NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL SINGLE STATUS NEWSLETTER - 28 APRIL 2010
SINGLE STATUS NEWSLETTER
As you are aware Nottingham City Council are seeking to impose new contracts to implement single status. Unfortunately, whilst both GMB and Unite members voted ‘yes’ to the proposals put forward by the Council, Unison took the decision not to ballot its members on the proposals. The Council is not therefore able to introduce the new terms and conditions by collective agreement as would have been its strong preference. The City Council has therefore gone for an individual consultation which has lead to the GMB having to look at all the issues for all our members for groups and on a one to one basis. This task cannot be done within the time scales that Nottingham City have imposed upon the trade unions, we therefore ask our members who have equal pay claims to wait for the packs coming from Thompsons, but you need to be aware that if you sign these opt outs for the compromise agreements and the letters you will be debarring yourself from the equal pay claims. As a consequence you will need to seek clarification on this matter from the GMB / Thompsons Solicitors.
Members who have concluded equal pay claims and have had settlements need to be aware that the offer to themselves will be the difference between what the equal pay claim was, compensation and their current offers.
If you stay the same although you gain nothing from this particular deal there is an offer of £100 to tempt you to sign away your terms and conditions of employment, CHANGES WHICH HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN EXPLAINED TO YOU. These terms are the subject of continued negotiation between ourselves and the council and whilst the Council have committed to continued negotiation before implementation we cannot guarantee to you that all the contractual changes the Council had attempted to impose on you will be withdrawn as a result of the continued discussions.
If your pay is going down then you are being asked to sign these compromise agreements and indicate by the 5th May 2010 that you accept the proposals so that you will get your 3 years pay protection. Again this issue is not straight forward, you need to understand that a failure to sign could leave you in a position where the Authority wouldn’t pay you your 3 years protection. But if you sign then you are agreeing to the other changes which as a Union we cannot recommend to you – we know it’s a difficult position for you and you may feel your are being bullied into signing. The GMB are committed along with the other trade unions to fight to preserve the terms and conditions of its members and to that end we will continue to negotiate on your behalf. However, if you feel aggrieved or wish to discuss this further please contact your branch secretary, Gary Chambers on 0115 9152146, or Thelsa Jackson on 07908967864 or myself Chris Needham on 0115 9607171.
Finally, people whose pay is to go up, you need to understand that to access this money you would have to sign the agreement. But you would be agreeing to the contractual changes already identified to you. You could also be depriving yourself of the right to pursue other cases.
As things stand the only winners appear to be Nottingham City Council itself.
I hope this clarifies the situation with all members. If as a GMB member you are aware of a non member please ask them to consider joining the GMB trade union, as it is only through strength of numbers that we can continue to fight the Council and ensure that the council doesn’t alter your terms and conditions of employment for the worse.
CHRIS NEEDHAM
GMB ORGANISER
0115 9607171