Labour promises to rebuild local government

The next Labour government will work together with workers and trade unions to rebuild the “hollowed out” local government that the Tories have left us with, Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, told delegates at UNISON’s local government conference.

The shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities said: “We’re going to tilt the balance of power back to people like care workers, refuse workers and librarians. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the only thing to do. We’ve written off the talent, potential and assets of most people in Britain for too long.”

As a judge in UNISON’s local champions awards, Ms Nandy praised the 900 nominees for managing to be warm, compassionate and hardworking “in a time of darkness”, while wondering how they were going to feed their own families. “I’ve watched in awe as you’ve spun gold out of thread every single day,” she said.

She said Labour was inspired by UNISON’s work on insourcing, bringing services back into local authority control. In January, Barnet council announced that it would bring 330 workers back into council employment thanks to a decade-long campaign by UNISON.

“We’ll work together see the biggest move to insourcing in a generation,” she promised.

She criticised the current government’s attitude to trade unions. “Last summer the government attempted to break strikes by bringing in agency workers. This is a shoddy and unserious government that doesn’t even have the respect for workers to bring them to the negotiating table. The problem isn’t militant workers – it’s a militant government.”

Ms Nandy added that Labour would achieve economic growth by raising living standards: “Every pound that goes into the pocket of a working person goes straight back into our economy, in contrast with the money that the rich are putting into offshore banks and tax avoidance schemes”

To applause from delegates, she added: “It’s our ambition to ensure a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

The article Labour promises to rebuild local government first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Insourcing campaigners at Barts NHS Trust celebrate final phase

Christina McAnea celebrating with health members at Whipps Cross University Hospital

Cleaning, catering, and support workers at Barts Health NHS Trust are now directly employed by the NHS again, following a successful campaign by UNISON to bring them back in-house, the union announced this week.

The trust had been gradually bringing the 1,800 staff, previously employed by Serco, back under its employment since last November, and the process was completed on Monday (1 May).

Security and reception staff became NHS employees again last autumn. They were followed by porters in February, helpdesk staff at the beginning of April and, finally, cleaning, catering and support staff this month.

UNISON’s general secretary Christina McAnea visited three of the trust’s hospitals – Royal London Hospital, Whipps Cross University Hospital and Newham University Hospital – to celebrate the win with workers. The two other hospitals involved are Mile End and St Bartholomew’s.

Ms McAnea said: “It’s always going to be better for health workers to be employed directly by the NHS. Barts is to be congratulated for this move, which will make a real difference to everyone affected.”

UNISON London regional organiser Pam Okuns-Edokpayi added: “The NHS couldn’t function without the vital contribution this group of staff make, and it’s great to see Barts recognise this. ?UNISON is proud of the deal negotiated.”?

Eileen Phillips, Barts health director of soft facilities management, said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome our soft FM colleagues into the trust and the Barts Health family.

“We have incredibly dedicated teams of caterers, domestics, porters, ward hosts, security teams and receptionists, who work hard every day to support our clinical teams deliver excellent care to our patients.”

The article Insourcing campaigners at Barts NHS Trust celebrate final phase first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Insourcing win at North Middlesex University Hospital

Nearly 300 cleaning and catering staff at North Middlesex University Hospital will be brought back in-house following a UNISON campaign.

The workers, employed on zero hours contracts by Medirest, have been working under worse terms and conditions compared to colleagues directly employed by the NHS.

The trust has also agreed a commitment to increase pay for portering staff, who will receive the London living wage from 1 September 2023.

UNISON North Middlesex Hospital branch secretary Paula Ward said: “UNISON have been in talks with the trust regarding bringing this service back in-house for over a year, and we welcome the decision made.

“The campaign isn’t over yet however. Whilst we welcome the trust’s commitment to pay the London living wage for portering staff, UNISON will continue fighting for all staff to be in-house.

“We look forward to working in partnership with the trust to finalise a transfer date and further details.”

UNISON representative Abdi Nur has worked as a domestic at North Middlesex Hospital for five years. He said members are “delighted” that they will now receive sick pay and holiday pay as NHS staff.

“This is life-changing for many of us. We feel more valued and motivated to work here. It’s a huge achievement. We wanted this for such a long time, and now we’re so happy the time has come.”

The article Insourcing win at North Middlesex University Hospital first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Hospital staff in Liverpool are coming home

Around 670 staff at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be brought back in-house on 1 April this year.

Staff at two hospital sites, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen, who work as cleaners, porters, caterers and in other domestic services will be transferred onto NHS terms and conditions once the outsourced contracts come to an end at the end of March.

The move comes after a merger of hospital trusts in Liverpool in 2019, creating Liverpool University Hospitals NHS foundation trust, which left staff in similar jobs on vastly different terms and conditions depending on whether the services at their hospital were provided in-house or outsourced.

The announcement is the latest of number of instances of insourcing at the trust with other services such as security and decontamination already brought back since 2019.

Since the merger, UNISON’s Liverpool hospitals branch have campaigned strongly for the insourcing of the services at the earliest opportunity.

They argued that not only is it beneficial for the community on public health grounds, in that it will allow for improved quality and integration of services, but that, in an area of high deprivation, bringing staff onto better pay and conditions supports the local economy as well as the workers.

In harmonising the terms and conditions of these types of jobs across the trust, the chief executive of the trust echoed these sentiments,  saying the decision “delivers on our vision to support communities to live healthier happier, fairer lives.”

For the staff, a move to Agenda for Change terms and conditions will likely represent a significant pay increase as well as improvements to leave and pension offerings.

Speaking of the decision Joe Baldwin, chair of UNISON Liverpool hospitals health branch, said: “We welcome the decision to bring this service back into the NHS.

“We have been campaigning for a long time for these members to be afforded the same pay and conditions as those of us who work directly for the NHS.

“This is also about pensions and access to wider opportunities and staff benefits. We are ‘One NHS’ and our members in this service are a vital part of our health service.”

 

The article Hospital staff in Liverpool are coming home first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Insourcing win at Barnet council

Staff at Barnet council are due to be transferred back to council employment thanks to a decade-long campaign by UNISON.

The 330 affected workers are currently employed by outsourcing multinational conglomerate, Capita, and are being brought back in house after the council was used as a test case for the outsourcing of local government services.

The staff who work under a joint venture called ‘Capita Re’ in a variety of areas like trading standards, environmental health, planning highways and other regulatory services, will be TUPE transferred back in house on 1 April this year.

In 2012, much of the service provision at the council was outsourced to Capita on decade-long contracts by the Conservative-controlled council, with the intervening 10 years marred by several controversies including a multi-million-pound fraud and contracts running vastly over budget.

Barnet’s UNISON branch has campaigned for services to be brought back in-house since the contracts were initially handed to Capita and there have already been major in-sourcing successes at the council.

In May last year, Labour won control of the council after 20 years of Conservative leadership and, though the contracts had already been due to end next year, the new council has fast-tracked plans by six months to bring some services back in house.

John Burgess, Barnet local government branch secretary, said: “This is good news for staff, good news for residents and good news for the services. I welcome the decision and look forward to welcoming back all the services back into Barnet Council where they all belong.

“For a decade, our branch has campaigned for local government services at Barnet to be brought back in-house and, while we are happy that this latest has been fast tracked, there are still many issues to address for our members who are being TUPE’d.

“These include workplace inequalities such as staff being paid differently for the same role. Barnet UNISON is already seeking discussions with the council about harmonisation of the terms and conditions of the TUPE’d workforce.

“During the worst cost of living crisis in 75 years it is imperative that our branch does it best to look after the interests of our members transferring back into the council.”

The article Insourcing win at Barnet council first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON wins major insourcing battle in Lanarkshire

UNISON has won a major insourcing victory in Scotland, after NHS Lanarkshire announced that it will take over the contract for cleaning, catering, portering and security services at University Hospital Wishaw.

The jobs of 400 workers – many held by traditionally low-paid, part-time women workers – will transfer from private contractor Serco to NHS Lanarkshire later this year. There will be no job losses.

The Lanarkshire health branch of UNISON has been running a ‘PFI bleeds the NHS dry’ campaign to end profit-motivated private contracts providing public services at NHS hospitals. A similar contract is in place at University Hospital Hairmyres in East Kilbride, which is currently held by ISS. The campaign to transfer that contract to the NHS continues.

Convener of UNISON Scotland Lilian Macer said: “This is a major success in the union’s campaign to end all outsourcing of NHS contracts, putting an end to a two-tier workforce at the Wishaw hospital.

“It will be better for the workers, their future pensions, the community, the NHS and the local economy. Workers will now have equal terms to their NHS colleagues and there will be no job losses.”

Ms Macer said that the union has a long-standing policy of seeking to return service provision to the direct control to NHS Lanarkshire at both Wishaw and Hairmyres hospitals and to remove the private sector contractors Serco at Wishaw and ISS at Hairmyres.

“Through our campaign we lobbied NHS Lanarkshire and Scottish Government and we have been successful at Wishaw. The health board has endorsed a strategic direction which seeks to promote well-being and tackle inequalities for our local population as well as delivering the very best healthcare possible within available resources.

“The UNISON Lanarkshire Health branch campaign will continue to ensure that staff on the Hairmyres site are not left behind and we will not stop our campaigning agenda with the health board and Scottish government until we remove the private sector and staff are directly employed by NHS Lanarkshire.

UNISON Lanarkshire health branch chair Katrina Murray added: “We are delighted at the outcome and want to thank our members and everyone who supported our campaign over the years. We have seen too many examples of these private profit-driven companies charging the NHS exorbitant rates for additional services when the real cost is a fraction of the price.

“There is no room for profiteering at the expense of the NHS. It’s time to get rid of these contractors once and for all.”

UNISON national secretary Donna Rowe-Merriman observed: “UNISON has seen a significant shift across public service commissioners to bring services back in-house as the public has become increasingly aware of the huge profits being made by companies that fail to deliver on promises of providing value for money for UK tax payers.

“The public want quality public services delivered by directly employed public sector workers receiving decent pay, terms and conditions.”

The article UNISON wins major insourcing battle in Lanarkshire first appeared on the UNISON National site.