Category: Yorkshire and Humberside

North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery

Salford mayor Paul Dennett and some of Salford’s campaigning migrant care workers

UNISON members in Salford have paved the way for a new charter that seeks to prevent migrant care workers becoming victims of modern slavery.

The members, migrant care workers themselves, were instrumental in the creation of North West region’s Migrant Care Worker Charter.

Salford mayor Paul Dennett was the first council leader to sign the charter, in September, after a period of local organising and campaigning.

UNISON president and Salford City branch secretary Steve North is not only calling on more council leaders in the region to sign up, but for central government “to end this scandal.”

The problem

In 2020 the government introduced the health and care worker visa to allow medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.

But one unintended consequence of the visa has been a surge in modern slavery. UNISON activists are finding that migrant workers are too often the victims of exploitation, including poor accommodation and bad employment practices – such as the illegal deduction of wages, high agency fees, employers not paying the minimum wage, trade union victimisation and inadequate health and safety.

NHS Employers, the employers’ organisation in England, has already sought to address some of these issues by creating the ethical recruiter list for NHS trusts seeking to hire overseas workers.

UNISON believes that it is time for local authorities and the NHS to address these issues in social care in their commissioning arrangements.

Salford City

Paul Dennett standing with a large number of UNISON members in the Salford council chamber

Late last year Salford City branch was made aware of a care home that was due to close and be demolished, because the owners wanted to use the land to build apartments. The branch intervened and, although it was impossible to save the home, it managed to secure pay that was being withheld and new jobs for a lot of the staff.

Steve North says that, “Some of those workers were on sponsored social care visas and would have been deported had we not found them other jobs.”

News of the union’s intervention spread, leading to a group of Indian workers on sponsored visas approaching the branch office. They said that they weren’t being paid for their full hours at a local homecare company, and that their leader had been dismissed for standing up to the company.

The branch recruited them into UNISON, won them thousands of pounds in owed earnings, got the leader his job back – he is now a rep – and forced a recognition agreement with the company.

Mr North notes: “While we recognised organising was the most fundamental way of challenging this exploitation, we felt that the council should do more to ensure they weren’t commissioning companies who exploit sponsored workers.

“We also knew it was an issue that went beyond Salford. So, working with North West UNISON and other branches, like Bolton UNISON, we supported the sponsored workers to inform a migrant worker charter for social care. The workers themselves came up with the demands and have led the meetings regarding the charter.”

The charter

The charter has seven steps to protect migrant social care workers:

  • Fair and equitable treatment
  • Decent housing
  • No agency or recruitment fees
  • No victimisation for trade union activity
  • Councils to create an ethical recruiter list to stop exploitative employers getting public money
  • ‘Wraparound safety at work’ that acknowledges issues that may be faced by migrant workers at times of social unrest
  • Signatories identifying as an ’employer of last resort’ for migrant workers who have their job ended through no fault of their own.

Mr North adds: “We in Salford City UNISON are incredibly proud to have secured the first council leader’s signature on the charter. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Paul Dennett and we appreciate him standing by these workers.

“But this is not a political victory. This is an industrial victory, led by sponsored workers who have organised themselves into UNISON, led this campaign and faced down exploitative employers, despite risks of dismissal and deportation.

“They have been supported by our tireless Salford City UNISON local organiser Matthew Dickinson and our Black members’ officer and national vice president Julia Mwaluke, herself a migrant care worker.

“We now need more council leaders to sign up, but we also need government to end this scandal. Migrant workers are organising in UNISON to make sure that happens.”

Yorkshire & Humberside also launched a migrant care worker charter, this month.

The region’s migrant worker lead Jordan Stapleton said: “For too long, migrant workers have been treated appallingly after coming to the UK to care for some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“This charter is a significant step towards stopping the awful conditions they experience. UNISON will be working with councils across Yorkshire and Humberside to crack down on this exploitative behaviour, and ensure these workers are treated with the respect they deserve.”

North West migrant worker charter

Yorkshire & Humberside migrant worker charter 

The article North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery first appeared on the UNISON National site.

North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery

Salford mayor Paul Dennett and some of Salford’s campaigning migrant care workers

UNISON members in Salford have paved the way for a new charter that seeks to prevent migrant care workers becoming victims of modern slavery.

The members, migrant care workers themselves, were instrumental in the creation of North West region’s Migrant Care Worker Charter.

Salford mayor Paul Dennett was the first council leader to sign the charter, in September, after a period of local organising and campaigning.

UNISON president and Salford City branch secretary Steve North is not only calling on more council leaders in the region to sign up, but for central government “to end this scandal.”

The problem

In 2020 the government introduced the health and care worker visa to allow medical professionals to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.

But one unintended consequence of the visa has been a surge in modern slavery. UNISON activists are finding that migrant workers are too often the victims of exploitation, including poor accommodation and bad employment practices – such as the illegal deduction of wages, high agency fees, employers not paying the minimum wage, trade union victimisation and inadequate health and safety.

NHS Employers, the employers’ organisation in England, has already sought to address some of these issues by creating the ethical recruiter list for NHS trusts seeking to hire overseas workers.

UNISON believes that it is time for local authorities and the NHS to address these issues in social care in their commissioning arrangements.

Salford City

Paul Dennett standing with a large number of UNISON members in the Salford council chamber

Late last year Salford City branch was made aware of a care home that was due to close and be demolished, because the owners wanted to use the land to build apartments. The branch intervened and, although it was impossible to save the home, it managed to secure pay that was being withheld and new jobs for a lot of the staff.

Steve North says that, “Some of those workers were on sponsored social care visas and would have been deported had we not found them other jobs.”

News of the union’s intervention spread, leading to a group of Indian workers on sponsored visas approaching the branch office. They said that they weren’t being paid for their full hours at a local homecare company, and that their leader had been dismissed for standing up to the company.

The branch recruited them into UNISON, won them thousands of pounds in owed earnings, got the leader his job back – he is now a rep – and forced a recognition agreement with the company.

Mr North notes: “While we recognised organising was the most fundamental way of challenging this exploitation, we felt that the council should do more to ensure they weren’t commissioning companies who exploit sponsored workers.

“We also knew it was an issue that went beyond Salford. So, working with North West UNISON and other branches, like Bolton UNISON, we supported the sponsored workers to inform a migrant worker charter for social care. The workers themselves came up with the demands and have led the meetings regarding the charter.”

The charter

The charter has seven steps to protect migrant social care workers:

  • Fair and equitable treatment
  • Decent housing
  • No agency or recruitment fees
  • No victimisation for trade union activity
  • Councils to create an ethical recruiter list to stop exploitative employers getting public money
  • ‘Wraparound safety at work’ that acknowledges issues that may be faced by migrant workers at times of social unrest
  • Signatories identifying as an ’employer of last resort’ for migrant workers who have their job ended through no fault of their own.

Mr North adds: “We in Salford City UNISON are incredibly proud to have secured the first council leader’s signature on the charter. We are grateful for the ongoing support of Paul Dennett and we appreciate him standing by these workers.

“But this is not a political victory. This is an industrial victory, led by sponsored workers who have organised themselves into UNISON, led this campaign and faced down exploitative employers, despite risks of dismissal and deportation.

“They have been supported by our tireless Salford City UNISON local organiser Matthew Dickinson and our Black members’ officer and national vice president Julia Mwaluke, herself a migrant care worker.

“We now need more council leaders to sign up, but we also need government to end this scandal. Migrant workers are organising in UNISON to make sure that happens.”

Yorkshire & Humberside also launched a migrant care worker charter, this month.

The region’s migrant worker lead Jordan Stapleton said: “For too long, migrant workers have been treated appallingly after coming to the UK to care for some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“This charter is a significant step towards stopping the awful conditions they experience. UNISON will be working with councils across Yorkshire and Humberside to crack down on this exploitative behaviour, and ensure these workers are treated with the respect they deserve.”

North West migrant worker charter

Yorkshire & Humberside migrant worker charter 

The article North West migrant care workers win victory against modern slavery first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON members recognised in honours list

Two UNISON stalwarts have been recognised in the recent king’s birthday honours, announced earlier this month.

Wendy Nichols from Yorkshire and Humberside (pictured above during 2015-2016, when she was UNISON president) has been awarded an OBE for services to the trade union movement.

After leaving school, Wendy, who is from Selby, took hotel management and catering courses, following her mum’s footsteps into school meals. She then worked as a cook in a residential care home before being promoted to the post of deputy manager.

Her involvement in unions goes back to the start of her career in the early 1980s and she has been active in UNISON ever since its creation in 1993.

Wendy has also been a Labour councillor for many years.

Anne McGuire from Warrington has been awarded a BEM for services to water regulation and local communities. A technical specialist, she retires this week after working for a week short of 49 years at the Environment Agency and its predecessors.

She has also carried out significant work in her community.

Congratulations to both of them.

The article UNISON members recognised in honours list first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON members recognised in honours list

Two UNISON stalwarts have been recognised in the recent king’s birthday honours, announced earlier this month.

Wendy Nichols from Yorkshire and Humberside (pictured above during 2015-2016, when she was UNISON president) has been awarded an OBE for services to the trade union movement.

After leaving school, Wendy, who is from Selby, took hotel management and catering courses, following her mum’s footsteps into school meals. She then worked as a cook in a residential care home before being promoted to the post of deputy manager.

Her involvement in unions goes back to the start of her career in the early 1980s and she has been active in UNISON ever since its creation in 1993.

Wendy has also been a Labour councillor for many years.

Anne McGuire from Warrington has been awarded a BEM for services to water regulation and local communities. A technical specialist, she retires this week after working for a week short of 49 years at the Environment Agency and its predecessors.

She has also carried out significant work in her community.

Congratulations to both of them.

The article UNISON members recognised in honours list first appeared on the UNISON National site.

West Yorkshire hospital workers win re-banding and thousands of pounds in back pay 

Many of the healthcare assistants working in A&E at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust have been on band two of the national Agenda for Change pay scale, but have undertaken clinical duties falling under band three for several years.

Thanks to UNISON, the workers have now been re-banded to band three and are set to receive around £3,000 in back pay.

The victory marks the latest success in UNISON’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, which has seen repeated re-banding wins across the country. 

Pay Fair For Patient Care calls for all band two staff with increased responsibilities to be paid at the correct rate for the job they are doing and for workers to be compensated for the work they’ve already done at band three level. 

The deal reached with the trust means more than 50 A&E staff across Calderdale and Kirklees will be moved to the higher band, as well as receiving back pay.

Kimberley Cundall-Mellor, who is one of the healthcare assistants due to receive this backpay, is thrilled by the union’s success. “We go above and beyond in every shift that we work, and being re-banded means that we’re being recognised and rewarded for the work we undertake for a patient’s care and the patient’s journey,” she said.

UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Gary Cleaver said: “This is fantastic news for workers who go above and beyond to keep the NHS running, but it’s long overdue. Finally, staff will be properly recognised for the work they do, and paid accordingly.

“This is just the first step in Calderdale and Huddersfield. It’s promising the trust has agreed to negotiations for healthcare assistants in other departments.

“UNISON will do everything possible to make sure those workers get the pay and respect they deserve.”

Managers at Calderdale and Huddersfield have agreed to enter negotiations with UNISON aimed at re-banding healthcare assistants in other departments in the new year.

Find out more about Pay Fair for Patient Care

The article West Yorkshire hospital workers win re-banding and thousands of pounds in back pay  first appeared on the UNISON National site.

West Yorkshire hospital workers win re-banding and thousands of pounds in back pay 

Many of the healthcare assistants working in A&E at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust have been on band two of the national Agenda for Change pay scale, but have undertaken clinical duties falling under band three for several years.

Thanks to UNISON, the workers have now been re-banded to band three and are set to receive around £3,000 in back pay.

The victory marks the latest success in UNISON’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, which has seen repeated re-banding wins across the country. 

Pay Fair For Patient Care calls for all band two staff with increased responsibilities to be paid at the correct rate for the job they are doing and for workers to be compensated for the work they’ve already done at band three level. 

The deal reached with the trust means more than 50 A&E staff across Calderdale and Kirklees will be moved to the higher band, as well as receiving back pay.

Kimberley Cundall-Mellor, who is one of the healthcare assistants due to receive this backpay, is thrilled by the union’s success. “We go above and beyond in every shift that we work, and being re-banded means that we’re being recognised and rewarded for the work we undertake for a patient’s care and the patient’s journey,” she said.

UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Gary Cleaver said: “This is fantastic news for workers who go above and beyond to keep the NHS running, but it’s long overdue. Finally, staff will be properly recognised for the work they do, and paid accordingly.

“This is just the first step in Calderdale and Huddersfield. It’s promising the trust has agreed to negotiations for healthcare assistants in other departments.

“UNISON will do everything possible to make sure those workers get the pay and respect they deserve.”

Managers at Calderdale and Huddersfield have agreed to enter negotiations with UNISON aimed at re-banding healthcare assistants in other departments in the new year.

Find out more about Pay Fair for Patient Care

The article West Yorkshire hospital workers win re-banding and thousands of pounds in back pay  first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Rotherham cemetery staff secure major pay victory

Cemetery maintenance staff in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, including gravediggers, have accepted a pay offer from their employer, UNISON announced today.

The workers, who are employed by private contractor Glendale Grounds Maintenance, have been involved in a long-running dispute over pay, but the company has finally put forward an offer that the staff have accepted.

The accepted offer will be in place for two years and means staff will be paid what was the real living wage – £10.90 per hour – at the time the offer was made, plus 20p, from 25 October, when the offer was accepted.

Staff will also receive the real living wage backdated to 1 April 2023, which amounts to over £400 for some of the lowest-paid workers.

Wages will also be updated in April next year to the revised real living wage, plus 20p.

Payments made to staff to be available if needed on weekends and bank holidays will also double, from £20 to £40 – and the rate for staff responsible for opening and closing cemetery gates will also increase.

The agreed pay rise means the lowest-paid workers will see their salary increase by almost 30% over the two-year period.

As a result of the deal, strike action planned for October and November has been cancelled.

UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Dan Wood said: “This is a fantastic outcome for staff who were sick of missing out simply because they’re employed by a private company rather than the council.

“Workers were ready to walk out to make their feelings known. Luckily, Glendale has seen sense and put forward an offer that staff are happy with, so the dispute can be put to bed.”

Rotherham branch secretary Ruth Askwith said: “Workers have stood up for themselves and got the result they wanted.

“It means they can now concentrate on doing the job they care passionately about – and will get a fair wage for doing it.”

The article Rotherham cemetery staff secure major pay victory first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Rotherham cemetery staff secure major pay victory

Cemetery maintenance staff in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, including gravediggers, have accepted a pay offer from their employer, UNISON announced today.

The workers, who are employed by private contractor Glendale Grounds Maintenance, have been involved in a long-running dispute over pay, but the company has finally put forward an offer that the staff have accepted.

The accepted offer will be in place for two years and means staff will be paid what was the real living wage – £10.90 per hour – at the time the offer was made, plus 20p, from 25 October, when the offer was accepted.

Staff will also receive the real living wage backdated to 1 April 2023, which amounts to over £400 for some of the lowest-paid workers.

Wages will also be updated in April next year to the revised real living wage, plus 20p.

Payments made to staff to be available if needed on weekends and bank holidays will also double, from £20 to £40 – and the rate for staff responsible for opening and closing cemetery gates will also increase.

The agreed pay rise means the lowest-paid workers will see their salary increase by almost 30% over the two-year period.

As a result of the deal, strike action planned for October and November has been cancelled.

UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Dan Wood said: “This is a fantastic outcome for staff who were sick of missing out simply because they’re employed by a private company rather than the council.

“Workers were ready to walk out to make their feelings known. Luckily, Glendale has seen sense and put forward an offer that staff are happy with, so the dispute can be put to bed.”

Rotherham branch secretary Ruth Askwith said: “Workers have stood up for themselves and got the result they wanted.

“It means they can now concentrate on doing the job they care passionately about – and will get a fair wage for doing it.”

The article Rotherham cemetery staff secure major pay victory first appeared on the UNISON National site.