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Derby City Council News Schools UNISON

Latest Bulletin – 12 November 2015

Legal Update

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Today we met with UNISON National Officers/Legal Team to seek further advice on the current position on the Job Evaluation proposed by Derby City Council. We are committed to supporting our members at every stage of the process and we will communicate any updates as often as possible. If you have colleagues who don’t receive these updates they will need to update their details to make sure we have right email address and if they aren’t a member, urge them to join to have access to this on-going support.
UNISON believe the employer is proposing a scheme which is discriminatory, but because they are refusing to provide us with full information citing “The Data Protection Act”, it basically means we are forced to use other approaches to gather the data. UNISON will also be looking at whether or not we will have a case against the employer for a flawed re-evaluation process as when it was redone earlier this year, previous data was utilised.

Information Required

UNISON require data to be able to participate in collective bargaining. Your employer has stated they cannot share this with us. We are being forced to support our members locally with alternative methods of seeking this information. UNISON need your help to build up a portfolio of evidence for our legal team to identify potential equal pay claims. What we are asking for is:

  • a copy of your JIQs,
  • a copy of your Job Description,
  • a copy of your employer letter evaluating you to your new grade
  • and if you have submitted an intent to appeal

If the employer still refuses to allow us access to the information we require for collective bargaining purposes, UNISON will further be sending out a data capture sheet to members. We would urge you to share this information with us.

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Campaigns Derby City Council News Schools UNISON

Schools Support Staff Bulletin – 10 November 2015

Good afternoon to all school support staff, Now is not the time to give up!!!

Yesterday I was out of the office, meeting with members in schools and also having conversations with members who called me at the office and it is very clear that our School Support members will not be giving up their resistance to DCC’s damaging proposals to cut our pay.

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Feedback from the two schools I visited is that members would be happy to continue to take part in demonstrations outside the Council House so, in response to this we are proposing a further official UNISON demonstration, outside the Council House on Wednesday 25 November 2015.

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Campaigns Derby City Council News Schools UNISON

Schools November 2015 Bulletin

Demonstration Wednesday 4 November 2015

Demonstration Wednesday 5 November 2015
Demonstration Wednesday 5 November 2015

Thank you to all those who took part in the demo outside the council house this week. The turn out was fantastic and demonstrated the strength of feeling. We handed in the completed Petition signed by over 5000 people seeking a new approach to implementing this process in schools. Special thank you to Karen Askew who worked with UNISON’s local steward Jane Daniels at St Andrews to coordinate this. Thank you to Matt Chell for his skills on the megaphone.

Individual Agreement V Dismissal and Reengagement

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You have nothing to lose but all to gain. Derby City Council has made it clear that they will be seeking to individually agree with each staff member the proposed changes within the next few weeks. If they aren’t able to secure this agreement then they will be forced to Dismiss and reengage (following a 12 week consultation process). Further details of this timetable should be shared after the Staffing Committee have met and agreed this. The Council are optimistic most people will sign and accept the changes thereby minimizing the need to dismiss and reengage which is not the Council’s preferred option.

We would urge members NOT to sign individual agreements. This is validated by our legal advice that the agreement is not sound and potentially opens up new Equal Pay liabilities. Therefore, if the employer is unable to seek your individual agreement and are forced to dismiss and reengage, you will be able to seek legal recourse in the future. If you sign and accept the offer made to you, then you waive any rights to pursue future claims for this change of contract.

UNISON would prefer to seek a collective agreement, however we are unable to do so given the concerns we have, which have been raised, and have not been addressed. Therefore we cannot sign away your collective rights.

Members are reporting that they are being offered and asked to agree additional hours. Please note this is not your offer or individual agreement from the employer. You are able to accept these hours, but you will need to ascertain whether they are temporary, supply or a permanent increase in hours. We don’t believe that an offer to some members of additional hours is enough to mitigate the changes to your income. We believe that contractual hours should reflect the hours that you work to enable you to carry out all of your duties.

Delayed Implementation

UNISON has maintained that this process is more complicated than the timetable set by the employer has allowed. Therefore we have sought for a delay to implementation to fully consider all the options, alternatives and appeal process. It is not our strategy to delay for  the sake of delaying and this delay relates only to Terms and Conditions (not Pay, but the employer has linked the two elements)  It is likely that delay to implementation may now occur given collective agreement cannot be reached. This is not our choosing and it is better that this is imposed on you through dismissal and reengagement  than you accepting this change., as given above.

BSue Bonserook a visit to your school……..

We aim to revisit every school in the next few weeks.  We can explore further our advice and answer your concerns.

Contact Sue Bonser and Julia Redfern on 01332 643216 or email: Suzanne.bonser@derby.gov.uk