New Way of Working in Unit’s 2 & 3 (and other issues such as Christmas/New Year Turret Cover).
The purpose of this post is to provide an update on the progress of the turrets new way of working in Units 2 & 3. As you will be aware we held a members’ meeting and a ballot on 26th November; there have also been a number of activists visiting Units 2 & 3 on 2nd December to speak to the members and potential who work on turrets to gauge feedback on how they feel the new way of working has been implemented in these areas. A desktop ballot also took place on 16th December to check that the principles of the Joint Statements were being adhered to. In addition we have also had regular meetings with Senior Management so that we can monitor the progress of the roll-out into Units 2 & 3, and also to escalate to them any concerns or problems.
Given the feedback received from members it is clear that there has been considerable improvement in relation to the principles of the Joint Statements being adhered to. The roll-out into Unit 2 has been particularly positive, though there is still room for improvement. The roll-out in Unit 3 gave cause for concern with a high number of members’ feeling that the principles of preference, availability and coercion were being not met. These results and concerns were raised with the respective Grade 7’s who gave assurances that they would be addressed. The subsequent ballot on 16th December showed a considerable improvement in Unit 3, though clearly more needs to be done in this Unit before it meets the objectives. However, overall, feedback was more positive than negative and we will continue to monitor its progress.
Once again I would just like to reiterate the definitions of preference and availability. ‘Availability’ means the period of time you are in the office, and is clarified in the first agreed joint statement as “recognising the different working patterns of staff (some preferring to work early, others late and other patterns).” ‘Preference’ means the time you would prefer to work on turrets. The two terms are separate issues and should not be confused or blurred. Whereas preferences cannot always be met, availability should always be. This is also clarified in the agreed joint statement as it states that staff should “not feel coerced into working times which do not meet their stated availability.” However, staff also need to understand that we also have a requirement from the Joint Statement to fully fill the slots, but of course without coercion.
The issue of the 100% turret requirement, despite there being only 40% cover required on Helpline and Ops over the Christmas/ New Year period, was raised with Senior Management. It was explained that it would seem unfair to expect 100% turret cover when there was only 40% Helpline cover. We also explained that it would show goodwill to staff if the turret requirement could be reduced, particularly as it is inevitable that the cover will be reduced over the Christmas/New Year period anyway. Senior Management agreed to go away and consider if there was any scope for a reduction in the requirement.
If anyone experiences any problems or has any concerns about the pilot, please contact Emma Haslehurst or Dean Rhodes. It is important that issues are raised now so that we can try and address them quickly.
