Day two of the Conference opened with (Emergency Motion) EM 8 condeming the decision of Jobcentre Plus management to end the contracts of many Temporary and Fixed Term Contract staff at the end of March 2010. The call to make all Fixed Term Appointees permanent was agreed by the conference along with the call to recruit all staff through fair and open competition, oppose privatisation and defend staff jobs. The theme of protecting jobs, especially AA jobs, was taken forward in Motion A195a before the conference moved on to the Conditions of service section.
Here conference passed motions A82 which called for support for part time staff by accommodating part time working patterns, job sharing and giving full reasons when refusing applications for changes to working hours. The "Wednesday is the new Monday and Friday" response or "Business Needs" will now no longer be acceptable as the Group has a policy to demand full and detailed reasons.
Following this motion A86 (moved by the branch) was passed calling for support for workplace crèches and holiday play schemes to assist working parents such as the SCAMPS play scheme twice saved by the Branch's interventions.
The value to members of flexible working was re-iterated in A87 and A97 which called for a ban on any local flexible working agreements that were less favourable than the Model agreement and a re-instatement of the ½ day flexi credit for JC+ staff, so miserly removed in 2009.
The superiority of the former DCS flexi agreement over that in the former PS was acknowledged in A101 where Katya moved the branch's motion calling for the new PDCS flexi agreement to contain the best of that enjoyed in the former PCS and then the focus moved to Call Centres in DWP CMEC.
Call Centres and CMEC both being important parts of the rest of the day's debates
A102 resolved to campaign against the extension of the new telephony model in DWP and CMEC and to continue to campaign for decent conditions for all workers in call centres.
A114 condemned the attempts made by CMEC management to negatively change our member's conditions since their move from DWP. The motion called for a restoration of flexible working, improvements in conditions, a review of the breaks policy and a new appraisal system in CMEC.
Both motions were passed as was EM9 detailing the fight to gain access to flex working in CSA Operations.
A120 arguing for protection of members from the extremes of the disciplinary procedures was also passed following debates where the horror stories of penalties imposed following simple human mistakes in dealing with information security. A128 also dealing with the excesses of the disciplinary procedures was also passed, as was A130 calling for the disciplinary procedures in line with the ACAS code.
A133 dealing with Statutory leave following European Court Judgements (20 days can be carried forward in law) was carried by conference and called for retrospective claims to cover the losses that members have suffered as the DWP has allowed its policy to lag behind the law.
Proper hours in telephony areas was the focus of A134 which closed the morning section and called on the GEC to ensure a system is put in place to allow people to work their proper hours.
The afternoon section was opened with Katya moving Motion A199 on Call Centre health and Safety, a demand for the restoration of proper baseline and regular hearing tests for staff in call centres and proper risk assessments regarding telephony equipment. Again this was passed unanimously, Katya's nervousness translating into excellent preparation clear and supportable speeches and success for the branch's motions.
A205a was passed calling for reasonable adjustments in accordance with DDA to be more supportive and creative to allow staff to remain in work.
The Health and Safety section took on a sombre mood when the debate on A206 (Staff Safety) which called on all staff to fully engage in the revised DWP Unacceptable Customer Behaviour (UCB) policy and database. Delegates remembered the death of a colleague in 1980, killed whilst working as a visiting officer. Her death is still a poignant reminder of the importance of challenging all forms of UCB.
The length and emotion of the contributions here meant that Charles was unable to speak on Fire and Bomb warden training as the section ended and business moved on to EM13 dealing with public sector spending cuts calling on the GEC to resist all cuts imposed by the new ConDem coalition.
The importance of recruitment and organising and training young members was recognised by the passing of motions A285 and A287. Conference re-iterated that retaining the links between CMEC staff and DWP staff despite the worst efforts of CMEC management was vital policy when they passed A290.
The passing of EM10 on the new Union Learning Representatives caused some contention but it was recognised by conference that the agreement whilst not perfect was considerably better than the situation currently in place.
The guillotine section saw motions A151, A154 and A159 (Special Leave, Agreement on reasonable adjustments and Revised Service hours) from the conditions of service section passed whilst A153 (treatment of casuals) was remitted to the GEC. A232 (overpayment of wages due to RM) was also remitted . A60 (facility time for Branch Equality Officers), A240(Audit of LEAN results), A242 (free telephone numbers for customers to access benefits), A22 ( Call Centre Job design) were all passes while A61 (Use of RM by reps to record facility time) ended the day with a lively debate. The GEC opposed this motion which called for further negotiations with DWP to resolve the waste of reps time caused by the RM policy but was carried by conference.
In closing the conference the Group President thanked delegates for the work here and in Branches and we left to plan our strategy for National Conference.
Written by Chris Wade.
