Tag: ballot

GMB tells Scottish Government to go further on NHS pay as rejection recommended

GMB workplace representatives in NHS Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service will recommend its members vote to reject the Scottish Government’s pay offer when a consultative ballot is launched next month.

The recommendation to reject comes ahead of a public demonstration by NHS nurses and staff later today at George Square, Glasgow, against the Scottish Government’s pay offer for 2021-22.

GMB Scotland will launch a consultative ballot of its entire NHS Scotland and Scottish Ambulance Service membership from Monday 12 April, which will run until 12.00 hours on Wednesday 5 May.

GMB Scotland Organiser Karen Leonard said: “The offer doesn’t value our members properly, it doesn’t restore the pay they’ve lost after a decade of cuts, and it doesn’t secure their future. That’s why are recommending its rejection.

“We see this pay offer for what it is: a pre-election punt by an outgoing Health Secretary that looks better than it really is when put up against the insulting 1 per cent increase for our NHS colleagues in England.

“It’s been a wretched year for our NHS workers and the COVID-19 pandemic has not only pushed them beyond their limits, but it’s also exposed the many underlying problems in our NHS because of its managed political decline over the last ten years.

“After all the applause, we strongly believe the Scottish Government can and should go further on our members’ pay, and it’s the least Ministers can do after everything our NHS staff have done for all of us.”

Unions launch workplace ballot at Scottish Water over £3,000 pay loss

Trade unions GMB Scotland, Unite Scotland and UNISON Scotland have jointly informed Scottish Water over a consultative ballot for industrial action in a dispute over pay.

The Joint Trade Unions are demanding a return to proper negotiations amid a pay and bonuses row which could mean Scottish Water workers losing up to £3,000.

A number of Scottish Water workers have already lost between £500 – £1000 through the removal of the supplement payment which averages overtime hours worked over a year.

The payment covered workplace issues such as standby and emergency works. However, Scottish Water have now imposed a new workplace system which reduces the supplemental payment and workers will now not be paid for working any additional hours.

GMB Scotland Organiser Gary Cook said: “It’s shameful opportunism in the grip of a public health crisis and shows how poorly Scottish Water value their workers.

“This is the kind of behaviour you would expect from a rogue employer, not a statutory corporation, and our unions have been left with no choice but to ballot our members.

“Scottish Water bosses are accountable to all of us, yet this pay cut imposition completely ignores the fair work principles the Scottish Government claims to promote, so this is also a test for Ministers as well.”

James O’Connell, Unite industrial officer added: “Unite is launching a consultative ballot at Scottish Water due to management imposing decisions which significantly affect the pay of the workforce. The decisions which have been unilaterally made by management could mean some workers losing up to £3,000 a year.

“We can’t understand why Scottish Water has chosen to take this incendiary course of action without even talking to the trade unions.

“Unite is demanding that the money which has been deducted so far be reimbursed to those workers affected by Scottish Water and management enter into meaningful negotiations with us before this dispute escalates to inevitable industrial action.”

Emma Phillips, UNISON regional organiser for Scottish Water said: “Scottish waste-watersupervisors have been working throughout the pandemic keeping Scotland clean and safe. They travel the length and breadth of Scotland dealing with waste and sewage emergencies. They are vital workers.

“It is not acceptable that Scottish Water are unilaterally proposing to cut pay cut of this workforce by up to £4000 per year. Scottish Water must get round the table and listen to staff this. UNISON and the other unions have no choice but to start a consultative ballot for industrial action.”

Home Carers to ballot for action over “No Confidence” in COVID testing roll-out

Home carers in Glasgow City Council’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) will launch a ballot for industrial action next week, warning they have “no confidence” over plans for workplace testing of COVID-19 and amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the vaccination programme.

Over 1,700 GMB Scotland members will take part in a three-week ballot, running from Tuesday 19 January to Monday 8 February, meaning service delivery in the HSCP could be affected by action as early as the week beginning Monday 22 February.

It follows a massive 93 per cent support for action among GMB members in a consultative ballot last month, a direct response to the Scottish Government’s Winter Preparedness Plan which put home carers to the back of the queue in the roll-out of workplace testing delivery.

GMB Scotland Organiser David Hume said: “There is no confidence whatsoever among our members in their employer or the government to sufficiently protect their health and safety at work. And why should there be?

“They were failed on PPE at the outset of this pandemic, they have been left waiting ten months for workplace testing, and some are already encountering problems getting their first vaccine.

“The HSCP should have been fighting tooth and nail for every resource to protect the safety of their employees and their service users. Instead they have been sitting on zoom calls for nearly a year waiting on guidance from the Scottish Government, only for Ministers to leave councils carrying the can for testing delivery.

“The interests of these key workers have been consistently forgotten and they are being treated negligently by their employer, and this government.”