Open letter concerning Industrial relations at Somerset County Council
South West
UNISON House
South West
The Crescent
Taunton
Somerset TA1 4DU
Tel 0845 355 0845
Fax 01823 336013
http://www.unisonsouthwest.org.uk/
When telephoning please ask for: Ken Oasgood
20th November 2008
Open letter concerning Industrial relations at Somerset County Council
Dear Colleagues,
I am taking the unusual step of writing via Stewards to all members of the Somerset County Branch to provide you with information, about what you may have heard from informal sources, relating to serious allegations made against officials of your Branch.
The attached resolution was passed unanimously at an emergency meeting of your Branch Council on 13th November 2008. The resolution indicates the background against which severe pressure has been brought to bear by the Authority on some of your Stewards and Branch Secretary. One Steward has been dismissed, although an appeal is to be lodged, and two Stewards are to be interviewed as a part of an ongoing investigation. We understand your Branch Secretary will also be interviewed in the investigation and has been suspended from work by the Authority in the meantime. Regional full time officers are now dealing with their cases. Please send messages of support to the UNISON Branch Office in County Hall.
Thankfully many Stewards and Branch Officers are rallying round to maintain services to UNISON members.
I am not able to set out a full explanation of the facts and arguments in this letter because I am fearful of unwittingly prejudicing the consideration of your colleagues’ cases. However I believe you will wish to know what is at the root of the problem and the following is a brief summary.
In October 2008 UNISON took a case to an Employment Tribunal about our claim that the Authority failed to consult adequately with the union over the Southwest One contract. To prepare our case for the Tribunal our solicitors considered that it was essential to provide information about the employment status of certain groups of staff.
The information we supplied to our solicitors and they in turn supplied to the Tribunal is at the root of the problem.
Please be assured that the information submitted to the Tribunal was only to underpin the requested statistical analysis and the Branch was not aware that any public disclosure would take place.
The Authority’s investigation referred to above is concerned with how some of this information was obtained.
Until recently we believed relations between the Authority and the union were being conducted sensibly and rationally through dialogue between the Authority and regional and branch UNISON representatives. We are now clearly concerned about the deterioration in relations with the Council and the consequences for some of the individuals.
Your Branch has an excellent overall record of industrial relations with the Authority. Our role is to seek to protect our members’ interests and to challenge and test proposals about any aspect of the Authority’s business to this end. Good industrial relations are of immense benefit to Authorities such as Somerset.
It is vital for industrial relations to return to normal and issues to be handled proportionately. We are seeking ways to de-escalate the situation.
Ian Ducat
Regional Secretary
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Somerset County Branch of UNISON
Branch Council Meeting - Thursday 13th November 2008
Somerset County Branch policy – Southwest One
This Branch has campaigned continually to draw the attention of Councillors and senior managers to what it believes are significant drawbacks of a joint venture company to run a range of administrative services for Somerset County Council and others.
This Branch has commissioned independent research work that has provided advice to Councillors about the issues involved. It has advocated this advice to the Council and articulated its views through correspondence, presentations and discussions at Authority officer meetings, industrial relations consultation meetings and at the public speaking times of Council Boards and meetings.
This Branch has sought information from the Council about the proposals but, at all stages, access to information has been restricted such that the Freedom of Information mechanism for obtaining information has had to be used by the Branch.
In addition to considering that the general anxiety of the Branch about the proposals has been disregarded, the Branch believed that it had not been consulted properly over staffing issues at the time that the contract was signed to engage the Council with the joint venture company Southwest One and felt obliged to pursue its concern at an Employment Tribunal.
The Branch has conducted its campaign through its Branch Council of elected Branch Stewards and Officers. The Branch Secretary, as the leading officer of the Branch recognised for industrial relations liaison by the Council, has necessarily had an extremely prominent role in undertaking the campaign of the Branch, with the full support of the Branch endorsed at regular Branch Council and other meetings.
This Branch Council is extremely alarmed at the way in which its Branch Secretary and some Stewards have been treated by the Council since the closure of the Tribunal hearing. It believes that the treatment has been disproportionate and considers that an atmosphere of victimisation and corporate bullying has been created by the Council, so undermining the proper conduct of industrial relations. This conflicts with recent assurances given by senior Human Resources managers to regional and local UNISON officials that they wanted to build good industrial relations.
This Branch Council expresses its whole hearted confidence in its Branch Secretary, that he has undertaken his role in the campaign in good faith, with commitment and to the best of his ability.
This Branch Council anticipates that the regional and national tiers of UNISON will also be alarmed at the impact on industrial relations of an inadequately addressed instance of corporate bullying and instructs its officers to liaise with the South West Regional Secretary to ensure that the position is resolved in accordance with UNISON’s policies.
END
Branch Council Meeting - Thursday 13th November 2008
Somerset County Branch policy – Southwest One
This Branch has campaigned continually to draw the attention of Councillors and senior managers to what it believes are significant drawbacks of a joint venture company to run a range of administrative services for Somerset County Council and others.
This Branch has commissioned independent research work that has provided advice to Councillors about the issues involved. It has advocated this advice to the Council and articulated its views through correspondence, presentations and discussions at Authority officer meetings, industrial relations consultation meetings and at the public speaking times of Council Boards and meetings.
This Branch has sought information from the Council about the proposals but, at all stages, access to information has been restricted such that the Freedom of Information mechanism for obtaining information has had to be used by the Branch.
In addition to considering that the general anxiety of the Branch about the proposals has been disregarded, the Branch believed that it had not been consulted properly over staffing issues at the time that the contract was signed to engage the Council with the joint venture company Southwest One and felt obliged to pursue its concern at an Employment Tribunal.
The Branch has conducted its campaign through its Branch Council of elected Branch Stewards and Officers. The Branch Secretary, as the leading officer of the Branch recognised for industrial relations liaison by the Council, has necessarily had an extremely prominent role in undertaking the campaign of the Branch, with the full support of the Branch endorsed at regular Branch Council and other meetings.
This Branch Council is extremely alarmed at the way in which its Branch Secretary and some Stewards have been treated by the Council since the closure of the Tribunal hearing. It believes that the treatment has been disproportionate and considers that an atmosphere of victimisation and corporate bullying has been created by the Council, so undermining the proper conduct of industrial relations. This conflicts with recent assurances given by senior Human Resources managers to regional and local UNISON officials that they wanted to build good industrial relations.
This Branch Council expresses its whole hearted confidence in its Branch Secretary, that he has undertaken his role in the campaign in good faith, with commitment and to the best of his ability.
This Branch Council anticipates that the regional and national tiers of UNISON will also be alarmed at the impact on industrial relations of an inadequately addressed instance of corporate bullying and instructs its officers to liaise with the South West Regional Secretary to ensure that the position is resolved in accordance with UNISON’s policies.
END
Labels: press releases
Yeovil TUC goes green
Speaking at this month’s meeting of Yeovil Trades Union Council, Dave Osborne (Treasurer and delegate to the South West TUC Regional Council) reminded delegates that, “despite the current economic crisis we must not forget the problem of climate change. Future economic prosperity will depend on meeting the climate challenge. Unions recognise the importance of the shift to a low carbon economy and consider that greening the workplace is the first step to making this transition.” Yeovil TUC took this to heart and called for union members to get involved with South West TUC’s Green Workplaces Project.
Mr Osborne said that “environmental legislation and the pressure to reduce carbon emissions will start to change the UK economy over the coming decade. Yeovil TUC has expressed its concerns many times about the decline of manufacturing, whether it is the changing fortunes of local companies like Pittards and Westlands, or the general collapse of UK manufacturing. The pressure to move to renewable energy sources is growing and change is inevitable but in the past such significant changes have occurred in a chaotic manner, leaving ordinary working people and their communities to bear the brunt of economic change.”
“To avoid such chaos”, Mr Osborne said, “The TUC believes that working people must be intimately involved with their employers to ensure a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon economy. Failure to take this issue seriously could slow or even halt this urgent and vital process. International action is important, but developing countries cannot be expected to take action unless developed countries like the UK set an example. Individuals, communities, employers, unions, and governments all have a role to play in ensuring a just transition to a more carbon neutral lifestyle. Climate change is a problem that can only be solved by both individual and collective action.”
Nigel Costley, Regional Secretary for the South West TUC, recently said, 'Far from drawing back on cutting carbon emissions during the down-turn, we should step up training for new 'green' jobs and build the capacity of renewable energy, recycling and energy conservation. We should offer a range of skill development opportunities including those in sustainable construction, insulation, energy conservation, engineering skills in renewable energy and micro-generation, smart energy metering, energy advice, recycling, bio-fuels and public transport.'
Mr Osborne urged union members to support the Green Workplaces project recently launched by South West TUC. He said “this project encourages trade unionists to work with their employers in seeking improvements that reduce the environmental impact of businesses. The Green Workplaces team has already visited a number of union reps in the area to discuss the issues and are keen to speak to as many people as possible about the importance of this initiative.”
In closing, Mr Osborne told members that “a seminar entitled ‘Green and Decent Work’ is taking place at the University of Gloucestershire on Friday 14th November. Speakers include John Monks, General Secretary of the European TUC and Leslie Watson of Sustainability South West”.
Dave Osborne can be contacted c/o Yeovil TUC, Unity Hall, Yeovil, BA20 IJL. The TUC Green Workplaces project team can be contacted on 0117 947 0521.
For more details about the Green and Decent Work seminar see.
A copy of this press release can be downloaded as a Word 2007, Word 97-2003, PDF or an XPS file.
Mr Osborne said that “environmental legislation and the pressure to reduce carbon emissions will start to change the UK economy over the coming decade. Yeovil TUC has expressed its concerns many times about the decline of manufacturing, whether it is the changing fortunes of local companies like Pittards and Westlands, or the general collapse of UK manufacturing. The pressure to move to renewable energy sources is growing and change is inevitable but in the past such significant changes have occurred in a chaotic manner, leaving ordinary working people and their communities to bear the brunt of economic change.”
“To avoid such chaos”, Mr Osborne said, “The TUC believes that working people must be intimately involved with their employers to ensure a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon economy. Failure to take this issue seriously could slow or even halt this urgent and vital process. International action is important, but developing countries cannot be expected to take action unless developed countries like the UK set an example. Individuals, communities, employers, unions, and governments all have a role to play in ensuring a just transition to a more carbon neutral lifestyle. Climate change is a problem that can only be solved by both individual and collective action.”
Nigel Costley, Regional Secretary for the South West TUC, recently said, 'Far from drawing back on cutting carbon emissions during the down-turn, we should step up training for new 'green' jobs and build the capacity of renewable energy, recycling and energy conservation. We should offer a range of skill development opportunities including those in sustainable construction, insulation, energy conservation, engineering skills in renewable energy and micro-generation, smart energy metering, energy advice, recycling, bio-fuels and public transport.'
Mr Osborne urged union members to support the Green Workplaces project recently launched by South West TUC. He said “this project encourages trade unionists to work with their employers in seeking improvements that reduce the environmental impact of businesses. The Green Workplaces team has already visited a number of union reps in the area to discuss the issues and are keen to speak to as many people as possible about the importance of this initiative.”
In closing, Mr Osborne told members that “a seminar entitled ‘Green and Decent Work’ is taking place at the University of Gloucestershire on Friday 14th November. Speakers include John Monks, General Secretary of the European TUC and Leslie Watson of Sustainability South West”.
Dave Osborne can be contacted c/o Yeovil TUC, Unity Hall, Yeovil, BA20 IJL. The TUC Green Workplaces project team can be contacted on 0117 947 0521.
For more details about the Green and Decent Work seminar see.
A copy of this press release can be downloaded as a Word 2007, Word 97-2003, PDF or an XPS file.
Labels: press releases
Yeovil & District Trades Council Oppose Plans for Local Tax Office
At the August meeting of Yeovil & District Trades Council proposals to close Yeovil Tax Office were discussed. Real concerns were expressed regarding the assumption that all members of the public are comfortable with resolving issues using new technology, similarly with the closure of rural Post Offices. Although it was accepted that the use of computer information technology was increasingly being used. There are still large groups in society who would be disadvantaged, especially those on low incomes, if the option to actually speak to someone face to face was removed. This is very likely to happen if the proposals by HMRC go ahead.
PCS union members working in the Yeovil office have been campaigning hard to overturn any decision to withdraw from the town. This has involved working with David Laws MP, local politicians and businesses. Members of the public have been extremely supportive of the campaign to retain a presence in Yeovil and also to maintain current staffing levels.
Yeovil & District Trades Council have offered their full support to PCS union members fighting for their jobs and believe that any economic or so called efficiancy savings - driven by neo-liberal dogma, (which are extremely questionable) made by the department would be far outweighed by the detrimental impact on the public, the local economy and staff alike.
PCS union members working in the Yeovil office have been campaigning hard to overturn any decision to withdraw from the town. This has involved working with David Laws MP, local politicians and businesses. Members of the public have been extremely supportive of the campaign to retain a presence in Yeovil and also to maintain current staffing levels.
Yeovil & District Trades Council have offered their full support to PCS union members fighting for their jobs and believe that any economic or so called efficiancy savings - driven by neo-liberal dogma, (which are extremely questionable) made by the department would be far outweighed by the detrimental impact on the public, the local economy and staff alike.
Labels: press releases
Somerset County Association of Trades Union Council minutes
Below are the minutes of the Somerset County Association of Trades Union Council meeting held on the 24th of July.
 Word (binary) |
Labels: press releases
SOUTH-WEST TRADES UNIONISTS BACK CALL FOR TRADES UNION COUNCILS’ RIGHTS
BRIDGWATER TRADES UNION COUNCIL
“Linking your Trade Union Branch with local campaigns and communities throughout Bridgwater, Highbridge and mid-Somerset.”
Secretary:Dave Chapple E-Mail: davechapple@btinternet.com
Affiliations invited from local Trade Union Branches @ 10p per member Per year. Why not invite a speaker from Bridgwater TUC to your next Branch or Branch Committee meeting, to talk about our work, and answer any questions your members may have?
28.4.08
PRESS RELEASE:
Delegates to the South West Region TUC Annual Conference at the weekend overwhelmingly backed a call to support the re-admission of local Trades Councils into the Trades Union Congress, with only one large union voting against.
The motion, moved by Dave Chapple for Bridgwater Trades Council, noted that
“In Wales and Scotland local trades councils have the right to elect delegates and submit motions to their respective national TUC’s. We therefore agree that trades councils should now also have the right to elect delegates and submit motions to the Trades Union Congress, via their own Trades Councils’ Annual Conference, the details to be decided by the TUC General Council once the principle has been established.”
Seconder Vicky Nash from the NUT, spoke of the invaluable support trades councils had given to her union, not just in the current dispute, but against Academies and other Private Finance Initiatives.
Andy Robertson, Trades Councils’ National Joint Consultative Committee, effectively dismissed objections from UNISON delegates, that trades union delegations accountability could be compromised if trades councils delegates and motions were allowed at Congress.
Significant support came from other unions including Rowena Hayward from the GMB, Phil Bialyk, RMT; Kev Beazer, CWU; UNITE /AMICUS and UNITE/TGWU.
With only one large union voting against, this vote should increase the chances of the RMT rule change to this year’s TUC, which would re-enfranchise trades councils, being carried.
ENDS
From: Gollings, JennSent: 24 April 2008 17:23To: Everyone in South West RegionSubject: FW: UNISON South West Press Release: UNISON calls for halt to dangerous drive to end on-site hospital sterilisation .
The BBC is breaking a story today about decontamination services (an issue which Graham has been leading on the SW). They are interviewing a woman in Leeds whose operation was cancelled twice – when she was about to go into theatre for a hip op - because the equipment wasn’t available.
Jenn Gollings Communications Co-ordinator UNISON South West UNISON South West Press Release Regional Secretary: Ian Ducat . Tel: 01823 288031 . Fax: 01823 336013 Embargo: 17:00 hrs, Thursday 24 April 2008 UNISON CALLS FOR HALT TO DANGEROUS DRIVE TO END ON-SITE HOSPITAL STERILISATION UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union, is today calling for a halt to a dangerous drive to end in-house sterilisation of hospital operating theatre equipment.In the South West Trusts in Devon, Dorset Somerset are facing the prospect of having their services outsourced.
The Department of Health is backing big private decontamination supercentres, which are replacing on-site sterilisation, threatening patient safety and leading to cancelled operations. Mike Jackson, UNISON Senior National Officer said: “Sadly this isn’t the first operation that has had to be cancelled because of incomplete packs or broken and dirty instruments and it won’t be the last.UNISON has warned time and time again that taking sterilisation services out of hospitals and replacing them with supercentres - which are often miles away - is a recipe for disaster. “No one should have to go through the pain and distress of having their operation cancelled at the last minute because equipment is not in place. Patient safety is paramount - the Government must call a halt to this dangerous drive to close down in-house sterilisation services before more patients are made to suffer.
Mike Jackson added: “Packs can only be opened in the sterile environment of the operating theatre. There is a real danger that a patient may be on the operating table, with their lives on the line only for theatre staff to find that sterile packs are broken, incomplete or dirty.”UNISON believes that the whole programme setting up these supercentres was flawed from the start with highly questionable financial incentives from the Department of Health involved. Trusts are being seduced with £1m promises to buy new equipment if they sign up with the private projects.
Graham Parish, UNISON South West regional Organiser said: “This ‘financial incentive’ is not being offered directly to Trusts to improve existing services; it is only being offered where Trusts outsource their sterile services work to private profit making companies. Instead the DoH should be investing that same public funding into improving NHS in-house services.All that money for new equipment comes to nothing if the instruments are returned broken or with damaged and dirty packs.” In response to a recent Downing Street on-line petition calling upon the Government to “cease the National Decontamination Project immediately in order to preserve the existing high standards of service provided by accredited NHS Hospital Sterile Services”, the Prime Minister's Office responded: “Participation in the National Decontamination Project (NDP) is voluntary.
Other options, including sterile services in a larger Private Finance Initiative or undertaking a conventional outsourcing procurement, are still available to NHS Trusts.”Graham added: “It is quite clear from this response that the DoH wants to outsource Sterile Services, even where cases have been made showing that keeping services in-house is more practicable, more cost effective and most importantly much safer for the patient. That same incentive being made available the DoH should be made available to the Trusts being asked to sign up with these private companies.
The project in the South West has taken more almost three years to put together a business case to try and justify taking on the decontamination and each time the case deadline is pushed back. It begs the question, how long will surgeons and patients have to wait for their instrutments to arrive?”Graham further added: “In the South West units in seven general hospitals faced closure, including seven general hospitals in Barnstaple, Torbay, Taunton, Yeovil, Dorchester, Poole and Bournemouth.
The proposals are that two supercentres would replace existing units, one in Poole covering Dorset and the other in Taunton covering the other areas. Staff face losing their jobs as travelling from their existing workplace to the new supercentres is impractical. It will create a significant financial burden on the NHS due to potential redundancy costs.If experienced staff are lost then the service cannot be guarantee.” Earlier this month Torbay Hospital NHS Trust decided to withdraw from the project. “We have been working closely with Unite and other medical professional bodies to campaign in the South West and we delighted when Torbay announced their decision.
We know other Trusts have real reservations about the serious risks with this project and we call upon them to follow Torbay’s lead and to pull out of the project now. Staff have had months of insecurity about whether they will have a job and whether they will be forced to leave the NHS. We have argued strongly that this project made no sense because of the risks to the delivery of properly decontaminated surgical equipment to Hospitals and the financial risks to the NHS. UNISON in conjunction with Unite has prepared a detailed case to each Trust arguing the case for retaining services in house.”The supercentres mean that highly specialised instruments will be travelling long distances and be vulnerable to hold-ups because of bad weather, road works, congestion and traffic accidents.
In addition packs contain delicate equipment easily damaged in transit. This could be exacerbated in the South West by the very nature of it’s rural infrastructure. ENDS Notes to Editor · UNISON is the UK’s largest dedicated public sector union with 1.3 million members working in the public services. It is the union for all NHS staff, local government staff, police support, education staff, and those working for the utilities and transport. It negotiates their pay and conditions and champions the public services that its members deliver.
Cartoon by Tim Sanders. UNISON copyright website: http://www.timonline.info/ e-mail: tim sanders [tims@commonknowledge.org.uk For further information contact: Graham Parish, Regional Organiser – UNISON South West 07903 807641 Pay Matters - UNISON campaigning for a fair deal for public service workers www.unison.org.uk/paymatters The views expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necessarily the views of UNISON. Registration Number 736T VAT Reference 626 3908 29 UNISON has taken steps to ensure that any attachments are free from viruses. You should, however, carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. UNISON accepts no liability for loss or damage caused by software viruses. ****************************************************************
“Linking your Trade Union Branch with local campaigns and communities throughout Bridgwater, Highbridge and mid-Somerset.”
Secretary:Dave Chapple E-Mail: davechapple@btinternet.com
Affiliations invited from local Trade Union Branches @ 10p per member Per year. Why not invite a speaker from Bridgwater TUC to your next Branch or Branch Committee meeting, to talk about our work, and answer any questions your members may have?
28.4.08
PRESS RELEASE:
Delegates to the South West Region TUC Annual Conference at the weekend overwhelmingly backed a call to support the re-admission of local Trades Councils into the Trades Union Congress, with only one large union voting against.
The motion, moved by Dave Chapple for Bridgwater Trades Council, noted that
“In Wales and Scotland local trades councils have the right to elect delegates and submit motions to their respective national TUC’s. We therefore agree that trades councils should now also have the right to elect delegates and submit motions to the Trades Union Congress, via their own Trades Councils’ Annual Conference, the details to be decided by the TUC General Council once the principle has been established.”
Seconder Vicky Nash from the NUT, spoke of the invaluable support trades councils had given to her union, not just in the current dispute, but against Academies and other Private Finance Initiatives.
Andy Robertson, Trades Councils’ National Joint Consultative Committee, effectively dismissed objections from UNISON delegates, that trades union delegations accountability could be compromised if trades councils delegates and motions were allowed at Congress.
Significant support came from other unions including Rowena Hayward from the GMB, Phil Bialyk, RMT; Kev Beazer, CWU; UNITE /AMICUS and UNITE/TGWU.
With only one large union voting against, this vote should increase the chances of the RMT rule change to this year’s TUC, which would re-enfranchise trades councils, being carried.
ENDS
From: Gollings, JennSent: 24 April 2008 17:23To: Everyone in South West RegionSubject: FW: UNISON South West Press Release: UNISON calls for halt to dangerous drive to end on-site hospital sterilisation .
The BBC is breaking a story today about decontamination services (an issue which Graham has been leading on the SW). They are interviewing a woman in Leeds whose operation was cancelled twice – when she was about to go into theatre for a hip op - because the equipment wasn’t available.
Jenn Gollings Communications Co-ordinator UNISON South West UNISON South West Press Release Regional Secretary: Ian Ducat . Tel: 01823 288031 . Fax: 01823 336013 Embargo: 17:00 hrs, Thursday 24 April 2008 UNISON CALLS FOR HALT TO DANGEROUS DRIVE TO END ON-SITE HOSPITAL STERILISATION UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union, is today calling for a halt to a dangerous drive to end in-house sterilisation of hospital operating theatre equipment.In the South West Trusts in Devon, Dorset Somerset are facing the prospect of having their services outsourced.
The Department of Health is backing big private decontamination supercentres, which are replacing on-site sterilisation, threatening patient safety and leading to cancelled operations. Mike Jackson, UNISON Senior National Officer said: “Sadly this isn’t the first operation that has had to be cancelled because of incomplete packs or broken and dirty instruments and it won’t be the last.UNISON has warned time and time again that taking sterilisation services out of hospitals and replacing them with supercentres - which are often miles away - is a recipe for disaster. “No one should have to go through the pain and distress of having their operation cancelled at the last minute because equipment is not in place. Patient safety is paramount - the Government must call a halt to this dangerous drive to close down in-house sterilisation services before more patients are made to suffer.
Mike Jackson added: “Packs can only be opened in the sterile environment of the operating theatre. There is a real danger that a patient may be on the operating table, with their lives on the line only for theatre staff to find that sterile packs are broken, incomplete or dirty.”UNISON believes that the whole programme setting up these supercentres was flawed from the start with highly questionable financial incentives from the Department of Health involved. Trusts are being seduced with £1m promises to buy new equipment if they sign up with the private projects.
Graham Parish, UNISON South West regional Organiser said: “This ‘financial incentive’ is not being offered directly to Trusts to improve existing services; it is only being offered where Trusts outsource their sterile services work to private profit making companies. Instead the DoH should be investing that same public funding into improving NHS in-house services.All that money for new equipment comes to nothing if the instruments are returned broken or with damaged and dirty packs.” In response to a recent Downing Street on-line petition calling upon the Government to “cease the National Decontamination Project immediately in order to preserve the existing high standards of service provided by accredited NHS Hospital Sterile Services”, the Prime Minister's Office responded: “Participation in the National Decontamination Project (NDP) is voluntary.
Other options, including sterile services in a larger Private Finance Initiative or undertaking a conventional outsourcing procurement, are still available to NHS Trusts.”Graham added: “It is quite clear from this response that the DoH wants to outsource Sterile Services, even where cases have been made showing that keeping services in-house is more practicable, more cost effective and most importantly much safer for the patient. That same incentive being made available the DoH should be made available to the Trusts being asked to sign up with these private companies.
The project in the South West has taken more almost three years to put together a business case to try and justify taking on the decontamination and each time the case deadline is pushed back. It begs the question, how long will surgeons and patients have to wait for their instrutments to arrive?”Graham further added: “In the South West units in seven general hospitals faced closure, including seven general hospitals in Barnstaple, Torbay, Taunton, Yeovil, Dorchester, Poole and Bournemouth.
The proposals are that two supercentres would replace existing units, one in Poole covering Dorset and the other in Taunton covering the other areas. Staff face losing their jobs as travelling from their existing workplace to the new supercentres is impractical. It will create a significant financial burden on the NHS due to potential redundancy costs.If experienced staff are lost then the service cannot be guarantee.” Earlier this month Torbay Hospital NHS Trust decided to withdraw from the project. “We have been working closely with Unite and other medical professional bodies to campaign in the South West and we delighted when Torbay announced their decision.
We know other Trusts have real reservations about the serious risks with this project and we call upon them to follow Torbay’s lead and to pull out of the project now. Staff have had months of insecurity about whether they will have a job and whether they will be forced to leave the NHS. We have argued strongly that this project made no sense because of the risks to the delivery of properly decontaminated surgical equipment to Hospitals and the financial risks to the NHS. UNISON in conjunction with Unite has prepared a detailed case to each Trust arguing the case for retaining services in house.”The supercentres mean that highly specialised instruments will be travelling long distances and be vulnerable to hold-ups because of bad weather, road works, congestion and traffic accidents.
In addition packs contain delicate equipment easily damaged in transit. This could be exacerbated in the South West by the very nature of it’s rural infrastructure. ENDS Notes to Editor · UNISON is the UK’s largest dedicated public sector union with 1.3 million members working in the public services. It is the union for all NHS staff, local government staff, police support, education staff, and those working for the utilities and transport. It negotiates their pay and conditions and champions the public services that its members deliver.
Cartoon by Tim Sanders. UNISON copyright website: http://www.timonline.info/ e-mail: tim sanders [tims@commonknowledge.org.uk For further information contact: Graham Parish, Regional Organiser – UNISON South West 07903 807641 Pay Matters - UNISON campaigning for a fair deal for public service workers www.unison.org.uk/paymatters The views expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necessarily the views of UNISON. Registration Number 736T VAT Reference 626 3908 29 UNISON has taken steps to ensure that any attachments are free from viruses. You should, however, carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. UNISON accepts no liability for loss or damage caused by software viruses. ****************************************************************
Labels: press releases
Press release - Public sector pay
The government has a policy for pay in the public sector: pay is to be reduced, in real terms, over the next three years, by imposing pay increases which fall below the rate of inflation. I am writing on behalf of the Yeovil and District Trades Union Council to express our firm opposition to this policy and our solidarity with the working people who are affected.
On Thursday 24th April many workers in the public sector will be taking industrial action in opposition to this disgraceful and totally unjustifiable policy. Teachers, college and university lecturers, staff in job centres and benefit offices, and other civil servants, will be stopping work. We express our solidarity also with local authority workers, postal workers, prison officers and the police. We protest against the government's flagrant breach of long-standing arrangements for deciding pay by independent bodies, arrangements that were intended precisely to avoid such disputes as this.
The pay reduction policy comes in an EU Directive which the government and two main opposition parties fully supports. We reject the argument that an increase in public sector pay would be a cause of inflation. We believe that the current dire economic situation requires an increase in pay for all workers in order to stimulate sales, reduce inequality and fight poverty. The vast amount being spent on bailing out the banks proves that the money is available and why is this not cited as a cause of inflation? If, however, the Treasury is lacking in money then the remedy is to close the well-known tax loopholes and exemptions which are available to the extremely rich, the phoney 'non-domiciled' super-rich and the giant companies which are making huge profits whilst working people, and those on pensions and benefits, face soaring prices. We also consider higher pay in the public services to be necessary for raising standards of service and performance.
Britain, with the fourth largest economy in the world, is awash with money. This is not the way for Labour to win votes and keep the Tories out.
On Thursday 24th April many workers in the public sector will be taking industrial action in opposition to this disgraceful and totally unjustifiable policy. Teachers, college and university lecturers, staff in job centres and benefit offices, and other civil servants, will be stopping work. We express our solidarity also with local authority workers, postal workers, prison officers and the police. We protest against the government's flagrant breach of long-standing arrangements for deciding pay by independent bodies, arrangements that were intended precisely to avoid such disputes as this.
The pay reduction policy comes in an EU Directive which the government and two main opposition parties fully supports. We reject the argument that an increase in public sector pay would be a cause of inflation. We believe that the current dire economic situation requires an increase in pay for all workers in order to stimulate sales, reduce inequality and fight poverty. The vast amount being spent on bailing out the banks proves that the money is available and why is this not cited as a cause of inflation? If, however, the Treasury is lacking in money then the remedy is to close the well-known tax loopholes and exemptions which are available to the extremely rich, the phoney 'non-domiciled' super-rich and the giant companies which are making huge profits whilst working people, and those on pensions and benefits, face soaring prices. We also consider higher pay in the public services to be necessary for raising standards of service and performance.
Britain, with the fourth largest economy in the world, is awash with money. This is not the way for Labour to win votes and keep the Tories out.
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