GMB Scotland – Page 3 – The NEN

Union advises cleansing workers to prioritise safety and refuse self-isolation exemptions

GMB Scotland has today advised thousands of local government cleansing workers to prioritise safety and exercise their ‘right to refuse’ requests from employers to continue working if they have been exposed to COVID-19.

It follows the Scottish Government’s announcement that double-vaccinated workers in key services, returning negative PCR tests and undertaking daily lateral flow tests, can avoid self-isolation if notified of exposure to COVID-19 by the test and trace app, and continue working if their employer’s requests meet conditions set by Ministers.

The union has over 2,300 members in cleansing and waste services across Scotland’s local government, including Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, and West Lothian councils, who have worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and the decision was taken after consultation with their workplace representatives.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Drew Duffy said: “A major underlying factor in the so-called ‘pingdemic’ is the chronic understaffing in our frontline services after years of cuts, and our cleansing and waste is no different.

“But the Scottish Government’s new guidance has opened the door for employers across the country to heap more pressure on these key workers if they have been exposed to COVID-19. That’s not safe for workers, families, or communities.

“And again, some of the lowest paid are being asked to take the greatest risk in another example of how poorly they are valued by government. You cannot cut and coerce your way out of a crisis, if you want services to function then you must invest in them.

“That lesson needs to be learned, and it’s why we are advising our members to exercise their right to refuse and instead follow the general self-isolation rules if they are exposed to COVID-19.”

First Minister announces changes to self-isolation rules in Scotland

‘It is essential that lifeline services and critical national infrastructure are maintained‘ – FM NICOLA STURGEON

Changes are being made to self-isolation rules for close contacts of COVID cases to allow essential staff in critical roles to return to work to maintain lifeline services and critical national infrastructure.

It will be possible to apply to exempt those who work in critical roles where staff shortages are in danger of putting essential services, such as health and social care, transport and the provision of food supplies at risk.

Exemption will only be granted in respect of members of staff who voluntarily agree not to self isolate, and the employers’ duty of care to all their employees must be respected.

Strict conditions will apply – staff must be double-vaccinated and in receipt of their second dose at least two weeks previously. They will also require to have a negative PCR test and to agree to undertake daily lateral flow tests.

Applications may be made via the Scottish Government website.

Exemptions will be made on a temporary basis and last only for as long as there is an immediate risk to business or service continuity.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is essential that lifeline services and critical national infrastructure are maintained and we are implementing these changes now – ahead of possible changes to self-isolation rules for close contacts that may apply more generally in future – to ensure staff shortages do not put key services at risk.

“We have seen significant staff shortages in a small number of organisations in recent days and we have worked with them to protect services. Applications for exemptions are being considered from today and we will consider applications as they come in.

“Clinical evidence tells us we can safely and effectively release some critical staff from self-isolation, with appropriate safeguards. However, this is a very limited change at this stage, to be applied on a case by case basis and only where absolutely necessary.

“We will not allow key services to be threatened by staff shortages but equally we must continue to protect public health.”

GMB Scotland: THINK AGAIN!

Responding to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement , GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said: “The decision taken by the Scottish Government to introduce exemptions for critical workers from self-isolation guidance has been driven by resource, not by what’s safe for the workers or their families.

“It’s not frontline workers following COVID precautions that threatens to put key services at risk, but the cuts, underfunding and understaffing of these services that means we don’t have the capacity we need to respond in times of crisis.

“Whether it’s in the NHS, our social care sector or in our supermarkets, the story is the same: it’s low paid, exhausted and predominantly women workers who have to make sacrifices as a result of the failure of those at the top to plan and invest.

“GMB is urging the Scottish Government to rethink their decision to gamble with the lives of our key workers, before it’s too late.”

McVitie’s workers take the fight for their future to Holyrood

Workers at the closure threatened McVitie’s site in Tollcross will take the fight for the future of their factory to Holyrood today, with a socially distanced demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament ahead of First Minister’s Questions.

The workforce is calling on politicians to stand with them and the community, to demand that David Murray, Managing Director of pladis, participates in meaningful consultation over alternative proposals to the closure of the factory and the loss of 470 local jobs.

A petition to save the jobs has so far received more than 72,000 signatures.

GMB Scotland Organiser David Hume said: “Workers at the McVitie’s site in Tollcross are fighting for their factory and their future, and every day the collective voice of the workforce and the local community grows louder.

“GMB committed to exploring every avenue to save these jobs and bring investment into this business but, if we’re to pursue alternative proposals to secure a future for these workers, we need the decision makers at pladis to come to the table.

“David Murray can’t be allowed to hide out in London while condemning Glasgow to a new generation of manufacturing decline. We’re calling on politicians to stand with the workers and the local community.

“It’s their factory and their future, and they want to fight for it.”

Strike action looms in social housing provider over “insulting” pay offer

The prospect of strike action across Hanover Housing Association services has moved closer after GMB Scotland served the social housing provider with statutory notice for an industrial action ballot against an “insulting” 1 per cent pay offer for frontline workers.

After months of fruitless talks, union members have roundly rejected the real terms pay cut offer for staff like care support workers, cleaners, and domestic assistants, compared to a 4.5 per cent increase package for key management personnel in Hanover in 2020.

In a previous consultative ballot, 81 per cent of GMB members voted against the pay offer and 79 per cent in favour of moving to industrial action against the offer. The full industrial action ballot will run from Monday 28 June to Monday 12 July.

Hanover provide and manage a wide range of housing and services across Scotland, mainly for older people to help maintain their independence within the community.

GMB Scotland Organiser Ude Joe-Adigwe said: “The prospect of a real terms pay cut for many key workers earning little more than the living wage is insulting and made worse by the pay disparity between staff on the ground and management in Hanover.

“And it’s another case in point about the scale of the challenge for the fair work agenda – the backbone of Scotland’s frontline response to COVID-19 has largely been delivered on the backs of workers’ earning just over or under £10 an hour and Hanover is no different.

“This dispute goes to the very heart of the debate over proper value for key workers and the services they deliver, and employers like Hanover need to become part of the solution instead of a persistent low pay problem.

“If we want to build a recovery then it’s got to be better than this and Hanover need to listen to the workers’ voice if they want to avoid the real possibility of industrial action later this summer.”

Fury as McVitie’s issues redundancy notices

Company refuses to engage with Action Group

Trade unions GMB Scotland and Unite Scotland, who jointly represent the vast majority of McVitie’s workers based at Tollcross, have reacted furiously to the company formally issuing redundancy notices yesterday.

The McVitie’s biscuit factory, which manufactures a range of notable products including Hobnobs and Rich Tea Biscuits, has through its parent owners Pladis also ‘disgracefully’ refused to engage with the newly established Action Group set up to prevent the factory’s closure.

The group is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, Kate Forbes MSP, and involves the trade unions, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise, Clyde Gateway and Skills Development Scotland.

Following two meetings of the Action Group, Kate Forbes, wrote to McVitie’s requesting direct engagement with the parent company, Pladis, ahead of the next scheduled meeting on 23 June. The meeting is set to discuss a series of proposals which could maintain a presence of McVitie’s in the local area.

However, Unite Scotland and GMB Scotland can confirm that the company has formally issued redundancy notices to its workforce and refused to engage with the Action Group.

In 2014, the Turkish owned Pladis acquired the McVitie’s business after its takeover of United Biscuits, which made it the third largest biscuit manufacturer in the world. In that same year, United Biscuits also cut its then 680-strong workforce at Tollcross by almost a quarter.

The Tollcross factory, which first opened in 1925 as part of the Macfarlane and Lang’s Victoria Biscuit Works, is a major employer in an area with higher levels of social deprivation and unemployment. The McVitie’s presence in Scotland goes back to the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price Ltd, which was established in 1830 in Edinburgh.

GMB Scotland Organiser David Hume said: “It’s an act of extreme bad faith on the part of the Pladis Managing Director David Murray, and a gross insult to hundreds of workers and their families who are fighting for their livelihoods and community.

“The rules of the game have now been changed by Pladis – the clock is now officially ticking on nearly 470 jobs and generations of food manufacturing that has endured austerity and prosperity, war and pandemic.”

“David Murray needs to be hauled by the Cabinet Secretary before the members of the Action Group because this is a profitable business with an innovative workforce that can and should have a future in the East End of Glasgow.”

Pat McIlvogue, Unite industrial officer, said: “It’s an absolute disgrace and slap in the face to the workforce that not only has McVitie’s formally issued redundancy notices but they are also refusing to engage with the Action Group established by the Scottish Government.

“Everyone except the company is working together in order to bring forward options, which could save hundreds of jobs in the local area. Unite is again calling on Pladis to directly engage with the trade unions, the workforce and the Scottish Government to look at credible alternatives to closure.

“Pladis have a duty of care to hundreds of workers to jointly discuss with us what could be done to save jobs instead of this belligerent and arrogant approach which they have adopted.”

GMB Scotland press for proper employment status for 2,800 HM Coastguard rescue workers

GMB Scotland is pressing for proper employment status for more than 2,800 HM Coastguard rescue workers based at 310 rescue stations around the UK. About 900 of these workers are based in 116 rescue stations around the coast of mainland Scotland and the Islands.

The duties of HM Coastguard rescue workers include help rescue people trapped on the coast, for example on cliffs, stuck in mud or in the water, search for missing people, report and deal with pollution and other hazards and help emergency services and local authorities during emergencies, for example flooding.

These HM Coastguard rescue workers can be called out at any time of the day or night so they work irregular hours. They may have to work in hazardous situations for long hours and may have to carry out physically demanding tasks.

HM Coastguard rescue worker can have other employment. Required skills include: first aid, water rescue, map work, search techniques, communications and skills needed in for local area, for example rope rescue, mud rescue etc.

GMB Scotland is demanding that their status as workers is properly recognised and the work they do is properly valued and recognised.

Like for other recent high profile workers in irregular employment across the UK the union is prepared to litigate to obtain justice for these brave men and women.

Numbers of HM Coastguard rescue workers on irregular hours by Areas across the UK

Area 1 Scotland & Orkney Islands	137
Area 2 North Scotland	126
Area 3 East Scotland	97
Area 4 Inner Clyde to River Tay and East Scottish Border	134
Area 5 North East England	122
Area 6 East of England (Yorkshire, Humberside & Lincolnshire)	134
Area 7 East Anglia	155
Area 8 South East England	152
Area 9 : Southern England including Isle of Wight	202
Area 10 : South West England	175
Area 11 : Cornwall including Isles of Scilly	162
Area 12 : North Devon including Severn Estuary	176
Area 13 : South East Wales to Mid-Wales	203
Area 14 : North West Wales	162
Area 15 : Great Orme to West Scottish Border including the Lakes	152
Area 16 : Solway to Firth of Clyde including Northern Ireland	190
Area 17 : Kintyre to Mull, Isle of Arran and Inner Hebrides	159
Area 18 : Loch Linnhe to Outer Hebrides including Skye & the Small Isles	160

Gary Smith, GMB Scotland Secretary, said: “These 2,800 brave men and women who work in all weathers to rescue people and save lives are denied even the most basic rights of respect and recognition by their employer HM Coastguard.

“Staff with over 30 years experience are being axed without the basic right of being represented by their Union. The HM Coastguard rescue workers risk their lives to help and save others but are treated worse than any other Government worker. Urgent action needs to be taken to show respect for these unsung heroes.

“The union is prepared to litigate for these workers, so they can be properly recognised as part of the HM Coastguard rescue workforce and to ensure their basic employment rights are respected.”

GMB members overwhelmingly reject ‘derisory’ local government pay offer

GMB members across Scottish Local Government have overwhelmingly rejected the Scottish Government’s £800 increase for staff earning under £25,000 a year, sending a clear message to politicians and employers: “We’re worth more.”

Following the close of the union’s consultative ballot, 93 per cent of members voted to reject the offer tabled by the Finance Secretary Kate Forbes in the recent Scottish Budget, increasing the prospect of significant industrial action across local services this summer.

GMB, which represents 20,000 local government workers, pre-dominantly in services like home care, refuse, school support, and roads and maintenance, will now write to the First Minister and COSLA leaders to call for fresh negotiations and a significantly improved offer.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Drew Duffy said: “This is a clear demonstration from key workers across Scottish local government that Kate Forbes’ valuation of their efforts isn’t anywhere near good enough.

“It’s been a wretched year and a desperate decade for council workers, especially the lowest paid and the services they deliver. Home carers, refuse workers, and school support staff have got on with the job for all of us despite being failed on PPE, testing and safe working guidelines. Furthermore, they did this after years of political austerity, which cut their pay in real-terms and gutted their services.

“After the applause and all the political platitudes, to recognise their dedication and sacrifice with an increase that won’t amount to much more than £10 a week for many staff is derisory, and the message to Ministers, politicians on the election trail, and councils is clear: “We’re worth more.””

Key workers: “We’re worth more!”

Ahead of the start of the 124^th STUC Annual Conference today, GMB Scotland members from care, nursing, refuse, ambulance, and school support services, will tell Ministers, “We’re worth more!” as they campaign for a rejection of the NHS and COSLA pay offers for 2021.

GMB workplace representatives in NHS Scotland and COSLA are strongly urging members to reject the respective 4 per cent and £800 increases for the lowest paid workers, arguing the Scottish Government can and should go further after the last twelve months.

The union’s consultative ballot in COSLA will run until Thursday 22 April, and until Wednesday 5 May in NHS Scotland.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Drew Duffy said: “We were told at the start of the pandemic that Scotland was prepared for COVID-19, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

“Health and social care staff tackled the first wave of COVID-19 without proper PPE, home carers were left without workplace testing until January, and school support staff were an afterthought in the education recovery plan.

“From PPE, testing, sick pay support and socially distanced working arrangements, everything that’s been put in place to protect the workers on which we all depend had to be fought for by the workers’ themselves.

“And after a wretched year and desperate decade, where their modest incomes have been cut by thousands of pounds, our members are prepared to fight again for their proper value, against pay offers that don’t amount to much more than a £10 a week increase for many.

“They’ve heard the applause and they’ve read all the political platitudes, but now they are telling the Scottish Government to listen, and the message is clear: “We’re worth more.”

The continuing safety concerns due to COVID-19 means that the 2021 annual Congress will be held as a digital event.

Delegates from over 50 affiliated unions and trades union councils, as well as the STUC equalities committees, will meet over three days to debate and agree new policies.

We will also hear from sisters and brothers from other Trade Union Centres and from politicians.

The STUC General Council will deliver its report of the past 6 months work.

The digital format of Congress limits some of the things we can do but we still have a busy fringe event as well as expo sessions from our sponsors and supportive organisations.

You can watch the whole of Congress live on Facebook or YouTube!

Roz Foyer, STUC General Secretary

British Gas set to hit 38 days of strikes as employer refuses to remove ‘Fire And Rehire’

Over a thousand British Gas workers across Scotland will walk out again tomorrow (Friday 19 March) for strike days thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven and thirty-eight, as the fight continues against their CEO Chris O’Shea’s shameful ‘fire and rehire’ imposition.

Engineers will walk out from 00.01 hours on Friday 19 March until 21.59 hours on Monday 22 March, and again on Friday 26 March to Monday 29 March, taking the total number of strike days in the dispute to forty-two.

Socially distanced picket lines will be in operation tomorrow morning at British Gas facilities in Edinburgh and Uddingston.

The latest wave of strikes was confirmed after workers across the UK voted by a resounding majority of four-to-one against proposals tabled through ACAS over the future of their terms and conditions, with Centrica refusing to lift the ‘fire and rehire’ imposition.

British Gas are set to issue dismissal notices on Monday 29 March to staff who refuse to accept the ‘fire and rehire’ imposition.

After thirty-four days of previous strike action, GMB understands that more than 250,000 homes across the UK are in a backlog for repairs and 350,000 planned annual service visits have been axed.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “British Gas is set to sack key workers if they do not accept Chris O’Shea’s ‘fire and rehire’ imposition – it’s a shameful way for any employer to behave let alone a great British industrial institution.

“Left unchallenged it also sets a dangerous precedent, where even the biggest employers can exploit a public health crisis to attack workers’ rights, and their terms and conditions of employment. That’s not modernisation, it’s Dickensian.

“But the message from our determined and dignified members is loud and clear: Stop the fire and rehire in British Gas, and let’s return to proper negotiations over the future of this business and its workers.”

Time To Be Bold: Care union urges MSPs to support call for £15 an hour social care minimum wage

GMB Scotland is urging all MSPs to support its campaign for a £15 an hour minimum wage for care workers.

In a letter to political party leaders ahead of a Scottish Parliamentary debate on the Independent Review of Adult Social Care this afternoon (Tuesday 16 February), the union calls on MSPs to grasp “a once in a generation opportunity to transform social care” by underpinning reforms with “proper value for the workers who will deliver it.”

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Jeane Freeman MSP will lead the debate for the Scottish Government and recommend the incoming Scottish parliament should implement the findings of the Independent Review “as quickly as practicable”, with opposition MSPs lining-up to back GMB’s pay increase plan for the sector.

The union’s ‘Fight for Fifteen’ campaign was launched following the publication of its sector report, ‘Show You Care: Voices from the frontline of Scotland’s broken social care sector’, which highlighted the significant challenges facing care workers before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GMB Scotland’s Women’s Campaign Unit Organiser Rhea Wolfson said: “The recommendations of the independent review are a once in a generation opportunity to transform social care, but only if they are underpinned by proper value for the workers who will deliver them.

“The report is clear that every £1 spent on social care generates £2 for the wider economy, so if government and industry invest properly in this sector and its people, the effects could be transformative not just for workers and service users, but for society too.

“COVID-19 has exposed how poorly our care workers have been valued, a workforce of mainly low-paid and often exploited women who found themselves on the frontline of a crisis without proper safety or support.

“We owe them a huge debt and if we really want to put care on an equal footing with the NHS as the Cabinet Secretary suggests, then we have to back that up with the investment to match.

“Now is the time to be bold and today Holyrood can rise to the challenge. That’s why we are urging MSPs to stand with our members in care and support their campaign to fight for fifteen.”