Scottish Pension Reforms

Local authority employers and trade unions have reached emphatic agreement on the new design of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in Scotland.
The movement to a Career Average Valuation will ensure that those at the lowest end of the pay scale and particularly female employees will benefit from a fairer and sustainable pension.  Scotland’s Councils are one of Scotland’s largest employers, employing over 280,000 people.
The new scheme design will go a significant way to ensure that those employees can make a decent provision for their retirement.  COSLA Leaders approved the new scheme design in September 2013 and now UNISON has confirmed that they had received an overwhelmingly positive response to the new design with a 94% positive response to the ballot.

Councillor Kevin Keenan COSLA’s Finance Spokesman said:

"Whilst we felt we already had a sustainable and fair Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland, the reform process did over an opportunity for local authorities as Employers to ensure that the Scheme provided important support for employees at the lower end of the pay scale and reflects the unique demographics of our workforce whilst remaining affordable and sustainable.  The positive ballot result from the Trade Union Side is a welcome confirmation that the new scheme design is a positive change and reflects a very constructive approach between all parties."

Dave Watson, Scottish Organiser (Bargaining and Campaigns) at Unison said:

“Whilst the local government trade unions, UNISON, GMB, Unite and UCATT regard the reform of the Scottish LGPS as an unnecessary interference by the UK Government in the operation of a pension scheme that had been updated as recently as April 2009, our approach has been to minimise the impact of the changes imposed by the UK Government and maintain the main elements of the uniquely Scottish approach. The main aim was to protect and improve pension benefits for the majority of members without increasing contributions. Such an increase would simply drive members away from pension provision at a time of pay cuts and other economic pressure. We hope the new scheme will attract new members, particularly women and those at the lower end of the pay scale who are most likely to suffer by not having a secure pension in retirement. In doing so we believe we have a sustainable and affordable scheme for the longer term.”

The key changes to the new scheme are:

• Move from Final Salary to Career Average Pension Scheme
• Increase in accrual rate from 1/60ths to 1/49ths.
• Retaining existing ill health and death in service benefits.
• Introducing a 50/50 option allowing employees to pay 50% of contributions for 50% benefits.
• Introduction of an Employers' cost cap mechanism to ensure the future affordability and sustainability of the scheme.
• Equality in partner pensions for co-habiting and civil partners as with married couples

Xmas Spree!

UNISON Shetland Local Services are delighted to be working with Oceana Productions to offer UNISON Members a Xmas Spree on Friday 20^th December from 7pm.  

The event will be at Mareel and features a great line up of bands, including local heroes The Revellers, Blondie tribute act Bleachie, and rip-roaring ska outfit The Amphetameanies.

Members can buy tickets from Friday from Shetland Box Office outlets at Mareel or Isleburgh for the concessionary price of £14!  Tickets must be bought in person.  It should be a great night, so make sure and get your tickets.  See you there!

Screenplay 2013

UNISON Shetland Local Services are delighted to be supporting this years Screenplay Festival by sponsoring a one-off screening of The Happy Lands.

The Happy Lands is set during the General Strike strike of 1926, and explores the impact of severe austerity measures by a Liberal Conservative coalition government. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with the director, Robert Rae.

The first 20 branch members to accept this invitation by email to the branch at unisonslg@btconnect.com will receive a FREE ticket.

Further details of the movie can be found on our facebook page or here: 

http://www.shetlandarts.org/whats-on/festivals/screenplay

See you there!

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PAY BALLOT

The Pay Ballot closed on 13^th August and resulted in a very narrow rejection of moving towards a programme of industrial action in support of an improved offer. 49.78% voted in favour of industrial action and 50.22% voted against.

The Scottish Local Government Committee met this morning to consider the outcome and agreed that UNISON will not take industrial action over pay this year. It was also agreed to inform the employers that we should now accept the 1% offer and the introduction of the Living Wage, inform the employers of this, and press for an early payment date.

Whilst the result of this ballot means that members have voted to reject industrial action over the current one year deal, there was a substantial vote for a strike. Our members in local government voted by 3:2 in an earlier consultative ballot to reject the 1% pay offer which is effectively a further pay cut.

Clearly our local government members fear for the security of their jobs and the pressure on the vital services we provide to our communities. This is on the back of job losses in local government upwards of 35,000 over the last three years. This is clearly a very difficult climate that our members are working under.

Whilst at this stage our members have rejected taking industrial action, there was however a substantial vote in favour of strike action, this together with the campaign and resources that we developed over the past months will form a substantial platform to build on and move forward with a real impetus to push pay to the top of the bargaining agenda.

Finally thanks to all our members and activists who participated in this long running campaign, whilst it did not provide the result we had hoped for it has provided the basis for moving pay forward next year.

UNISON calendar competition

There's still plenty of time to enter our calendar competition (see previous post for details).  And, to make it easier for you, we can now accept entries by email.  If you'd like to see your photos on next year's local branch calendar, please email them to unisonslg@btconnect.com or post them to UNISON Local Services Branch, 18-20 Alexandra Buildings, The Esplanade, LERWICK, ZE1 0LL.

If your photos are chosen for the calendar, we'll let you know in September.  Good luck!

National Delegate Conference

Here is Brian Smith's report from UNISON's recent National Delegate conference.  The photo isn't of Brian but of Ricky Tomlinson (readers are left to decide if there is more than a passing resemblance), who was at the conference to highlight the Shrewsbury24 campaign he is involved in.  Further details below.

Dear friends

It is impossible to do justice to an event as rich as UNISON’s four-day National Delegate Conference in a short report. This is an account of the week as it struck one delegate.

It began with a bang. Ricky Tomlinson spoke passionately about his plight and his colleagues’ plight in the 1970s when they were blacklisted as building workers. The evidence of what happened has been concealed by successive governments: join the campaign to reveal it at http://www.shrewsbury24campaign.org.uk/

As at the Local Government conference, delegates – especially those in England and Wales – were unimpressed by the union leadership’s performance on pay. Many speakers savaged Dave Prentis, who last year promised a major campaign on the subject and then forgot to have one. When Prentis spoke on Tuesday he didn’t get the usual standing ovation.

There is a great deal of stage-management at conference these days. In most cases there were no speakers against this or that motion, and during the week there were only two card votes. (I remember days when there might be a dozen.) Thursday afternoon, when changes to rule are discuss, was livelier. I voted for a motion to introduce UNISON’s new financial systems on 1 January 2014, having been assured by Cherelynn that they will be very useful.

There was much concern about the National Health Service, and what is regarded as the privatisation of it, the toll PFI is taking on it, and debilitating cuts in funding. Conference agreed that there would be a mass demonstration at the Tory Party conference in Manchester at the end of September about the issue.

As usual, there were many debates on equalities issue: one of UNISON’s most impressive areas of campaigning. There was a good discussion about racism in football and the impressive Kick it Out campaign, and a particularly impressive one about disability hate crime, something I had hardly been aware about.

On Thursday morning conference was invaded by an impressive flash mob campaigning about page three images in the Sun.  See them here: http://www.uniondiary.com/video/unison/?videoId=33SmkobZp38 (You might catch a glimpse of the present writer in this film.)

A less satisfactory equalities debate was one about an amendment about male violence towards women. It was defeated because some speakers argued that some men receive violence from women, which was really beside the point.

As usual, the debates about international issues – notably Colombia, Palestine and Nicaragua – were very good.

Throughout conference there was a constant theme that the government’s attacks on public services, and their economic policies, have very little to do with economics, and much more to do with ideology. Friday’s debate on welfare cuts was a good example, where ATOS’s habit of certifying dying people as fit for work was dealt with in detail.

Conference isn’t just about describing how awful things are. Also on Friday support was forthcoming for 115 UNISON members who work for the Future Directions Company in Rochdale, who are cutting their members’ pay and attacking their terms and conditions. Conference made an immediate donation of £5000 to the strike fund.

Best wishes

Brian

Several local UNISON members have been attending the National Local Government conference and UNISON's National Delegate conference.  The events were held in Liverpool, and our branch chair Brian Smith has sent reports of each.  Here is Brian's report from the Local Government conference.  His National Delegate conference report will appear in a later blog post.

Dear friends

Here is a short report about the National Local Government Conference, held in Liverpool on 16-17 June, attended by branch development officer, Averil Simpson, and me as delegates.

The conference kicked off with a powerful speech of welcome by Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool. Joe is a UNISON member, and he and his administration have tried to mitigate the cuts prescribed by government.

The first debate was about the onslaught by many councils on facility time for trade unionists. This is not a situation that our branch has faced; my hair stood on end when I heard what some employers have been doing.

There was much about the bedroom tax, and about how much it is costing councils to implement. There was some annoyance about a circular that UNISON had sent branches warning that everyone should co-operate with it.

There was an excellent debate on Sunday afternoon about pay. You will have noticed that in England and Wales a very poor turnout of 12 percent of members voted two to one in favour of the employers' offer of 1 per cent. The service group executive was heavily criticised for not running a campaign, and had the grace to look embarrassed.

On Monday there was an excellent debate about fighting cuts and privatisation, and about UNISON's relations with councillors here and there who try to withstand cuts. An amendment by the executive warning about the legal consequences of dealing with such councillors was heavily defeated.

Jane Carter, a young labour economist at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gave us an excellent talk about the horrific extent of privatisation in the U.S., and the tactics she and her colleagues use to try to thwart it.

There was a superb presentation about the union's new Ethical Care Campaign. We heard about how private care companies are restricting care at home to 15-minute packages and 'employing' workers on zero hour contracts, with no payment for travel.

The debate on deregulation and attacks on health and safety was very good. One speaker likened the government's performance on this subject to two UKIP supporters sitting in a pub moaning about the good old days!

All the best

Brian

Photo Competition

Would you like workers all over Shetland to see your photos?  If so, enter our new competition and your pictures could appear on the local branch calendar next year.  You can send us photographs taken in Shetland, or in any part of the world you have visited, but all submissions must be from UNISON members.  Please send images in hard copy (we will ask for a digital version if your photo is selected), and you should write your name, contact details, membership number and category entered on the back.  The categories for entries are:

1. Place of Work

Images of any places of work.  This category can include imaginative images of any element of a workplace, here in Shetland or overseas.

2. Wildlife

Could include any wildlife-related image.

3. Landscape

This category might include any landscape, outdoor scene, natural image or sunset.

4. Urban landscape

Pictures of urban places.

5. Rural Landscape

Images of rural landscapes.

6. Our community

Pictures which use the theme of community and what that means to people.

7. Weather

This category includes any image of weather.

8. Architectural Design and Building

Images which capture stunning architecture or building design.

9. Food

Could include any images associated with the growing, distribution, cooking and eating of food.

10. Portrait

Pictures of people from all walks of life.

11. Black and White

Images in black and white, with any subject, composition or style considered.

12. Trees

In our final category, we’re looking for images of trees.  American Giant Redwoods or Willows in Waas can be submitted.

Images should be sent to:

Photographic Competition

UNISON Local Services Branch

18-20 Alexandra Buildings

The Esplanade

LERWICK 

ZE1 0LL

The closing date is Friday 30 August 2013.  We can’t return photos, unfortunately, so remember to keep a copy for yourself.  We’ll let you know in early September if your picture has been chosen for the 2014 calendar.

AGM

AGM

The local branch AGM will be held on

Friday 8 March at 12.00

in Isleburgh Community Centre.

A soup and sandwich lunch will be served, 

and there will be a talk by 

Dave Watson, Scottish Organiser for UNISON 

(Bargaining and Campaigns)

Dave will be speaking about changes in pension 

legislation, and we hope a large number 

of members will be able to come.