Dear Member
Hello again! Welcome to July! - it may not be sunny, but lets hope that changes soon. .
Guidance published for Youth Workers
On 15th June the National Youth Agency, the professional statutory and regulatory body for youth work in England, published a series of guidance documents and tools to support youth service providers during COVID-19:
*Managing youth sector activities and spaces during COVID-19 https://nya.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/0877-NYA-Activity-guide-COVID-19-final_17_06_20-1.pdf
*Readiness toolkit: Safely planning youth activities and spaces during COVID19 https://nya.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/0877-NYA-Readiness-Toolkit.pdf
Please note that these documents apply to youth and community services in England only. Please refer to the equivalent agency in Cymru/Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for youth sector COVID-19 guidance in these nations.
The guidance and readiness framework outline how youth work activities should adjust as lockdown restrictions change over time. The ‘readiness level’, similar to the Government’s coronavirus alert system, is published weekly on the NYA website alongside guidance on the level of activity recommended: https://nya.org.uk/
These documents were developed in collaboration with Public Health England (PHE), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). UNISON has fed its views into this work via a working group made up of the guidance authors, DCMS, trade unions and key community service providers in the sector.
This guidance gives an overview of issues that employers need to consider when supporting youth and community staff to provide services.
Black members and Covid-19
Despite what you may have heard, Coronavirus does discriminate, it recognises class, gender, age and race and it has become clear that Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (described here as ‘Black’) people are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than white people. Unison has produced guidance for its black members in relation to Coronavirus, which we share with you below.
https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2020/06/26128_Covid-19_guidance-for-Black_members_leaflet.pdf
Anti-Racism is a Trade Union Issue - Regional Webinar: Monday 13 July, 7pm
13 July is the first day of Mandela Week, which acknowledges Nelson Mandela's values, dedication to the service of humanity and struggle for peace throughout the world. UNISON North West will once again honour Mandela Week by taking part in the My67 campaign.
One way you can participate in Mandela Week is by attending our 67 minute regional webinar discussing Mandela's legacy, UNISON's role in the anti-apartheid movement, UNISON's role in anti-racist campaigns since then, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the challenges facing us today and the next steps for trade unions in tackling racism. Speakers will include:
- Kim Johnson MP for Liverpool Riverside: Liverpool's first Black MP and until recently, a very active member of UNISON North West, especially in the regional Black and Women's self-organised groups.
- Ameen Hadi: Chair of UNISON North West's Black Members Committee and Treasurer of Salford City Unison branch.
- Izzy McVicar: Director of Community Heart- an organisation established to support the continued struggle of the people of South Africa to overcome the awful legacy of apartheid.
- Jason Hunter: Area Organiser for UNISON North West, Labour Link Organiser and Hope Not Hate activist: Worked on a variety of local and regional anti-fascist campaigns across many years.
The latter part of the meeting will be an open discussion with time for questions and comments.
It would be appreciated if you could circulate the details of the webinar to your members. To register for this meeting and receive joining details, please email b.kelly@unison.co.uk with your name and the name of your UNISON branch.
More info: https://www.unisonnw.org/my67_2020
Webinar Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/578143796421562
Council Pay Offer 2020
Wirral Unison stewards have today discussed the 2020 pay offer which applies to the majority of council and schools staff in Wirral. As you may be aware the Trade Unions put in a pay claim for 10%, this was based in part on the fact that Council workers have had a 20% pay cut since 2010 in real terms. The employers have come back and offered 2.75% and we will now consult members on this offer. In considering this, Wirral stewards felt it was a poor offer that fell significantly short of the pay claim and does not reflect our value as shown during this pandemic. In fact, for many of our members this proposed pay rise would not even cover the cost of getting to their workplace! The stewards decided unanimously to recommend that members should reject this offer.
We will be conducting this consultative vote primarily via email. We will also be holding a number of meetings for members to get more information about the offer. We will be contacting members next week with further details about this.
Wirral Evolutions
We have been in discussion with Wirral Evolutions management regarding a wider re-opening of the service. This re-opening will involve full consultation and will reflect the different nature of the services such as day centres and Dale Farm. In considering the re-opening thought will also need to be given to issues such as transport to and from centres.
We are also mindful that a number of our members fall within the clinically vulnerable or shielding categories and therefore there may be concerns about these members returning to the workplace, certainly this should not occur until an induvial risk assessment has been completed. If you need any advice about an individual risk assessment, please get in touch.
That’s all for today everyone. We will have more on Friday, please pass our updates on to colleagues and urge them to join Unison if they haven’t done already. Here’s the link to join up! JOIN UNISON
Take care of yourselves and each other.
In solidarity!
Lois and Dave
Dave: davidnjones@wirral.gov.uk 07880199539
Lois: loisfounds1@wirral.gov.uk 07384512521
Branch Office:0151 666 3040
Published on: July 2, 2020