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Dear Member
Hi Everyone! We hope you have had a good start to the working week and that you all enjoyed the weekend and had a well deserved rest.
A level results U-turn
Members may have read on Friday that Wirral Unison supported calls made by students, teachers and the Labour Party for the Government to U-turn on the decision around A level results. Within the last couple of hours the Government has announced that A level results will now be based upon teacher assessment. This U-turn is most welcome, but it is long overdue.
Thousands of young people have been adversely affected by the Government’s refusal to admit that the system used was unfair and acknowledge that it disproportionately impacted on young people attending larger schools and colleges, usually those from less well off backgrounds.
The past five days have been agony for some of our young people, causing uncertainty and anxiety that they simply should not have had to endure.
Congratulations to those young people who have successfully campaigned in their thousands to force this enormous government U-turn.
Working from Home
Although lockdown measures are easing across the country, many of our members continue to work from home as their offices and workplaces remain closed. Whilst many have adjusted to this new way of working, we know that for others, working from home is a struggle and as the situation continues, issues are increasing.
Wirral Unison are clear, that safety is paramount and that no member should return to a workplace that is not Covid secure. We are also keen that where our members are struggling with working from home, they should be afforded an opportunity to work from an office space if it is safe to do so. We know that many of our members have struggled to manage workloads with child care and other caring responsibilities. There have also been problems with lack of appropriate work space at home and the mental health impact of working from the place you live in; it can often be difficult to separate the two.
In the first instance you should talk to your manager about the amount of work you are able to do from home and the hours you are able to work. If you require any equipment to work from home, your employer should have already provided this but if not, you should ask them to do so. We would expect that managers will be understanding and apply a flexible approach to work as members continue to adjust to a different way of working. As always, however if you are struggling with any element of working from home and require our support, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Youth and Community Workers JNC Pay 2020
Youth and Community Workers should, by now have received their ballot paper to vote on the 2020 pay offer.
Wirral Branch Stewards have discussed the Pay Offer of 2.75%. We recommend REJECT.
If you have not yet done so, please vote in this consultative ballot; it’s you pay, so have your say!
If you have not received a ballot paper, please get in touch and we will ensure that you get one. In the majority of cases, electronic ballots have been sent, but if we do not hold an email address for you we have sent you a postal ballot.
The consultative ballot will close on Monday 7 September.
Reminder: Webinar for Social Workers: tomorrow 18.08.20
Unison are holding a webinar for social work members in England and Wales about the return to more normal working in the COVID-19 world.
It will cover what employers must do to keep you and your colleagues safe and also safeguarding your professional practice. There is still time to register for this webinar and we encourage all of our Social Work members to attend. Follow the link to register https://www.unison.org.uk/events/returning-normal-working-covid-19-world-getting-right-social-workers/
That’s all for today everyone. We hope you continue to find our regular email updates helpful.
As always, please feel free to pass our updates on to colleagues and encourage them to join Unison if they haven’t already. Here’s the link to join up! JOIN UNISON
Enjoy your evening and we will be back in touch with further updates soon.
In solidarity!
Lois and Dave
Branch Office: 0151 666 3040
Central email: unison1@wirral.gov.uk
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