Tuesday 6 January 2015

NHS England industrial action

NHS Strikes planned for 29 January and 25 February, with a month of action short of a strike taking place between

 

Members working in the NHS in England will walk out for 12 hours on 29 January followed by action short of strike, then a further strike on 25 February. The January strike will be for 12 hours and the February one is planned for 24 hours.

They will then work to rule between Friday 30 and Tuesday 24 February, which means they will be working their contracted hours, will take their breaks and not do unpaid overtime.
It is thel third round of action over the government's decision to reject the 1% pay rise for NHS staff as recommended by the independent Pay Review Body in 2014 and over most being denied a pay increase in 2015/16.

Read more

Thursday 11 December 2014

MATCH REPORT; TABLE TENNIS CHALLENGE MATCH; LEGAL BEAGLES V TEAM RAMPRO-9/12/2014 @ 17.00-VENUE; HERTIAGE LEARNING CENTRE,TOWN HALL.

The inaugural Oxford City Council Team Challenge match between Legal Beagles aka Law and Governance and Team RAMPRO aka Regeneration and Major Projects and Property Services took place in the Heritage Learning Centre in the Town Hall. After a brief warm up and with all participants excluding the Team Leaders Challenge being randomly drawn out of a hat..ish, the match began with Anne Bland v Stewart Thorp. After three close sets Stewart T put Team RAMPRO one nil up. This game was followed by Daniel Smith v Steve Smith (Engineer),which followed a very similar pattern to the first game, giving Team RAMPRO a two games to nil lead

The next game was between Cathy Durance v Julia Kidd, which was edged by Cathy D by three sets to one
Next up was the much anticipated Team Leaders game between Jeremy Thomas of Legal and the late, late replacement for Jane Winfield ..and  Nick Twigg, of RAMPRO ,Chris Wood. After a high energy, exciting game, cheered on by all present, Jeremy T prevailed in straight sets to make the match score two games a-piece

The following game was Steve Smith (Legal) v Richard Davison. A tight ,nervy but skilful game ensued, with Richard finally gaining the victory for Team RAMPRO in straight sets. There were only a handful of points difference over the three sets, The sets, genuinely, could have all gone to Steve ! Finally, the match ended with David Browne v David Wignall. DB’s steadier all-round game saw off DW’s determined ,youthful enthusiasm in straight sets giving Team RAMPRO a hard fought 4 games to 2 games win.

In summary , an enjoyable evening with much skill and endeavour ,played in a very genuine ,competitive but respectable and supportive atmosphere which has done much to enhance already good inter-departmental relationships.

Many thanks to UNISON (especially David Hawkins) for providing the table and equipment, Kate Toomey for allowing the use of  the Heritage Learning Centre facilities, Steve Smith (Legal) Julia Kidd & Marion Maguire for all their help and assistance in getting the match on !. Finally, thanks to  all the players, and supporters whose participation etc made it all worthwhile !

Now for the re-match !!!!

Btw…as Jane Winfield might say, Team RAMPRO are clearly Kings of Oxford City Council Table Tennis, ( and very modest too..) who consider all challengers…lol !!!!!!





Thursday 6 November 2014

Stressed out, overworked and underpaid

National health and safety committee members supporting the pay campaigns and demanding better health and safety



UNISON members have been expected to do more with fewer staff for less pay - the union's national health and safety committee noted today, as it met on the first day of this year's European Health and Safety Week.
Committee members representing UNISON service groups, regions, and the NEC reflected on union’s Cut stress, not jobs campaign - and the union rallies for fair pay over the weekend. "The truth is that our members have been at breaking point for a long time," said committee chair Malcolm Harrington. "Over the past four years they have consistently been expected to do more, with fewer staff employed, and for less pay. In short, our members are stressed out, overworked, and underpaid."
Vice chair Pam Sian added: "It is important to remind employers and others that there is a big difference between stress and pressure. "A little pressure can be motivational and help us to prioritise important work, but when the pressure becomes too much to cope with and makes us feel ill, that’s stress and it is always harmful."

The European Health and Safety Week is held each year. The official slogan for 2014 is: Healthy workplaces manage stress.

UNSION has published a revised guide on stress at work to support safety reps in raising the issue of workplace stress with their employers.

Stress at Work, a guide for UNISON safety reps [PDF]


Monday 19 May 2014

Attendance Management Policy Changes message from UNISON

You will all be soon made aware by Management that there are changes to the Attendance Management Policy where they have reduced the Bradford Factor. Unfortunately, we did not gain agreement about this and it was forced through Full Council without UNISON agreement. 

We will make a further statement soon. 

Below is the Message sent out to all Managers from HR

The new Attendance Management Policy was agreed at Council in April and all employees have been informed that there is a revised policy, which is available on the intranet.

I wanted to remind you of the key changes and clarify the arrangements for transition from the old triggers to the new ones.

New Absence Triggers
·         Now set at 100 & 250 (previously 150 and 400) AND more significantly,
·         A new trigger to tie in with the corporate sickness targets i.e. more than 7 days off sick in any year for 14/15 and more than 6 days off sick in any year from 15/16. So these new triggers mean there will be more attendance reviews

Managing the transition from old triggers to new triggers
·         The +7 day trigger will start from 1st April 14 and look forward, not back until we have 12 months data to look back on. Of course anyone having +7 days from April will trigger instantly. 
·         AND – we’ll start the 100/250 after 6 months – this will prevent any confusion running two schemes. So from 1st October 2014 we’ll only run reports on the 100/250 and have meetings accordingly – whether people have already triggered on the old system – or not.

Important Action
·         Ensure that you are familiar with the new policy and if you are unsure about anything please raise with your HR Business Partner

·         Discuss the changes with your team and ensure that they are aware of the new policy and understand the transition arrangements – with advanced warning of the transition to the new 100/250 triggers they may have an opportunity to bring their score below the new triggers in advance of October.  You will also be able to have 121 conversations over the next few months with individuals who attendance levels would hit the new trigger scores of 100/250, but currently sit below the 150/400 so they are prepared for the changes (these will be shown in a report to the Head of Service each month)

Monday 12 May 2014

TUC survey on job insecurity


As many people now have jobs that offer little security, the TUC in association with the Scottish TUC wants to hear of worker’s experiences.
They want to hear the experiences of agency workers, workers on zero-hours contracts or people on short-term contracts.
A short survey is running until 24 June on these issues and people can fill it in by following the link below.
Take the TUCSurvey

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Fob System and CCTV system in the Council Buildings are being used to monitor employees whereabouts


UNISON would like to highlight this to all members 

Please read.



It has come to our attention that the Fob System and CCTV system in the Council Buildings are being used to monitor employees whereabouts when there is a potential disciplinary.

UNISON would like to highlight this to all members. We are very disappointed with the Council for taking this adversarial approach especially when UNISON had been reassured it would not happen.

Please be aware all your entries into rooms, corridors, entrances and exits is stored and can be used to track your movements – it only takes one allegation.

We are sorry to inform you of this; but we consider that we are serving our Members in the best way by making sure you are aware of this when we have been made aware.


We understand the level of mistrust this may make you feel about the employer and our door is open to Management to ensure we resolve this in the most amicable way.



2024 Levellers' Day

  Oxford & District Trades Union Council has booked a coach from Oxford to Burford for Levellers' Day on Saturday, 18 May 2024.   We...