SECTION 188 NOTICE


The Authority have issued a section 188 notice (" reluctantly " according to the Council leader)


What does it mean?

An employer is legally required to consult its trade unions when it is 'considering' redundanicies.

Consultation should begin at least 90 days before the redundancies .

A section 188 notice serves as notice that an employer intends to make a number of employees redundant (in this case all employees!) and that the required consultation period has begun.

Their purpose in doing so in this case, is to then offer re-employment on new terms and conditions (ie new pay-scales).

Is it legal ?


Yes unfortunately it is , HOWEVER , by terminating existing contracts and offering new contracts, they do open themselves to unfair dismissal claims. and any consultation must be meaningful.


More importantly however will UNISON members let them get away with it? !


THe Council leader calls the section 188 a "technical necessity that does not deflect from our commitment to collective bargaining". Of course it does! it means that if we dont agree to the payscale they will impose it!

Following a packed UNISON meeting this week Ade Turner (Branch Secretary) stated;

"It is likely that we will recommend rejection of the current proposals and that may lead to Industrial action . A lot of anger was expressed towards the Council at the packed meeting. People have lost faith in the evaluation process and believe that the methods were flawed".




But even if the Council carried out its threat and issued dismissal notices , could it run its services if even a minority refused to sign new contracts? of course not .


But it would not be sufficient merely to refuse to sign new contracts , members would have to take specific action , so whilst UNISON maintains ITS commitment to collective bargaining , we will not rule out fighting fire with fire!

Lies,damned lies and UNISON

UNISON believes members who would lose under Single Status are justified in being both angry and upset.
We would add that we are also aware that these losers encompass both manual and 'white-collar ' staff.
However there is a website which is currently focusing on those justified concerns , but which through its representation of rumour as fact is creating greater anger and upset.
UNISON is then being criticised on the basis of these 'facts'.
so lets be clear : This UNISON branch represents all its members . The claim that this is a 'deal ' which favours manual workers is abject nonsense.
Many manual workers lose as much if not more than some 'white-collar' workers.
Yes many low paid women are eligible for significant amounts of backpay , but this is their legal right under equal pay legislation irrespective of any single status agreement.
UNISON has no interest in promoting a YES vote nor are we 'hand-in-glove' with the Employer
UNISOn could never recommend a deal which resulted in 21% of its members losing , indeed it would be difficult to envisage recommending any deal which involved losers.
IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF UNISON DO NOT LOOK TO ANONYMOUS POSTINGS (MANY OF WHOM ARE CLEARLY ANTI-UNION) FOR YOUR ADVICE OR INFORMATION
GET IT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH AND CONTACT THE UNION OFFICE BY PHONE OR EMAIL

SINGLE STATUS

You may (or may not ) have received notification of your grade under the proposed payscheme.
Whilst 50% of posts will be gainers and 29% will remain unchanged, this is of little comfort to the 21% who will lose under the scheme (many facing substantial cuts).

At this stage the paymodel is still a proposal and UNISON is still negotiating with the Employer. Whilst the main focus of negotiation is aimed at reducing the number of losers, it is clear that the scope for making further reductions is limited due to the financial constraints the Employer has set on any scheme.
There will be a point in the immediate future when UNISON will need to decide whether to end negotiations and to go to a ballot of the membership.
Clearly UNISON can never recommend any deal under which members lose pay, we would have to decide therefore whether UNISON merely puts the offer to members or whether we actively recommend rejection. Any such decision will be made in consultation with branch officers and members.
As part of consutation there will be a branch meeting on
Tuesday 18th December at 7.00pm in the civic centre
anyone who has lost pay may be able to appeal under the appeals process which forms part of the payscheme, however as has already been said , at the moment the scheme is a proposal and until it is formally agreed (or imposed) employees will not need to lodge an appeal.
At this stage UNISON would advise members that have been informed that their post is Red circled (loseing), or anyone with particular concerns to register their complaint witht he Human Resources hot-line number provided in your Single Status pack, and to contact the UNISON office if they wish to discuss their concerns.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SINGLE STATUS AGREEMENT

You will be aware that on the 14th november 2007 the Councils Cabinet meeting approved their prefered new pay and grading structure.
These proposals now open further negotiations with UNISON.

The Councils intention is to implement the agreement from march 1st 2008, backdated to January 1st 2008.
UNISON has not yet agreed an implementation date.
UNISON has serious concerns that the proposed pay model still fails to deliver equal pay for work of equal value (the main reason for the introduction of the Single Status agreement).

Whilst recognising the cost of the current proposals exceed the Councils intial spending limits, the proposed pay model still includes 21% red circle posts (these are the posts that will be down-graded as a result of the job evaluation process).

This figure will reduce to 10% during the three year protection agreement that UNISON offficers have so far negotiated. This is because potential annual pay increases will close the gap between the new pay-scale and the protected scale.
This means no money will be taken out of salary/wages for at least the first three years of the agreement.
However UNISON offciers believe the figure of 21% (red circles) will not be acceptable to UNISON members and we oppose the current proposals on that basis.
The on-going negotiations will focus on the proposed pay model and looking at alternatives that would result in a reduction in red circle jobs.
In the meantime the Council intends to write to you at your home address before the end of November confirming what the current proposals mean to you as an individual employee , including your proposed new grade.
Approximately 50% of posts will gain and 29% will remain the same.

APPEALS Once the agreement has been accepted (or possibly imposed if agreement is not reached!) Individuals that can show that their post has not been evaluated properly will be able to appeal against their evaluation score. UNISON will be able to help in this process.
However to repeat the score you will recieve in November is not neccessarily the final negotiated one , so you will not need to appeal at that point.

COMPENSATORY BACK-PAY
The Council has now recognised, in principle, that almost 2000 employees are entitled to Compensatory back-pay for past inequalities in their salaries.
This back-pay , which iis upto 6 years, is in the main owed to catering, Cleaning and care workers. UNISON are still negotiating the specific amounts due but are hopeful that at least part of the money owed (10%) will be paid prior to the Christmas break.
if you believe you may have an equal pay claim but are unsure, contact the UNISON office for advice.

UNISON understands that it is the COuncils intention to hold "COT 3" signing days for those employees they beleive are entitled to Compensatort back-pay.
Beware seek UNISON advice before you sign anything.

MONTHLY PAY Consultation on the move from weekly to monthly pay is on-going, no agreement has been reached.

SINGLE STATUS UPDATE

Since mid-October Branch officers with the support of our regional office have been in consultation with the City Council, on the creation of a new acceptable pay model.
You will be aware that the evaluation score of your post will be placed on a grade in the new pay model.
UNISON is concerned that the information shared with us shows that under the current proposals there are an unacceptable number of red circles (losers).
Work is continuing on the pay modelling and will continue following the November 14th Cabinet meeting that is to chose its favoured pay model.
The work that UNISON officers have been involved in has already resulted in reducing the number of red circles by over 660.
Branch Officers are negotiating hard in an effort to achieve the best deal possible for all our members .
However , UNISON believe further work on the pay model could result in still more reductions in the red circles without compromising the validity of the evaluation results or the equality of the scheme.

It is in the intention of Senior Council Officers to present to cabinet on 14th November their preferred pay model, if approved , this will trigger further consultation with UNISON.
At the same time the Employer will dispatch to employees home addresses information on what the proposals mean to you as individuals.

UNISON intend balloting all members.

However, the exact timing of the ballot is still to be decided, but will not be until Branch Officers feel agreement has been reached or consultation has come to and end without agreement.
UNISON would not recommend the current proposals on the basis of the high number of losers!

UNISON has been pushing for protection for red circled posts. At the present time the employer is offering 3 years protection at 100%, this offer while being similar to other regional and national agreements will still leave some employees in positions of unacceptable pay cuts!.

It is the Councils intention to implement the agreement in march 2008. UNISON wishes to see a pay structure introduced that brings an end to pay discrimination based on inequality.
We also wish to see all green circle (gainers under the evaluation process) enjoy their increases and compensatory backpay (where appropriate ) as soon as possible.
But the overall package must recognise the potential serious consequences from a large number of losers.

APPEALS An appeal has been agreed for employees unhappy with the results of the evaluation of their post, evidence will be required to show that the evaluation is wrong. This process will be available at the time of implementation of the Pay Model.

UNISON is aware of the borough wide Single Status briefings that are taking place.
UNISON has not agreed an implementation date for the Single Status agreement.
UNISON has not agreed a date when to ballot our members.
we will ballot our members when we are ready , not when our employer thinks we should

This is the first 'blog' direct from the union office and is an attempt to bring upto the minute information to branch members.
with issues such as single status gathering pace and departmental briefings giving (at times) misleading information direct contact with as many members as possible is vital.