty pay in localgovernment and schools.
We are seeking aminimumof £1 an hour foremployees on NJC terms and conditions tomake the living-wage the bottom pay-rate inlocal government and - because everyoneon NJC pay is low paid for the jobs they do- the same flat rate increase on all other paypoints.
Living wage
The living wage has increased by 20p sincewesubmitted theclaim. Thismeans ineffectour claim is now £1.20 an hour on all paypoints.
The employers have offered 1% to the 90%of the workforce on the national spinalcolumnpoint 11 andabove. Those onpoints5 to 10 have been offered slightly more than1% to keep their pay levels just above thenational minimum wage. There is no signthat employers will be prepared to meet theunion's demand.
Local government workers have alreadyendured three consecutive years of payfreezes, followed by a below inflationsettlement in 2013.For most of the workforce, this year'soffer will be a further pay cut, leavingtheir pay reduced by almost 20% sincethe coalition came to power. On top ofthat, the Local Government Employerschose to impose an additional one-yearfreeze in 2010, before the rest of thepublic sector
Over one million NJC workers (two thirds)earn less than £21,000 a year. That's belowthe government's 'low pay' threshold andover £5,500 less than annual medianearnings in the economy in 2012. Over halfamillion local governmentworkersearn lessthan the living wage of £7.65 per hour.
At the same time, local governmentreserves have risen to over £19bn. Thatmeans that councils have chosen to bankmoney, rather than reward the very peoplewhoare keeping their council servicesgoing- our members.
Scandelous
Without a decent level of pay, localgovernment workers are struggling to paytheir household bills let alone save for majoritems of spending. Payday loans, handouts
and foofor man
Comm
It is sessentidecentjust thethose wgreatercommuwork anspendbusines
Pay isnscale.contribuand carallowan
National protests like this at the Civic Centre also took place on August 20th to campaign for our pay rise
Are negociations workinT
TUC March: All out for18th October
Single Status UpdateOur members will be aware that we recently conductedan indicative ballot on the whole single status package
The indicative ballot on single status posed 2 questionsand yielded a 55% vote in favour of strike action plus a66% vote in favour of action short of strike action.
Since the ballot result a further £25m of cuts toSwansea Council’s budget has been announced thusleaving total savings of £70m to be made within thenext 3 years.
Our Branch Committee discussed the situation at lengthand decided to delay any further single status ballotspending the outcome of budget discussions with theAuthority.This does not mean we won’t ballot our members onsingle status in the future and we still have some graveconcerns about the whole approach taken by theCouncil, for example the cynical decision to implementsingle status on 1st April thereby denying hundreds ofour members the right to an increment they would havehad if implementation had occurred on 31st March.
od banks are becoming a way of lifeny.
unity
scandalous that people providingal public services do not have astandard of living. However, it's not
e workers who are being affected, forwith families the impact can often ber still. Pay also matters becauseunities depend on people being innd earning decent pay – pay that wewhere we live, which boosts localsses and creates new jobs.
n't just where you are on your payIt can also include your pensionutions and sick pay, annual, parentalrers’ leave, travel and unsocial hoursnces and much more besides.
Car allowances
Local Government Employers have alsoencouraged councils to cut pay-relatedconditions at local authority level. Over 60%of councils have cut car allowances andmany of our members are subsidising travelfor work purposes. Many councils have cutunsocial hours and overtime payments -hitting the lowest paid hard.
Now is the time
Some councils have also cut sick pay, basicpay and redundancy pay. Others haveimposed unpaid holidays or cut annualleave. Many - like Swansea - are imposingcar park charges Others are closingworkplace canteens and refusing to pay theincrease in professional registration fees.If now is not the time to fight, when is?
ng?
TUC March: All out for18th October
UNISON is providing coach transport to the demonstration - please contact the branch office to reserve your place
With the TUC's 'Britain needs a pay rise' demo called on 18 October in London,we could see a mobilisation on the scale of the mammoth 26 March 2011demonstration that saw 750,000 trade-unionists march through London.
That march, coming a few months after Osborne's first austerity budget, seemsan age ago. Many argued that if the cuts went through it would be a catastrophefor working class people and the vast majority in society. Isn't that the reality formany today?
1870's
Many UNISON members are lying awake at night worrying about their job, orhow to make ends meet, because their pay is frozen and prices are soaring.UNISON is campaigning for better and fairer pay, and we are making sure paystays at the top of the agenda.
People in the UK are facing the biggest fall in real wages since the 1870s. - thebiggest drop in any Parliament since Tory Benjamin Disraeli was prime minister.
All workers, whether they work in the public, private or voluntary sector, have faced major cuts in the value of their pay over the last fewyears.
Meanwhile, the average director of a FTSE 100 company enjoyed a 14% pay rise in 2013, and dividends going to shareholders are expectedto jump by 24% in 2014, hitting just under £100bn. Rather than putting some of their wealth back into society, many millionaires (individualsand companies) are using off-shoring and loop-holes to dodge tax.
Public services need motivated, well-paid staff. We all expect and deserve high quality public services, and one of the most vital ingredientsof quality services are motivated staff who are valued and decently rewarded. Yet the government's slashing of funding on an extraordinaryscale has resulted in more work and less pay for public service workers.
March against austerity
The 'short sharp shock' the government said we needed in 2010 is now going to last until 2019. The government's austerity programme isprojected to cost £178bn by 2019 through slashed budgets for delivering public services and higher taxes.
Under-paying public service workers is bad for the economy: When public service workers aren’t paid much, theydon’t spend much, which harms local economies. When public service workers aren’t paid enough to live on, theyare forced to rely on benefits, which are funded by taxes.
This will continue unless we resist - every Unison member, every trade-unionist and our supportersneeds to be on the TUC march on October 18th.
Name Dept Work Place Email Mob: JE Mob: Tracy de Schoolmeester Education Crug Glas [email protected] Mob: 07967143822 David Walters Social Services Canoldre Centre [email protected] Mob: 07944512449 Alice Greenlees Regeneration Phoenix Centre [email protected] Mob: 07773509299 John Llewellyn Regeneration Parks [email protected] Mob: 07557 560093 Ian Alexander EVH Pipe House Mob: 07584505793 John Austin Education Schools [email protected] Mob: 07796275039 Mark Otten Corporate Services Cave Street [email protected] Mob: 07789 485009 Steve Kime Housing Townhill DHO [email protected] Mob: 07463451968 Sandra Baglow Corporate Services Guildhall [email protected] Mob: 07551154539 Simon Jones Social Services Oldway [email protected] Mob: 07858411470 Christopher Cooze Facilities Civic Centre [email protected] Mob: 07825287218 Malcom Harrington Regeneration Plantasia [email protected] Mob: 07776172879 Dave Evans Housing Penllegaer [email protected] Mob: 07814029033 Christopher Bell Education Morriston Comp [email protected] Mob: 07967551025 Alison O'Kane Social Services Maesglas Day Service [email protected] Mob: 07856641234
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This newsletter is produced by the City and County of Swansea Unison Branch. Any letters, comments or suggestions for articles should be posted to the branch addressor emailed to [email protected]. Correspondence is not guaranteed to be published and contents may not necessarily reflect Unison policy.
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Unison has over 100 trained union reps throughout the council, schools andFEcolleges.Wewill advise,support and represent you collectively and individually on issues from sickness, disciplinaries to legalmatters insideandoutside theworkplace. If youneedadviceor representationpleasecontact theSeniorSteward(s) for your department below or go to your workplace steward. Alternatively please contact thebranch office.
Branch Secretary: Mike Davies / Asst. Secretary: Ian Alexander
Welsh Labour is selecting candidates to stand in anumber of Parliamentary and Welsh Assembly seatsover the coming months, and are looking for UNISONcandidates to fill those seats and provide a voice forpublic services at a UK and Wales level. Any member- who would also have to be a member of the LabourParty - should contact Dave Bezzina([email protected])
Do you consider yourself to be a disabled person, or are youcategorised as one (even if it is not the term that you would use)?Would you like to join a forum that discusses matters around abilityand that will feed information and ideas to TUC Cymru?
If so, contact Steffan ap Dafydd (email: [email protected]).He will arrange for you to be a part of the TUC Disabled Network andinvite you to the Disability Forum meeting in Cardiff in September, orenable you to use the network which will feed into the Wales TUCEquality Committee and the General Council TUC Cymru.
Job evaluation appeals will take place in the near future. Contact details for Unison members are attached.For any general job evaluation queries please contact Andrea Thomas via email [email protected] or ontelephone number 01792 637458.
Unison News Malcolm Harrington has been elected to the new branchpost of Terms and Conditions Officer
Members will receive information presented to the original job evaluation panel 20 working days before the individual or groupappeal date. Members will need to supply information in support of their appeal 10 working days before the appeal date
