One Barnet UNISON Strike Action 9 Feb 2012

Barnet UNISON are balloting for a further round of strike action to prevent the wholesale privatisation of Council services in their borough. Send the branch messages of support via the website
www.barnetunison.me.uk. During previous strike action when members of the branch finished their picket line duties they went off to volunteer and work unpaid on various local Barnet community projects for the rest of the day.

Pension Strike - Hollywood Version

Weird and wonderful YouTube video from Barnet UNISON (as always) on the public service strike to save pensions next week. I don't recognise the first clip and I am not a great fan of Star Wars (but I have a view on the "dark side").  The rest of the clips are great.  So lets work together for a wonderful life after N30 :) I am certainly proud to be in a union.

Call You and Yours: Do Strikes Work?

Yesterday lunchtime there was a debate on the Radio 4 programme "You and Yours" on "Do Strikes Work?"

UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis was a guest with Ed Holmes, from the hard right Tory think tank "Policy Exchange".

I rang into the programme and was able to say (about 9 minutes in) that strikes can work if they are a last resort and if the membership is behind it.  I pointed out my own example of a "successful" strike. I took part in a month long strike to stop cuts in local housing offices and staff redundancies.  In the end we were able to hammer out a compromise which saved people's jobs. 

UNISON John Burgess also rang in from yesterday's picket line in Barnet.

One of the (many) irritating things that Ed Holmes kept saying during the programme was that public service pensions were "over generous"....  if I work for 40 years the maximum pension I will get is just over half pay and a lump sum around 1.5 x my final salary.  I am currently contributing nearly £200 per month - so is a half pay pension "over generous"? Is he saying it should it be less?

Barnet lockout, strike and lobby

The title of this post could have been "Big guns target Barnet" (I'll explain later). I left the TUC conference a little early to get to Hendon Town Hall to join the UNISON lobby against the Tory plans to privatise 70% of the staff employed by Barnet Council. 

Earlier in the day, the incompetent and completely daft, Barnet senior management team had decided to send home all workers who came into work in the morning while planning to strike in the afternoon.  This meant that the employer employed 19th century bully boy employment tactics and "locked out" its workers and prevented them from providing a service.  They turned a half day strike into a full day?  I thought managers wanted to avoid strike action!

At the rally there were a number of speakers.  Pickets reported back and messages of support were read out (including from our General Secretary Dave Prentis).  Local residents, activists from UNISON and other unions spoke in support, including London Regional Convenor Gloria Hanson (see picture) and the Regional Secretary, Linda Perks.  The rally was also a lobby of a meeting of the full Barnet Council.  Barnet Council Labour Group had tabled a motion calling for the end of the "One Barnet" Easy Council policy.  Deputy Labour Leader Barry Rawlings (former NUPE steward) spoke to the rally about their motion.  Well done to the Branch, the pickets and to John and Helen for a successful strike and rally.

(According to my esteemed NEC colleague the Ship on the London UNISON regional banner seen behind Gloria is the Battleship HMS Belfast which is moored in the Thames.  For some reasons the Guns of HMS Belfast are always pointed towards the London Borough of Barnet!).  Stop press  Barnet Labour Group walked out of the Council chambers last night when the Tories refused to allow them to debate their motion.

Barnet UNISON Strikers face "lock out" threat by Tory Council

Good luck to the 400 Barnet Council UNISON members who are going out on strike tomorrow
afternoon over the potential privatisation of all Council services. 

The Tory Council is now threatening to send home workers as they arrive at work in the morning if they are going on strike that afternoon. In effect they are imposing a "lock-out".

Linda Perks, UNISON London regional secretary, said:

“Barnet Council continues to push through reckless plans that gamble with the future of hundreds of staff and the vital services they provide.

“The response from the council to the action has also been disgraceful, as they are now threatening to send workers home without pay if they do not work the full day.

“A week ago, UNISON presented council bosses with a report that highlighted the potentially devastating impact of outsourcing on staff pensions, terms and conditions and on job losses.

“A report by the council also raised concerns about how well existing contracts are being run. It flouted its own contract procedure rules by paying more than £1million to a private company without background checks - this is unlikely to be a one-off.

“A huge amount of money will be wasted during the procurement process through payments to consultants, shareholders, and in contract costs. This cash should be invested in local people and in keeping vital services running.

“We are calling on Barnet Council to listen to staff and the union’s concerns. Barnet council workers do not take action lightly, and it could be avoided if the council put a stop to its devastating plans.”

Send messages of support to Barnet UNISON and there is a lobby of the Council meeting at Hendon  Town Hall tomorrow (Tuesday 13th) 5.30pm to 7.30pm (nearest tube: Hendon Central on the Northern Line) which I hope to attend.

Protecting Your Pension from Tory Dummies

Well done to Barnet Local Government branch and UNISON for commissioning an independent report on the threat to pensions and the likely huge cost to Council taxpayers from Tory policies. Local and national.

First Actuarial LLP warn that the Tory led government plans to increase contributions to the Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) by up to 50% could cause many council workers to leave. They will simply not be able to afford it anymore, especially after years of no pay rises, tax increases (and high inflation).

While Tory "easyjet" Barnet Council are trying to outsource nearly all its services.  This will result in even less active members of the scheme.

The government is considering getting rid of Labour's "Fair Deal" for pensions and banning Council workers who are outsourced from being in the LGPS at all.

What this collapse in scheme membership could mean locally is that the pension cash flow in Barnet Council will move from being £22.9 million per year in the black to being £25 million in the red! With fewer contributors to the pension this could double the fund deficit. This will also mess up the investment strategy and make the scheme pull out of equities and pursue a low growth policy. Which will make funding even worse.

Barnet has already had to pick up a bill for £1.4 million in June this year after a private contractor went bust. More outsourcing, more risk to the scheme.

Barnet is of course a rabid Tory borough but all Councils potentially, face huge potential financial problems from these policies. If the Government goes ahead and forces pension contributions to rise by a half and the outsourcing of services and workers continues, this will dramatically increase the risk and cost of the pension fund (to Council taxpayers).

The LGPS protects millions of ordinary working people from extreme poverty in old age. The Tories, locally and nationally, risk destroying it.

(BTW shame that someone did not check the facts and even used this report to attack their own union! not that I'm surprised...)