Wirral Unison’s Big Meeting: 9 February 2023 12:30pm
This is our Annual General meeting. It will be a Hybrid Meeting, but we encourage members to attend in person if possible.
Guest Speaker: Steve North - UNISON NEC
There will be a raffle for all attendees 1st prize £150, 2nd prize £50
To register online (via Zoom) https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcof-GgrT8qG9MTLRIpKdOkbkB_uxg4-ng6
In Person:
Lauries Centre, Claughton Road, Birkenhead (opp Fire Station)
There will be a Hot Buffet
Stalls by a number of organisations
Free Goodie Bag for all attending in person
Small gift raffle (wine chocolates etc) for those attending in Person
Council Budget Situation
We are sure many members will be aware of the proposals going forward in the budget this year, and also talk previously of a £49million gap in the budget.
The worse case scenario as picked up in the press is certainly grim, and unacceptable to Unison. However we remain confident that the outcome will not be as bad as feared, and are encouraged that many services can be preserved. We believe that the Council can adopt a budget that will protect jobs and services; this will not be without some challenges, and we will scrutinise at every step of the way. But the paper going to P&R today gives flexibility to choose the less painful route. We know for instance that the Budget gap has reduced to £32 million, and the Government settlement, whilst still short of what is needed, is perhaps better than what was feared.
Options in the paper include:
- Reducing Libraries from 15 to 5
- Closing all Leisure Services
- Reducing Youth Services to the bare minimum
- Ceasing all Play Services
- Significantly reducing Parks Maintenance.
Unison would oppose all these proposals and the Council are aware of this. We also will continue to seek to engage and convince the Labour Group to protect these essential services. But we do believe and hope that the Labour Group will make considered and reasoned decisions. We will know more after tonight’s P&R Committee, and if the Council signals its intent to proceed with these unacceptable cuts, we will be launching and mobilising for campaigns to defend the services. We are hopeful and encouraged that these services will be saved.
We also oppose the proposed reduction on Union facilities time, which can only detrimentally affect Council staff when times are most difficult. Again we hope, or even expect, the Labour Group to back us on this.
Of course the Budget situation remains a challenge now and in future years, and will do so whilst the current Central Government continue with the squeeze on Local Government funding in the name of austerity.
Above all, we retain the red line – No Compulsory Redundancies of Unison members, and as we move to all out Council elections, we hope the Labour Group will assist Unison with this approach.
Wirral Met College
Our members in Wirral Met College delivered a 96% vote for strike action. The turnout was 69% - a fantastic outcome given that it took place over Christmas and during postal strikes – both of which created delays.
We will be discussing the plan of action with activists in the College but the first strike day is likely to be 2 February. Please do visit picket lines if you can.
Members received a 6% pay increase this year, a real term pay cut – but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Years of poor if any pay rises mean the bottom FIVE grades earn below the Real Living Wage (by contrast no one in Autism Together, Council Magenta etc earn below RLW). The College claim some staff received up to 10% - that is only if you take into account an uplift made to the bottom three grades 9 months, as they would have been paid below the legal minimum wage.
Meanwhile the number of staff earning above £60k has increased 9%, and the Principal’s pay is to go up 11.6% to a whopping £145,000!
The College can afford fair pay for support staff, but they choose not to. Our members have had enough.
As always, please do share this email with your colleagues and encourage them to JOIN UNISON if they haven’t already.
Published on: January 18, 2023