Branch Update – June 2014

Since the last executive meeting we have dealt with over 1000 items of email correspondence and also around a dozen general telephone enquiries each day from members, we had no telephones for a period of almost 12 days due to a fault with the Council’s VOIP system;   Issues included Redundancy consultations, Ongoing Employment Tribunal requests to Scottish Region, Fair Treatment at Work issues, Health & Safety concerns, Personal Injury claims, Discrimination cases and sickness absence meetings.

Non-members usually say that the unions do nothing for them and are often the first to criticise us – until they need us.  UNISON members fought hard for the Terms and Conditions we have today but these are now under serious threat.  Please emphasise the good work UNISON is doing and encourage your colleagues to Join UNISON.

• 2014/15 Local Government Pay; UNISON is balloting it’s members w/c 9 July, to find out their views regarding the imposed 2014/15 pay award.
• NORTH CASE Compensation Awards; UNISON’s lawyers have advised claimants that discussions with DGC are progressing well and they hope a settlement will be agreed around the end of June. Some members who could have made claims but for a variety of reasons didn’t, have contacted the branch office unfortunately no new claims regarding this case can be raised.
• Customer & Community Services; The Consultation period for A&E Leisure & Sport has ended and the proposed changes are about to be implemented. The 30 day Redundancy Consultation period on management redundancies has ended, UNISON has submitted a collective grievance on unfair treatment;  Staff consultation on the CSC/Library/Registration year 2 integration process has been extended, UNISON will arrange meetings for members once the formal period ends; DGOne closure discussions are ongoing, closure is expected around October.
• Education Service; Supporting Learners Review Meetings continue; Branch Officers attended the UNISON Scotland 600 hours pre-school legislation meeting in Glasgow and a paper outlining the issues across Scotland will be sent to all Branches; Ongoing Learning Town discussions; Discussed departmental property team structures.
• Social Work; Senior management appointments have concluded so we expect to be continuing discussions about the management restructure; Concerns with imposed changes to Standby payments are being discussed with management and we expect these to be resolved soon, any underpayments will be reimbursed; Discussions with NHS Branch on integration and further meetings arranged by DGC/NHS management are ongoing – the appointment of new Health Board Members which has caused some delay is now finished, Phil Jones was appointed Chair.
• Chief Executive Service; Continuing discussions with HR on Matching Policy & Job Evaluation Appeals, members will need support with these complex policies; Childcare Voucherswill be issued by DGC and we now expect these will be available around June/July; Discussed DGC budget intentions to review Employment Transitional Policies and change to a 3 years budget process, the monthly Financial Challenges meeting with Chief Officers is going to be replaced with a regular meeting with the budget setting Politicians.
• Regulatory Enforcement; Branch Secretary attended a Regional meeting to consider the problems new guidance could cause members, a UNISON response has been sent to the Scottish Government and a copy will be placed on branch media.
• Meat Hygiene Service; A joint branch meeting was arranged for members to discuss the rejected pay offer of 0.75%, we await information on the discussion.
• Branch Administration; Our new web-site is now online; The branch organised Stewards induction training has concluded with 7 newly qualified Stewards; Continued discussions on office arrangements; Have organised a UNISON “Guid Neighbours” event in Dumfries; Kevin Duguid our Regional Learning Organiser visited the branch and Learning Partnership invitation letters have been sent to all employers; Various members workplace drop-in sessions have been arranged throughout the Region; A number of serious Health & Safety issues are ongoing and action has been initiated to resolve these concerns.