A meeting of the UNISON NJC was held on Wednesday, 10 September were results of the branch consultation where considered. An overwhelming majority, 89% of members, accepted the offer on a 17% turnout. GMB and UNITE members also voted to accept. As a result, the employers have been asked to implement the agreement ASAP.

The Settlement: From 1 April 2009,

• Pay will increase by 1.25% on SCPs 4 to 10 and by 1% on SCPs 11 to 49 inclusive.
• Basic annual leave will also increase from 20 to 21 days for employees with less than five years’ service.
• The employers and trade unions will also endeavour to produce a best practice statement on handling redundancies by 1 December 2009.

Branch Consultation

244 branches responded which gives a response rate of 67%. Eastern (50%) and South West (36.2%) had the lowest returns and Northern Ireland (100%) and the Northern Region (92.3%) were the highest. 239 branches voted to accept and only 4 rejected. The lowest voting turnout was in the Eastern Region (11.3%) and the North West (13%), the highest was in the South East (21.3%) and the Northern Region (20%). The following table gives further details on the consultation results.

Recruit…!

An increase on the original 0.5% offer was only achieved after tough negotiations in the face of considerable employer opposition, especially from some Conservative authorities in London and Birmingham. Being part of a trade union does have benefits! Workers need to know that UNISON is always there for them when the going gets tough – but they need to be in it to win it! We need to increase our membership and organisation to remain a force to be reckoned with. With possible political changes next year on the national and local level and large numbers of Tory-run authorities already cutting budgets and reducing the workforce – increasing our membership and density is more crucial than ever.

Recruit a colleague today!