Protest Update

The PCS DWP Group Executive Committee has raised with DWP management the reference in their advice to, “staff intending to take part in these protests must agree time off with their line manager in advance”. DWP Management have agreed that this is badly worded and that it is not their intention that staff must have line management agreement to attend a protest.

DWP Management have clarified that this phrase is intended to mean that staff wishing to change their lunch break to attend a protest must agree the change to their lunch break in advance with their line manager.

Despite agreeing that this phrase is poorly worded management will not agree to issue an amendment. The PCS view is clear – Any requests from staff to change their lunch break on 30 November must be dealt with in the normal way.

More staff not less!

Strike Ballot Agreed by DWP GEC.

The PCS DWP Group Executive Committee has voted unanimously today to ballot for strike action and an overtime ban to oppose unnecessary and avoidable compulsory redundancies and to secure a major increase in staffing levels in order to deliver services. It is madness for DWP to make anyone redundant, it the department responsible for getting people back into work and it should not be throwing its own staff onto benefits. Let's work hard to win the ballot. Management must be made to withdraw the redundancies and enter serious negotiations on recruiting much needed staff.

The PCS DWP Group Campaigns Committee met earlier this week and agreed to call for strike action across the DWP to fight management’s decision to issue compulsory redundancy notices to 43 of our members. Despite every possible effort by the GEC in negotiation the DWP went ahead and issued compulsory redundancy notices on 15 November.

Since then we have working tirelessly to contact every individual member threatened and talk to them and their local PCS reps about their wishes. We have also continued to put pressure on DWP to provide work for each of them to do.

DWP does not have enough staff. There is more than enough work for all these staff to do.

Due to the job cuts that have taken place over the last few years, five Administrative Assistants in the Fylde area were placed in meaningful consultation during 2012 and therefore in real danger of being made compulsory redundant.

We discussed the situation with all the members involved and raised the issue with the employer to try and ensure that they were found alternative posts. Thankfully this was achieved in the Fylde area, but not in the other areas of the Department.

The danger of redundancies has not gone away though from the Fylde.

This decision is political and must be seen for what it is. PCS will fight this decision with everything at our disposal. We know that you will want to support our colleagues who are faced with this horrible situation This is also about the principle of making staff redundant when we need more staff not less. PCS members in the DWP voted in the summer by 92.2% to say we would fight compulsory redundancies. We will now be asking you to vote in a strike ballot to put that decision into action.

This situation is completely unnecessary. There is plenty of work for these staff to do. The DWP must be made to understand that at a time when our pay is being cut, our pension contributions increased, our terms and conditions torn up and welfare reforms are making our job increasingly difficult, many members will see this attack on job security as the ‘final straw’.

We encourage all members to participate in protests being organised on November 30th.

We are taking the case of the 43 staff facing redundancy up with the PCS parliamentary group who will raise questions with ministers and in parliament on our behalf. Many members will now be asking themselves if they can do this to them, how long before it’s me?

All members are encouraged to write to their MP about this disgraceful attack and do all you can to highlight the issue with your colleagues.

The above information has been supplied by PCS HQ.

N30 Protest Update

The Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch will hold a 15 minute protest at 12 noon on Friday 30th November 2012

Tens of thousands PCS members are being urged to take Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude MP at his word by staging 15-minute protests against plans to rip up working conditions in the civil service and related organisations.


Norcross

White Carr Lane:
Depart Office 12 noon;
Arrive White Carr Lane Gate entrance at 12:06
12:06 to 12:09 Flag Waving session.
12:09 return journey commences to Office.
Arrive back no later that 12:15pm

Tomlinson House Gate:
We have asked our colleagues in the PCS MOD SPVA Branch to lead the flag waving at the Tomlinson House gate entrance.


Warbreck House

Main Entrance: 
Leave office 12 noon.
Walk to the Main Entrance Gate (the actual site gate near the road).
Arrive at Main Gate entrance at 12:06.
12:06 to 12:09 – Flag waving
12:09 return to the building/office


Peel Park

Main Entrance:
12 noon leave office & walk to the main entrance gate.
Arrive at main gate entrance and assemble on the side path, which leads to the public footpath at 12:07
12:07 to 12:08 – flag waving
12:08 return to the building/office

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU WORK A FAIR DISTANCE FROM THE SITE GATE (ON ANY SITE) YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET THERE IN 7 MINUTES.

IF YOU CANNOT GET TO THE GATE IN 7 MINUTES THEN WE RECOMMEND THAT AFTER NO MORE THAN 7 MINUTES OF WALKING YOU TURN BACK TO THE OFFICE.

ALL TIMINGS ARE APPROXIMATE BUT YOU CANNOT BE AWAY FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES.

PCS flags are available for the protest from the PCS rooms on each site (as are yellow PCS ponchos).

Government 'reckless' on equality checks

The following has been supplied by the TUC:
The TUC has accused David Cameron of being 'reckless' after he announced plans to scrap the requirement on government departments and other public bodies to undertake equality impact assessments before the introduction of policy changes. Responding to the prime minister's CBI conference speech, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the move could mean damaging safety and other consequences are overlooked when policies are revised. He said: 'The prime minister says he is committed to clamping down on discrimination in the workplace but at the same time is removing an essential measure for monitoring it. Equality impact assessments are not burdensome 'red tape'. They have proved invaluable in highlighting how proposed legislation could affect women and vulnerable workers.' He added: 'In the transport sector the axing of this requirement would allow staffing levels at stations to be changed without any regard to the impact this would have on female passengers' safety. This move smacks of a desperate attempt to placate the business lobby, which like the TUC, is deeply concerned at our economy's anaemic growth. But scrapping equality impact assessments would be reckless and is not the way to get our country moving again.'

Lords criticise plans to end strict liability

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

Injured workers will be disadvantaged if the government goes ahead with a plan to end the strict liability of employers for safety offences, the House of Lords has heard. On 14 November, peers debated wide-ranging changes included in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. An amendment inserted by the government seeks to change safety law to remove the right of individuals to make civil compensation claims for criminal breaches of statutory health and safety duties. Claims would be limited to those where negligence could be established. Labour's Lord Whitty said the employment changes overall fall into an 'ugly' category. 'Ugliest of the lot are the provisions referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Low, relating to Clauses 61, which appears to provide that victims - physical, mental, financial or mortal - of the failure of private or public corporations to fulfil their statutory responsibilities will, in most cases, no longer be entitled to compensation.' Labour's former safety minister Lord McKenzie of Luton said 'if adopted as it stands, this clause will mean fewer injured employees being able to claim for their injuries, claims will be more costly to pursue, greater costs will fall on the state and safety standards for employees will fall.' Unions have also criticised the proposed change. Unite said the strict liability move 'is the latest of an increasingly long list of attacks on the rights of innocent victims.'

New Flexible Working Hours Agreement for DWP Operations

The following details have been supplied by PCS DWP Group:

New Flexible Working Hours Agreement for DWP Operations

– Benefits Directorate –

from 3 December 2012

New agreement with PCS
A new agreement with PCS sets out the Flexible Working Hours (FWH) arrangements in DWP Operations - Benefits Directorate from 3rd December 2012. The agreement covers all staff in the Benefits Directorate, and all staff are invited to participate under the terms of these agreed arrangements, with the only agreed exception being those staff who are employed within the (Disability) Contact Centre Helpline team and only those who have non standard contracted working hours.

There will be further consultation with the Operations TUS with the aim of reaching a separate agreement for this Team.

The agreement recognises that FWH enables employees to play their full part at work and at the same time to arrange their working hours so that they get the most from their social and domestic life to maintain an appropriate work/life balance.

The agreement affirms that the needs and wishes of individuals must always be balanced with the needs of the business, in particular ensuring appropriate levels of service to customers which are proportionate to business needs. In doing so, all reasonable efforts will be made to meet the requirements of individual members of staff under the terms of this agreement, and every effort will be made to arrive at mutually acceptable arrangements.

Headline terms of agreement
The “headline” terms of the agreement include:

Minimum Levels of Cover
The aim is agreement with staff and managers where possible, but managers will need to make decisions where this is not possible. (3)

Nil core time
Nil core time means that there is no part of the bandwidth when it is essential for all employees to be at work. Under nil core time staff should agree with their manager to organise their hours of attendance having regard to provision of service to customers and staff needs and preferences. (6)

Bandwidth
The bandwidth for opening times will normally be 12 hours from 7.00 to 19.00 or the opening hours of the site/building if these are different.(7)

Credit carry over
At the end of the 4 week Accounting Period, employees may carry forward a maximum of 4 days credit to the next accounting period. An equivalent pro rata carry over will be permitted for part time employees. (10)

Deficit carry over
At the end of the 4 week accounting period, employees may carry forward a maximum of 3 days deficit to the next accounting period. An equivalent pro rata carry over will be permitted for part time employees. (12)

Credits for absences
If an employee has to attend medical appointments (e.g. GP, consultant or therapist), or the Dentist, the credit arrangements are provided under paragraph 14.2.

Training credits
The arrangements for training credits are provided under paragraph 14.7.

Other breaks
One paid 15 minute break (away from the desk where possible) in the morning and one in the afternoon will be given to all employees working the equivalent of or more than, the 7.24 working day (7.12 in London).

One paid break of 15 minutes will be given to employees working between 3 ½ and up to but below the full working day.

These breaks must be taken at the allocated times as far as practicable. (16.1)

Where part time employees wish to take their 15 minute break in the defined lunch period (11.30am – 2.30 pm), they should be allowed to do so wherever possible. Having this flexible approach for part time employees will allow the spacing of their breaks appropriately within their working day. (16.2)

Religious observance
Time away from the workstation for religious observance may also be required by some staff, and there is provision under paragraph 16.4.

Ad-hoc breaks
In addition, reasonable ad hoc breaks will be allowed for refreshments, toilet breaks, medication etc. These will not be rota’d breaks but we would expect the normal courtesies between individuals and team leaders to apply. (16.5)

Smoking
The smoking break arrangements are under paragraph 17.

Flexi-leave
Staff can apply to their line manager to take full or half day’s flexi leave, up to a maximum of 4 standard days in any 4 calendar week accounting period. Part time staff can apply for an equivalent pro-rata amount of flexi leave. (18.1) NB: This limit does not apply when a compressed hours working pattern has been agreed (refer also to para 8.2).

Application of pro-rata principle
The provision for the application of the pro-rata principle under paragraph 18.4 is adopted from the Q&A guidance issued for the BFD Agreement so that nobody is losing out or being unfairly advantaged because everyone’s hours will balance out at some point. You can be flexible in these situations, and “light touch”.

The following details have been added by the Branch: 
At Warbreck there have been early discussions with Senior Management regarding the above new FWH agreement including the issue of breaks. Further details will follow.

Breaking News: N30 2012

The Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch will hold a 15 minute protest at 12 noon on Friday 30th November 2012.

Advice from the PCS National Executive Committee regarding the protest says "The union is not asking members to take Industrial action, therefore the protests should take place in lunch breaks or if this is not possible, before work or at another point when the largest number of member are taking a break from work."

Later it talks about the legal advice and says "However, we are encouraging members to join a protest during work breaks where they can".

Over the past 18 months virtually everyone at Norcross and Peel Park will have had to apply for their own jobs and go through a pre redundancy job selection exercise. Many have been made surplus, some entered into meaningful consultation and were in imminent danger of being made redundant.

Many members at DWP Norcross are very annoyed at the announcement to close the DWP Norcross Site, at Warbreck and Peel Park many members have been told that only approximately 15 to 20% of the members, on any given day, will be allowed to take their annual leave between Christmas and New Year.

These are the consequences of the job cuts.

PCS flags are available for the protest from the PCS rooms on each site (as are yellow PCS ponchos).

The protest should take place off-site lasting no more 15 minutes (from time of leaving to time of return).

Further information and materials can be found on the PCS HQ website here.

Ask your MP to oppose 'sneaky' law change and sign the petition against it.

The following has been adapted from a TUC document:

Health and Safety Executive inspectors' union Prospect is urging members to sign a petition calling on the government to remove an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (ERR) Bill that would make it harder for workers to claim legitimate compensation for injuries at work. The amendment is designed to change civil liability laws in relation to health and safety duties, but there has been uproar from Labour MPs, unions and lawyers at the way it has been sneaked in via the ERR bill without any consultation. The effect would be that workers would be unable to rely on an employer's breach of health and safety law to win a personal injury claim. Instead they would have to prove negligence. The move has also been opposed by the TUC. 'This proposal was introduced with no consultation and there is no indication of what regulations the civil liability changes will apply to,' said a TUC spokesperson. 'But it is a disgrace that they are transferring the cost of an injury from the employer on to the worker, who will already have suffered the pain and suffering.'

Sign the petition here.

Email your MP to ask them to vote against the bill here.

'Savaged' criminal injuries scheme to go ahead

The  following information has been supplied by the TUC:

The introduction later this month of a 'savaged' version of the government scheme to compensate people injured in violent crimes has been condemned by retail union Usdaw. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has confirmed that the revised Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) will come into force on 27 November. The union says under the new cut-price version, the vast majority of innocent victims of violent crime will discover they are either no longer eligible for any compensation or that the amount paid out for injuries has been slashed. On 11 November, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs approved the revised scheme, which currently awards compensation to between 30,000 and 40,000 people each year who have been seriously injured in a crime of violence and who cannot obtain recompense from any other source, such as their assailant. Innocent victims now have until 23.59 on Monday 26 November to submit a claim that will be considered under the existing scheme. After this date, claims for any incident, whether it occurred before or after midnight on 26 November, will be processed under the new and much meaner scheme. John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary, commented: 'The entire process of making the cuts has been a shameful and frankly grubby episode in the exercise of government, one made all the more shocking because it's innocent victims of violent crime who are going to suffer. The government should do much more to make victims aware of the changes, but I suspect its silence reflects the weakness of its own case for the cuts and the inherent embarrassment of highlighting them.' He added: 'Usdaw urges anyone who has been injured in the course of a crime to submit an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority as soon as possible and by 26 November at the latest.'

Breaking News: 15 Minute Walkout

The Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch will hold a 15 minute Protest at 12 noon on Friday 30th November 2012

Tens of thousands PCS members are being urged to take Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude MP at his word by staging 15-minute protests against plans to rip up working conditions in the civil service and related organisations.

Lunchtime demonstrations will be co-ordinated at workplaces across the country on 30th November 2012 in opposition to a government 'review' of all existing terms and conditions, including hours and holidays, and family-friendly policies such as flexible and part-time working.

The protest also concerns the public sector pay freeze, the increase in monthly pensions contributions and, after the ed government slashed more than 60,000 civil service jobs in its first two years in office, the tens of thousands more still planned.

Last year when unions were striking over pensions, The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP suggested members could protest for 15 minutes to "get their point across without losing pay".

The decision to hold these events was taken at a meeting of the union's national executive committee yesterday (7th November), which also agreed to continue to pursue a joint campaign with other unions on pensions and pay.

It also agreed that the next NEC meeting in December will consider a timetable for a campaigning action ballot in the New Year. While the fight over pensions and the contribution increases will continue, the ballot will be designed to include opposition to the terms and conditions review and strengthen the union's campaigning focus on pay and living standards.

Cuts to jobs, pay and pensions are all part of a political smash and grab on our public services, and are inextricably linked to the latest threat to working conditions.

Many members at DWP Norcross are very annoyed at the announcement to close the DWP Norcross Site, at Warbreck and Peel Park many members have been told that only approximately 15 to 20% of the members, on any given day, will be allowed to take their annual leave between Christmas and New Year. These are the consequences of the job cuts.

PCS flags are available for the protest from the PCS rooms on each site (as are yellow PCS ponchos).

The protest will consist of a walk around the building or part of the building, lasting no more 15 minutes, from time of leaving to time of return.

Ministers 'stacked' committee on crime payouts

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

Unions and Labour have accused the government of 'stacking' a parliamentary committee to ensure that controversial changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) were passed. The changes will restrict compensation to those who suffer serious injuries, shaving £50m off the annual £449m bill. In September, justice minister Helen Grant said she would reconsider the plans after protests by MPs, unions and victim support groups. However, when the Seventh Delegated Legislation Committee met last week the plans were presented unchanged. The committee approved them by nine votes to seven. Shadow justice minister Robert Flello claimed the government 'stacked' the committee by ensuring people on the government payroll - including four parliamentary private secretaries - turned up to vote. 'They had to pack the committee with effectively the payroll vote because they couldn't rely on ordinary backbenchers,' he said. The first draft order was introduced in September to the Delegated Legislation Committee but was attacked from all sides, including by former Conservative minister John Redwood who expressed his reluctance to approve a scheme that 'would cut back on payments to people who are vulnerable and have just been through a bad time in their lives for no good reason.' He was one of the MPs replaced on the committee. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: 'The vaporising of Tory opponents from the committee dealing with this issue is a mark of the brutality of this government who will not tolerate any dissent in their quest to claw back payments in these 'last resort' cases.' The changes to CICS were debated in the House of Commons on 7 November, where a Labour bid to block the cuts was defeated. Usdaw general secretary John Hannett, commenting after a Commons debate the union says 'was the first and likely final time' the issue will be debated by all MPs, said: 'Any government prepared to cut vital financial support from the innocent victims of violent crime, while at the same time handing out tax cuts to millionaires, has surely lost its moral compass.'

Job fear is affecting the health of UK workers

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

The harsh economic climate, austerity-related job cuts and job loss fears in those still in work is having a real impact on the health and well-being of workers, according to the newly published findings of a TUC safety survey. The top safety concerns cited this year by union safety reps in the TUC's tenth biennial survey were stress, bullying and harassment, problems relating to heavy workloads and overwork, and violence and intimidation. The TUC believes many of these 'growing concerns' are down to the increasing insecurity and unease being felt throughout the UK workforce as spending cuts and austerity economics hit hard. Safety reps in the TUC survey also raised concerns about a decline in the number of safety inspections by official safety regulators. Just under half (45 per cent) of the 1,875 safety reps who responded to the TUC survey earlier this year said that their workplace had never had a visit from a safety inspector. One in ten of the safety reps (ten per cent) hadn't seen a safety inspector in their workplace for more than three years, and another 16 per cent said their workplace hadn't been inspected for between one and three years. Safety reps said their employers, less fearful of an official inspection, were now less likely to make safety improvements. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber commented: 'Fears about how austerity is affecting peoples' jobs and their families is having a real impact on the health and well-being of UK workers.' He said increasing pressures on workers and reduced official oversight at work meant 'unions campaigning to improve workplace safety are clearly going to have their work cut out in the coming year.'

Government ploughs on with compensation cuts

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

The TUC has condemned the reintroduction of proposals to cut compensation for workers who are the victims of crime through their work. Proposals to slash payments were introduced by the government earlier this yet and then withdrawn in September following cross-party opposition. They have now been hurriedly reintroduced in exactly the same form as before, despite a promise to reconsider the proposals and bring them back 'in a better form'. The changes, if implemented, will end payments for claims below £2,500 and significantly reduce payments for claims below £11,000. Payments for loss of future earnings, which currently reflect what a person would have been able to earn during his lifetime, will also be limited to an amount equivalent to statutory sick pay under the proposed scheme. Some groups such as victims of dog attacks, or train drivers affected by suicides on the tracks, will also lose out completely. TUC head of health and safety, Hugh Robertson said 'This is yet another attack on workers compensation from a government obsessed with shifting the blame for injuries caused though work on to the employee.' Karl Tonks, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers added 'It beggars belief that the Government has not amended the very proposals which attracted widespread criticism from Conservative and Labour MPs, as well as vulnerable victims of crime. The impression this gives is that the Government wants to push these unpopular cuts through, regardless of what the public or some other members of the Government think. It's important that victims of violent crime are given financial redress to help them get back to their feet, particularly if they are unable to return to work.'

Stress Awareness Interview

Branch Secretary Duncan Griffiths speaking to Radio Lancashire's Graham Liver about stress in the workplace, causes and awareness of it. You can download the 13mb file from the link below, though not on a DWP computer.

Radio Interview

'Savage' fire and rescue cuts put lives at risk

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is raising the alarm over unprecedented risks to public safety posed by 'deep and dangerous' cuts to the fire service. Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, is urging the public to join firefighters in defending stations threatened with closure. 'The public has already lost around 1,500 frontline firefighters since 2010, despite David Cameron's hollow eve-of-election promise that there would be no cuts to the firefighting frontline,' he said. The FBU leader warned a continuation of the government's 'reckless austerity drive' could see frontline firefighter jobs slashed by 20 per cent. 'People deserve to have their lives, homes and businesses protected. As firefighters, we have a duty to spell out to the public the risks of ever-deepening cuts,' he said. 'More cuts will mean slower response times to emergencies, putting lives, homes and businesses at greater risk. Response times are almost two minutes slower on average than a decade ago. If there is no local fire station, response times will be even longer. Delays cost lives. That's why people should make sure they join with fire-fighters to campaign to keep stations threatened with closure open. '