Dudley General UNISON

We find ourselves with some colleges starting to reopen their sites whilst others have been required, or have chosen, to begin this process in August/September.

Whilst none of us know what the future holds what we do know is that keeping you safe will be our absolute priority in the coming months, particularly now we face the prospect of local lockdowns, as we have already seen in Leicester.

Never has it been more important to have good reps in colleges. We have many great ones already and need even more. If you would be interested in becoming a rep then please contact your local branch who will let you know the process and talk you through the support and training you will receive.

We have had great success so far in our negotiations with employers employers on health and safety and risk assessments. These talks will continue as the guidance from the government changes.

We will also be focused on other areas that will be impacted by the COVID-19 crisis including:

• Pay
• Terms and conditions, including annual leave
• Job security

You can keep up to date withe the ever changing situation on our dedicated UNISON in Colleges website and our social media.

> UNISON in Colleges

> UNISON in FE Twitter

The UK economy has been hit hard by this crisis and FE colleges need to be at the forefront of the plan for economic recovery. Never has the need for a skills-led recovery with a particular focus on vocational training and apprenticeships been more important.

We will be campaigning hard on these issues. In the next few weeks you will hear from us again on this so keep an eye out for e-mails. If you would like to contact us in the mean-time please do so at education@unison.co.uk.

All the best,

The UNISON Further Education Team

UNISON has produced a leaflet providing guidance for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnics on COVID-19. Please see link below:

• COVID-19: Know Your Rights

We will soon ballot members on whether they accept or reject the NJC final pay offer. Due to Covid-19, this ballot will likely take place online. 

UNISON's NJC Committee believes strongly that the pay offer falls far short of what members need and deserve. Local government staff have suffered years of real terms pay cuts and have shown how vital they are during the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2.75% pay offer does not meet our pay claim, the increase in annual leave will benefit very few people, and there is nothing to meet our demand for a shorter working week. However, some on the committee noted that local government is struggling financially which could impact on jobs and that the offer is higher than inflation.

The Committee is clear that discussions with the employers can go no further, so this offer is the best achievable by negotiation. If members wish to reject the offer, they must be prepared to take significant industrial action in order to achieve an improved offer.

The Council recognise as your employer that the emerging Public Health evidence has identified a higher risk related to COVID for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees.  We appreciate that our BAME employees may be feeling an increased anxiety in relation to returning to the workplace.  As part of our commitment to ensuring we have robust arrangements in place which address the range of implications for BAME employees arising from emerging evidence, we want to fully engage with you to aid our understanding of the concerns and issues from your perspective that can be used to contribute to and shape plans going forward.

Whilst we recognise that Covid has created a number of anxieties for staff in other vulnerable groups, measures have been taken to protect the workforce, particularly staff with health and age concerns and are covered under previous risk assessment processes.  In addition, the focussed nature of the conversations during the sessions will address specific needs of our BAME colleagues and therefore for non-BAME colleagues the focus of the meeting will not be relevant.  Should you have any concerns regarding your own position in relation to Covid that you feel have not already been addressed, please speak to your line manager who will discuss these with you and arrange if necessary for an individual risk assessment to be undertaken.

There will be daily two hour sessions, that will be facilitated by an external advisor, starting from Wednesday 17th June until Tuesday 30th June for up to 10 staff per session.  The full list of dates and times are as follows:

• 17th June – 10am-12noon
• 18th June – 2-4pm
• 19th June – 3-5pm
• 22nd June – 11am-1pm
• 23rd June – 10am-12noon
• 24th June – 2-4pm
• 25th June – 3-5pm
• 26th June – 11am-1pm
• 29th June – 10am-12noon
• 30th June – 2-4pm

To register your attendance at a session please can you book using MyHR.  You can do this by going to the career / development tab.  Search for BAME and choose which session would like to book onto and press “book onto course”.  You will then be sent a link to join the MS Teams session that you have registered to attend.

A number of one-to-one meetings are available for BAME employees who may wish your feedback to remain confidential or may not wish to be involved in the larger engagement sessions, please email stacie.ingram@dudley.gov.uk for availability of these slots. 

Once all of the sessions or one-to-one discussions have been held our external advisor will collate the information, which will be used to identify key concerns and develop findings, these will inform a report with identified recommendations to be received and considered week commencing 13th July.  A range of short, medium and long term actions which can deliver tangible race equality outcomes will then be agreed.  

I very much hope that you can join one of the sessions that will provide safe space and time to explore your thoughts and feelings about the situation and that you share your experience of working for the council during this time with suggestions of what we can do to improve and plan for your return to work. 

Kind Regards.

Kevin O’Keefe
Chief Executive

Migrant workers on the COVID frontline deserve our thanks and support

The government has offered free 1-year visa extensions to some medical staff, but has left out thousands of care workers and lower-paid NHS staff, including healthcare assistants, hospital cleaners and porters.

That’s deeply unfair. Migrant workers are looking after us, the government should look after them. 

Ask your MP to vote in support of an important cross-party amendment to the Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament, which will include migrant care and lower-paid workers too.

Email your MP now

Please see below the latest circular from NJC on Coronavirus and quarantine. 

• Zarah Sultana MP, Coventry South
• Dana Mills, writer and activist.
• Eleanor Smith, ex- MP for Wolverhampton South West and long standing local activist.
• Nicky Downes, Joint Branch Secretary Coventry NEU
• Maureen Scott-Douglas, Unite WM Women's Officer
• Chair: Kathryn Salt, TUC Midlands Women’s Committee, Chair