We have formally lodged a collective dispute on behalf of UNISON members working for Derby City Council. This is a result of frustrations felt by members, false information being made available by the council in consultation with members and the trade unions. We have attempted to seek resolve to the matters during the regular collective negotiations and have also made attempts to raise with officers and elected members. This is not something we take lightly but we genuinely feel that UNISON members aren’t being heard and we are left with no alternative but to take this action.
These matters are primarily related to the following:
- Misrepresentation of fact at Pay and Reward negotiating meetings by Pay and Reward Staff.
- Misrepresentation of fact in meetings with City Council staff as part of formal consultation on changes to your Terms and Conditions.
- Unhelpful and aggressive behaviours by members of the Pay and Reward team, which have undermined the ability to meaningfully negotiate and upset UNISON members in their workplace.
- Misrepresentation of fact by elected members during the process of negotiations and in particular, UNISON’s role in representing members in these negotiations. These have been publicly recorded and communicated and we dispute the details and find this approach unhelpful in trying to reach the best outcome for UNISON members.
- Failure to apply changes consistently which have resulted in a postcode lottery, primarily for schools staff, which result in individuals suffering a financial detriment creating an imbalance of equal treatment, purely based on financial abilities of schools to be able to make offer of hours to negate loss in pay. UNISON maintain there is an alternative.
- Lack of compassion or care shown to staff, due to suffer financial losses, by the Pay and Reward Team during consultation meetings.
- Lack of information and detail provided to enable meaningful negotiations which has resulted in collective agreement not being reached which could have been more meaningfully handled had the relevant data and information been made available to reach a fuller understanding and common ground.
UNISON consider there has been a breakdown in our ability to negotiate meaningfully with the City Council and we have limited confidence that this is being handled appropriately. We are seeking an intervention at a higher level to be able to address some of the critical matters which fundamentally have an adverse impact on UNISON members working in Derby City.
We have politely requested that a dispute resolution committee is formed, in line with the Derby City Council Constitution (updated November 2015) , to seek a resolution to the matters which we are in dispute over in relation to Single Status negotiations. We will keep all UNISON members updated on this course of action.
These are the main reasons for our collective grievance which we lodged on behalf of our members today. We have tried to represent our members concerns at all stages of the negotiation process and will continue to do so. If you want to find out more or ask any queries on this collective dispute and our next steps then the branch will be hosting our AGM on Friday 4 March (next week), at Derby Irish Club, Beckett Street, Derby, 7 pm start .……. this is the perfect opportunity to find out what we have been up to and what the next steps and action plan over the next 12 months will be. Come along and get involved.
If you have any colleagues who aren’t currently a member of UNISON, don’t forget our prize draw…..both you and your colleague could win a prize. You can also read our latest Newsletter by following this link:
http://derbycityunison.co.uk/2016/02/26/agm-2016-reminder-and-our-latest-newsletter/
Adrian Morgan
Regional Organiser
UNISON EAST MIDLANDS