Saturday 30 March 2013

UNISON masked ball photos

The photos can be viewed at http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/king/view-your-pictures/albums/39543  there are some great moments caught and well worth a look. The photographer will give a percentage of his profits to the CF Trust.

Many thanks for making it such a fun night.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Pay Ballot results


To All members,

The result of the pay ballot that we have conducted is as follows;-


93% voted YES for the proposals

7% voted NO against the proposals

Therefore we have elected to accept the proposed new pay deal, which will come into effect as of the 1st of April 2013. Should anyone have any questions on this please speak to your steward where you have one or you can email me.

Regards

Caroline


Caroline Glendinning UNISON Branch Secretary, OXFORD CITY BRANCH, The Old Police Cells, Oxford Town Hall, St. Aldates, Oxford. OX1 1BX.
Tel 01865 252522  

Friday 18 January 2013

What happens if the vote is NO




What happens if the vote is NO

What will happen:

We will stay on the National arrangements for the cost of living rise

They will still amend the flex leave and revert back to 1 day in a 4 week period

They will still be opening the offices between Christmas and the New Year

They will not offer incremental progression

They will still continue to replace the Casual Car Allowance


What might happen:

They might discontinue the Partnership Payments

They might remove Weekend Enhancement and Overtime rates for all staff

They might not offer the 20% travel concession

They might not increase the minimum wage for Oxford City Council employees

  
The current 2 Year agreement ends on 31st March 2013 so the Council can change any of the items in this agreement from 1st April 2013.


National Pay Award
The government has capped Local Government pay increases to 1% a year until at least 2015; this is to include all costs such as pension, N.I etc.
The union is currently in talks with the local government employers over pay for the 2013/14 round, and is calling for the employers to give staff a decent pay rise. We will therefore be dependant on National negotiators to make a deal for us, the Local Government Association are already indicating that they can not afford any rise for this year, with many Local Authorities less organised and unable to budget for a cost of living rise it is likely to be refused this year.

Flex Leave
The arrangement for the 2 days flex leave in a 4 week period was negotiated and included in the Local Collective Agreement from 1 April 2011; this was a 2 year deal that comes to an end 31 March 2013. Therefore whatever the outcome of the ballot it will stop on 1 April 2013.

If there are any issues where the 2 days flex was used by you for Child Care etc then you should be able to come to some other arrangement with your Manager, this could be in the form of TOIL or flexible working, your manager should seek advice from HR if they do not know what they can offer and you should seek advice from your Steward or the Unison Office if you feel they have not taken into account your request.

Opening offices between Christmas and New Year
This did not have to be part of this deal, the Council felt for transparency it should be include it in this agreement. So if there is a NO vote on the ballot they will still go ahead and open during this time. See 4.7 of the Leave Policy and procedure

4.7 Council offices close during the Christmas /New Year period for 3 designated days, unless your Head of Service notifies you of different local arrangements. All employees are required to set aside and book off 3 days (pro-rata for part-time employees) of their overall annual leave entitlement (excluding bank/public holidays) unless notified otherwise by your Head of Service. The three days of office closure will be confirmed annually.

Incremental Progression
If there is a NO vote for this agreement the Council will not be able to afford Increments for all staff not at the top of the grade. The council will not be able to offer the deal from this agreement unless we vote YES for it.

Casual Car Allowance
The arrangement to replace most of the Casual Car Allowance with a pool car scheme is in the current Local Collective agreement that ends 31 March 2013. Therefore the Council will just continue with this arrangement

The Council will not stop the Casual Car Allowance without first approaching those affected and investigating whether a pool car scheme is viable for the work carried out.

Discontinuing the Partnership Payment
They may discontinue the Partnership payments, unlikely though, the Council say there is evidence that this payment encourages employees to have less sick

Removal of Weekend Enhancement and Overtime Rates for all staff
If they remove these rates of pay then people who are on 5 in 7 contracts and those who have to work at the weekend as part of their job will only be paid at their flat rate. You have to work weekends on a rota basis if you are on a 5 in 7 contract, if this happens many people will lose about £1000 a year and most of these are some of our lower paid workers.

20% travel concession
They do not have to offer this to us

Minimum wage for Oxford City Council employees
They do not have to offer this to us

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Warm up this winter by entering our free prize draw


Warm up this winter by entering our free prize draw with £200 towards your heating bill up for grabs.

As temperatures plummet, the cost of keeping the house toasty invariably soars. Now's your chance to turn up the thermostat guilt-free. Fill in your details here before 31st January and cross your gloved fingers that you get pulled out of the hat first.

Best of luck! Last month's £200 Christmas shopping giveaway was won by Miss Emma Hodgkins.

Friday 14 December 2012

NJC pay claim 2013-14

The pay claim for 2012 has been lodged with the employers. We are calling for a substantial flat rate increase on all scale points as a step towards the longer term objective of restoring pay levels and achieving the living wage as the bottom NJC spinal column point. The three-year pay freeze means that, since 2009, pay for the NJC workforce has fallen by a shocking 13% and is now more than 10% below where it was in 1996. Our aim is to restore pay levels, bring them in line with inflation and the cost of living, and in the longer term achieve a living wage as the baseline for NJC wages. A substantial pay increase in 2013/14 as the first step towards this pay structure is vital if our members are to receive a living wage, on which families can live, not just exist. 

Monday 10 December 2012

Christmas appeal with Oxford City Council

Here is the correspondence documentation relating to the recent dispute over Christmas arrangements.

Please click links:-https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B2C4mqiujgdDVk5obnBjUW5mVW8/edit




Friday 23 November 2012

Public sector pay

UNISON, the UK’s largest union said that the latest figures from the ONS on the public / private sector pay divide were in danger of being used out of context to peddle a myth that public sector workers are overpaid for the same work as those in the private sector.

Across the public sector, workers such as hospital cleaners, cooks and porters or home care and residential care workers have been contracted out of the public sector, but still work in it. These lowest paid privatised jobs are counted as private sector workers - skewing the pay figures. Where public sector workers do get paid more, it is a reflection of the professional training necessary to carry out their jobs such as teachers and social workers or reflect high paid jobs such as army generals, judges and senior civil servants.

UNISON assistant general secretary Karen Jennings said:

“It is time that we nailed the myth of public sector workers enjoying a pay premium once and for all. The opposite is true as they have been hit hard by the Government’s pay freeze and many are fighting an uphill battle just to make ends meet.

“The great divide that the government would like us all to believe exists is a fallacy; their disastrous economic policies are the reason workers and their families across the UK are struggling. It is the old trick of divide and conquer to justify yet more swingeing cuts to the public sector and it must be challenged and exposed at every opportunity.”

A new factsheet from the union on this very issue highlights the key points that it said were frequently missing from the analysis of public / private sector pay, including:

The impact of outsourcing: A high proportion of the lowest-paid public sector workers have been outsourced. A catering assistant in an NHS hospital for example, will be counted as a private sector worker

The number of professional staff: Many public sector roles, including those relating to healthcare delivery, education and the emergency services require workers to have specific professional training. Average pay in the public sector reflects the specialism needed for many of these roles.

The cost of bonuses: Neither the Labour Force Survey (LFS) nor the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data covers the main bonus period in the private sector, which can exaggerate the ‘pay premium’ of the public sector.

2024 Annual General Meeting

  2024 Annual General Meeting   Thursday 28 March 2024 15:00 till 16:00 St Aldates Tavern, St Aldates or online via Teams   One of the most ...