Tag: Unite the union

UNITE: Time to pull the plug on energy profiteers

New union investigation reveals taking energy into public ownership would end the ‘scandal of energy company profiteering’
  • Last year bill payers could have saved £45 billion with average bills cut by £1800. 
  • Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham to urge Starmer to reconsider Labour policy.  

Taking public control of the UK’s energy network could reduce bills, reduce inflation, and pay for itself in a few years, reveals new research by Unite the Union.

 Unite Investigates “Renationalising Energy – costs and savings considers how a publicly run energy network could use the massive profits of Britain’s energy giants to reduce household bills and fund the transition to a green future with secure jobs.

Unite Investigates’ report  is the first to determine the potential costs and savings of taking public control of the entire UK energy network – including North Sea oil and gas production, electricity generation, transmission and distribution networks, and supply companies.

The report reveals that companies made £45 billion profit from the UK domestic energy system in 2022. If that money had been kept in public hands, it could have been used to save each household £1,800 on their energy bills. Read Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham’s interview in today’s FT.

Household energy bills have been one of the biggest contributors to high inflation. Using energy profits to freeze bills in summer 2021, when prices started to shoot up, would have meant inflation was at least 4.1% lower last year. So in due course nationalisation could markedly reduce inflation.

Unite’s report also investigates the potential costs of nationalisation. Using the ‘book value’ approach, which compensates companies for their spending, Unite estimates a total cost of £90 billion. That is equal to just two years of profits at the 2022 level. Even as energy prices fall, taking control of energy would pay for itself within a few years.

Sharon Graham, Unite General Secretary said: “It’s time to end the scandal of our energy system which allows profiteers to pocket billions while workers and communities are left in the cold.”

“For the first time we have laid out the full costs and savings of taking the entire energy network we all rely on into public ownership.

“It’s a tragic missed opportunity that, if the energy system had been run for the benefit of all not the profits of a few, households could have saved £45 billion, avoiding high bills that have left millions in the cold or searching for ‘warm banks.’

“It’s time to pull the plug on the energy profiteers. Unite is showing it’s no longer a question of ‘can we afford to’, it’s how long can we afford not to.”

This report follows the historic profits recorded by BP and Shell, who made a combined profit of £55 billion and British Gas owner Centrica.

Unite has previously exposed rampant profiteering by electricity and gas distributors, who made £6.3 billion in 2021 with huge long-term operating profit margins of over 40 per cent.

UNITE: Bins strikes to resume Tuesday

*** UPDATE – STRIKES SUSPENDED FOLLOWING NEW PAY OFFER ***

UNITE members in Waste and Cleansing will walk out again from Tuesday 6th to Tuesday 13th September as the dispute over local government pay in Scotland continues.

Schools workers in Edinburgh are not on strike.

Unite is adamant that until COSLA obtains funding from the Scottish Government to offer a proper pay rise, action will continue with the mandates we have in waste and schools.

The First Minister held talks with both Cosla and the striking trade unions yesterday in an attempt to break the deadlock. There has been some progress and a deal is inching closer. Talks will continue today.

UPDATE: 3.30pm UNITE has suspended next week’s strike action as members consider an improved pay offer

NO DEAL: Unions reject new Cosla offer that’s ‘as good as it gets’

MORE BINS MISERY LOOMS AS FURTHER STRIKES PLANNED

COSLA last night expressed its disappointment with the Local Government Trade Unions reaction to ‘one of the best pay deals for their workforce in decades’.

The offer, negotiated on behalf of Scotland’s 32 councils, is an overall package worth half a billion pounds, giving 5% to all staff plus an additional cost of living payment to our lowest paid employees. Based on a 37-hour week no member of staff will get less than an additional £1925 and for those earning under £20,500 at least a £2,000 pay increase – for this year and also next year.

This has been designed to address the concerns and firm view of Trade Unions that the lowest paid must be protected during this crisis and demonstrates Local Government’s commitment to not leave anyone behind.  

Councils continue to strive to lead the way in pushing up minimum rates of pay and as well as this are including an extra days annual leave this year.

Councillor Katie Hagmann COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson said: “Council Leaders have said consistently throughout these negotiations that we absolutely value and are grateful to all of our local government workforce.

“It is perhaps only when waste starts piling up and there is the prospect of further disruption to life with school closures that others see the hidden value local government services deliver each and every day of the year in our towns, villages and cities.

“It is for this reason that we as employers have done everything possible to put the best offer we can to our workforce.  But we are now at the absolute extremes of affordability and this is already an offer which is stretching our already stretched finances like never before.

“This year’s offer is significantly better and different to previous offers and would have helped to support our Council workforces across the country at this difficult time.

“That support is crucial at any time but particularly now, during the cost of living crisis the country is facing.  This is why we are so disappointed with the response to it from our Trade Union colleagues.

“Given our commitment as Employers to get to this point, we are disappointed that Trade Unions will not suspend planned strike action whilst they put this offer to members to allow workers to get back to doing what they do best, delivering high quality, essential services right across Scotland.

“My final point to the Trade Union colleagues is that we have done everything we possibly can to get to this stage and that this offer – which is still on the table – is as good as it gets.”

UNISON responded: ‘Strikes to continue – We will recommend UNISON council members vote to reject the latest LG pay offer in a digital consultative ballot in the coming days.’

GMB Scotland and Unite, the two other unions locked in the local government dispute, also rejected the latest pay offer. GMB says the council pay offer feathers nests of service directors over frontline staff.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said: “A flat rate award is a key demand from unions to ensure more consolidated money goes into the pockets of frontline workers and not the highest paid in our councils. COSLA knew this but instead tabled this offer as an across-the-board percentage rise that only feathers the nests of service directors.

“This was unacceptable to our local government committee members. It’s not credible that in the grip of the biggest cost-of-living crisis in forty years, and with inflation and energy bills soaring, a head of service gets four times the consolidated increase than a bin collector, cleaner or carer.

“That’s why we have written to COSLA again this evening urging them to return to talks as soon as possible and to negotiate a new offer based on a flat rate increase. If they don’t do this, then when our committee reconvenes tomorrow, we will outline our plans to fully consult GMB members.”

The big clean up begins in Edinburgh this morning – but unless a pay deal can be thrashed out we could be facing another round of industrial action in Auld Reekie as earky as next week.

UNITE members rallied outside the City Chambers yesterday to mark the end of the first wave of strikes – but made clear this dispute is far from over.

A Unite spokesperson said: “Unless they get an offer Local Authority workers deserve, Edinburgh will be joined by 19 other Councils to take further action from September 6th.”

PM must set timetable for Covid-19 public inquiry, says TUC

The TUC is calling for an immediate public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The call came as workers around the world marked International Workers’ Memorial Day yesterday, in memory of those who have died, been injured, suffered work-related ill-health or been infected at work.

Official figures show more than 11,000 working age people have died of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

The TUC says that alongside scrutinising the quality of decision-making across the pandemic response in government, the public inquiry must specifically look at infection control and workplace safety, including the failure to provide adequate financial support to self-isolate, PPE availability for health and care staff and other frontline workers throughout the crisis, the effectiveness of test and trace, and the failure to enforce the law on workplace safety.

It adds it should examine the unequal impact of Covid-19 on different groups of workers, specifically Black and Minority Ethnic workers and insecure occupations among whom Covid mortality rates are disproportionately higher.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Any public inquiry must look at why workers were put at risk – be it through inadequate PPE or being unable to afford to self-isolate.

“This isn’t about settling scores. It’s about getting answers and learning the lessons to save lives in future. On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we remember those who have died, and pledge ourselves to fight for safe workplaces for everyone.”

Jo Goodman, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said: “An independent, judge-led statutory public inquiry is vital to making sure we learn lessons and save lives during the pandemic and for any future waves.”

The families of Unite members who lost loved ones to Covid-19 walked the memorial wall in London ton International Workers’ Memorial Day.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and the families also joined with TUC representatives to observe the minute’s silence at midday on 28 April.

Unite said it is throwing its weight behind calls for a statutory public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic, recently rejected by ministers, and is backing the campaign for the National Covid Memorial Wall in Lambeth, south London, to be made permanent.

The memorial wall is made up of 150,000 individual painted hearts, one for every UK person who lost their life to the disease in the past year. The wall is around half a kilometre long and takes around 10 minutes to walk.

Len McCluskey joined Hannah Brady and Leshie Chandrapala, who both lost their fathers to the disease last year. Hannah’s father caught the virus while travelling to his work in a factory, while Leshie’s father was one of 27 London bus drivers who died of the disease between March and May last year.

Speaking ahead of his visit, Len McCluskey said: “Unite offers the bereaved families our full support in securing a permanent home for this incredible wall, and in the continued battle for the full and frank public inquiry the country needs.”

SJIB and Unite the Union welcome consultation calling for regulation of electricians

The Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB) and Unite the Union have welcomed the launch of a consultation exercise which it is hoped will lead to the introduction of a Member’s Bill calling for regulation of electricians.

Both organisations are supporting the proposed Bill, which MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston plans to put forward following the new consultation announced last week.

The Bill by the Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands is calling for the introduction of protection of title, which would ensure that only properly qualified and experienced professionals could call themselves an electrician.

Mr Halcro Johnston said: “Poor quality work has potentially dangerous consequences and presents a risk to neighbours and a financial cost to insurers, as well as placing our emergency services unnecessarily in harm’s way.

“The proposed Bill would ensure that electricians undertaking work are qualified to do so and effectively registered. This will not only benefit the end consumer, but also the electrical industry, which depends on the trust of the wider public.

“Unfortunately, due to restrictions on parliamentary time, my Bill won’t be able to get through during the current parliamentary session. However, by doing this, we have started a process which could lead to an historic and long overdue change after the 2021 election.”

The launch of the consultation was endorsed by the SJIB, which is one of the many organisations backing a rapidly-growing campaign for recognition of electrician as a profession.

Fiona Harper, The Secretary of the SJIB, said: “This consultation is the first part of a very important journey to ensure that only those who are appropriately qualified and experienced are allowed to call themselves an electrician.

“It adds further momentum to the industry’s commitment to improve consumer safety and is another important milestone in protecting people and businesses across Scotland.

“We would like to thank Mr Halcro Johnston for his hard work in getting this important matter to this stage and we look forward to seeing its development.”

Pat Rafferty, Unite Scotland Regional Secretary, added: “This announcement is another step on the road to protecting the reputation of properly qualified electricians, both now and for the next generation.

“Ensuring that skills, qualifications and competence are properly protected will underpin the future of our industry and help raise the bar across our profession as a whole.”

However, Fiona added: “Momentum is everything, so it’s vital that regulation happens as soon as possible. Every day we spend debating is another day that the public are exposed to shoddy and sub-standard electrical work, performed by so-called electricians with no qualifications at all.”

The SJIB and Unite are among the organisations supporting the #BackTheBrick campaign spearheaded by SELECT, Scotland’s largest trade association.

The association has been pressing the Scottish Government for regulation of electricians and has received significant support from MPs, MSPs and major organisations. In May, Liberal-Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton and SNP MP Alan Brown added their names to the SELECT Wall of Support, following in the footsteps of  the 32 MSPs who vowed to support the campaign in November 2019.

The issue has already been debated in the Scottish Parliament, with an Electricians Working Group convened to explore the challenges of ensuring the safety of electrical installations and protecting consumers.

  • The consultation can be responded to here and is open until Tuesday 10 November 2020.

SECTT holds out a helping hand to apprentices made redundant during the COVID-19 crisis

Apprentices made redundant by the fallout from COVID-19 are being offered a lifeline by an industry-focused charitable trust backed by one of Scotland’s largest trade associations.

The Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT), which was established by campaigning electrotechnical trade body SELECT and Unite the Union, has stepped in to work with both trainees and employers to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

SECTT, which manages high-quality training on behalf of the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB), is actively seeking alternative employment for apprentices whose posts have disappeared, and has placed many out “on loan” to companies to keep their training and skill sets up to speed.

It is hoped these employers will now offer the apprentices employment and the opportunity to complete their apprenticeship, with 50% of the young people temporarily placed with other companies now being offered full-time jobs.

The Trust says the number of apprentices being taken on has fallen from a running average of 700 to 380 since the construction industry in Scotland was shut down in March this year. Of the 2,650 apprentices in training, 52 have been made redundant, 29 of them since June 1.

Anne Galbraith, chief executive of SECTT, (above) said: “The Trust is acting decisively because, in times of crisis, not only are training budgets in the firing line, but recruitment freezes close off employment opportunities for young entrants to the workforce.

“SECTT Training Officers have been working urgently on this issue, since not every one of our trainees has access to IT and communications tools, and face-to-face training effectively ceased in March. Working with our approved centres we have been able to offer remote learning for some of the course work.

“Five months is a long time without site or college interaction and it has been proving difficult to engage with some apprentices, but thankfully only a few. The fear is that many are struggling with confidence issues and even fear of going out.

“We have been identifying those at risk and supplying laptops so that they can remain in contact and complete any online course work. SECTT Training Officers have also been operating a business as usual policy and contacting apprentices on a regular basis.

“Having said that, it is very encouraging that most SELECT members are not paying off apprentices and are also trying hard to help those in trouble. Their reaction has been extremely positive. And while recruitment numbers are down, they are rising again every week.

“As well as advice and a friendly ear, we want to be able to support the redundant apprentices to continue at college so that they can complete the stage they are in, as this makes them more attractive to employers.”

Anne added: “My priority is on our current apprentices and ensuring that they can return to college safely and are all able to complete the stages of their apprenticeship. We can then focus on recruitment. All the above supports the Scottish Government’s recovery plans.”

Fiona Harper, The Secretary of the SJIB, said: “We know times are hard and, although the UK Government’s furlough scheme has helped, some businesses are still faced with a challenging economic future.

“In an ideal world, we would want these employers to retain their apprentices where possible, but we also realise that this may not be a realistic option for everyone. However, if the worst does happen, we want apprentices to know that we are here for them and will do our very best to help.

“SECTT has been working extremely hard over these past few months, finding alternate employment for apprentices and placing them with suitable employers.

“SELECT Members should also be saluted for the way they have stepped in and offered to help with much-needed offers of work, helping us to give these would-be electricians hope for the future.”

SECTT was established in 1990 to manage the SJIB Apprentice and Adult Training Schemes. It runs the only industry approved training schemes for electrical apprenticeships in Scotland. The SJIB Schemes are designed to regulate the entry, conditions of service, training and education of all persons in the electrical contracting industry, with a particular focus on apprenticeships. 

SECTT manages the apprentices throughout their training from the first day at college to becoming a qualified electrician. 

For more information, please contact Iain Mason, Director of Communications at SELECT, the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland, The Walled Garden, Bush Estate, Midlothian EH26 0SB. T:  0131 445 5577. F: 0131 445 5548. E: admin@select.org.uk. W: www.select.org.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/updates_select

Pledge to protect workers

FAIR WORKS PRACTICES HIGHLIGHT NEED FOR COLLABORATION

Business groups, trades unions and leaders from local government and the third sector have committed to putting fair work at the heart of Scotland’s economic recovery.

As Scotland continues to ease lockdown restrictions, organisations including the Institute of Directors (IoD), SCDI, STUC, COSLA and SCVO have signed a statement underlining the collaborative approach needed between employers, unions and workers to ensure workplaces can operate safely.

Fair Work Minister Jamie Hepburn said: “There is no doubt that Scotland’s economy faces an enormous challenge as we emerge from the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. However, I firmly believe that with employers across all sectors of the economy working in partnership with unions and workers we can use the crisis as an opportunity build fairer and more inclusive workplaces.

“In March we published a statement of Fair Work Principles, setting out our high expectation for keeping fair work at the heart of our national response to COVID-19 during lockdown. Now, as these restrictions continue to ease, we must maintain the momentum we have started to build, ensuring collaboration between workers, employers, representative groups and trades unions.

“This new statement will help employers and employees make decisions that are in everyone’s interest as we carefully reopen the economy. I have been deeply impressed by the work already done in this area, and I want to offer my sincere gratitude to workers and employers for reacting with such agility and dynamism to the challenges thrown up by the pandemic.”

Malcolm Cannon, IoD National Director, Scotland, said: “It is absolutely critical for the recovery of the Scottish economy that the Government works closely with Business Organisations, and the IOD is happy to support this fair work initiative.”

The revised Fair Work Statement was signed by the Institute of Directors, Scottish Council for Development and Industry, COSLA, SCVO, the STUC and Scottish Government.

Last week, the Unite trade union criticised Centrica’s employment plans.

The plan by Centrica, owner of British Gas, ‘to fire and rehire’ its 20,000 employees is the latest example of organisations using the coronavirus emergency as a smokescreen to shed jobs, and erode pay and conditions of workers.

Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union, said the decision of the energy giant follows on from other high profile employers, such as British Airways and the University of Sheffield, which have also adopted similar ‘deplorable’ employment practices during the pandemic.

Unite represents Centrica workers including electrical services’ engineers, as well as those employed at power stations and at Centrica Storage Ltd.

Unite regional officer Mark Pettifer said: “The notice that Centrica has given the trade unions that it is going to ‘fire and rehire’ its 20,000 staff on what, we believe, will be inferior pay and employment conditions is deplorable.

“It is part of a disturbing trend where employers are using the pandemic to shed staff and erode employment conditions.

“Centrica is adopting the same tactics as BA and is using Covid-19 as a smokescreen to cut jobs of loyal and dedicated staff who have worked through the lockdown providing energy to the nation.

“Centrica has been in consultations with the unions for the last fortnight over its future plans and now in an act of bad faith unveils its ‘fire and rehire’ plans. It smacks of blackmail – ‘If you don’t do what we want, we will issue notice of dismissals’.

“Unite urges the Centrica management to have an urgent rethink and engage constructively with the trade unions to tackle the specific issues facing Centrica and, more generally, the UK energy sector post-Covid-19.”

In June, Centrica announced that it would be axing of 5,000 jobs, primarily at management level. Before lockdown the company faced a situation of customers leaving to go to smaller suppliers, the energy price cap and falling gas prices.

More information about Fair Work can be found on the Fair Work Convention website.