Tom Baldwin, South West Socialist Party
70 Unison members formed a vibrant lobby of Lib Dem-run Bath and North East Somerset Council on 9 March, despite it having been called at short notice for a Monday morning. The union has been forced into an emergency response after workers in children’s services were told their roles were being ‘deleted’ and they would have to reapply.
Council management claim it’s due to the government’s new ‘families first’ policy, but workers were clear: this is being used as a Trojan horse for fire-and-rehire and swingeing cuts. These cuts are devastating for the workers and the vital service they provide protecting vulnerable children and families.
This is both cruel and calamitous. Speaking with the workers, it seems the decision was made by senior council management without informing team managers, or even councillors! If true, the councillors must now reverse the decision.
Workers were sent emails after work hours so had no chance to support one another. Those emails were riddled with errors and have had to be reissued, sometimes more than once. Workers are still in the dark about important issues regarding their livelihoods and the people they support. It seems senior management have no plan and no clue as to what the future of the service will look like, beyond cost-cutting.
Council workers recently cancelled a planned strike while negotiations with ACAS were ongoing. Now they’re faced with an even worse attack. Staff are understandably scared about what the changes will mean, but aren’t intimidated and are so far refusing to engage with the reapplication process. They are in no mood to take this lying down. The lobby followed an emergency meeting of 120 members, called with just 24 hours notice, discussing their options for fighting to defend jobs and services.
In a show of solidarity, the lobby was joined by Bristol-based Unison members from mental health charity Second Step. These workers have been on strike for union recognition and against a real-terms pay cut. That action has been stepped up and they are now out continuously until 17 March.
