Investor briefing on Private Credit and ‘fire and rehire’ - The Oscar Mayer dispute and Pemberton Asset Management (Thursday 16 Jan)

 

Tomorrow (Thursday 16 Jan) I will be moderating an online investor briefing on Private Credit and ‘fire and rehire’ - The Oscar Mayer dispute and Pemberton Asset Management. 

"Oscar Mayer is a food production business that makes ready meals sold in supermarkets across Britain. It is majority owned and controlled by Pemberton Asset Management, a private credit manager which took over the company in 2023.

550 Unite members working in Oscar Mayer’s Wrexham factory are taking strike action against a fire and rehire scheme imposed by management. Oscar Mayer management have already sacked 30 Unite members to force through savage cuts to terms and conditions.
  
Management is forcing through new contracts that reduce workers’ time off the production line to just two short breaks a day. Under the new contacts, workers won’t be paid for this time.  Overtime for working on bank holidays is also being taken away. All told, the changes will cost workers up to £3,000 a year each. 

Given its ownership, it is clear Pemberton has the capacity to intervene. Unite is calling on pension funds and other asset owners to make no further allocations to Pemberton until the dispute is resolved. Already Clwyd Pension Fund has confirmed it will be making no further allocations.

Unite has additionally submitted a complaint against Pemberton under the PRI’s Serious Violations Policy asking that it be removed as a signatory.

Please join us to hear more about the dispute this Thursday at 4pm UK. The meeting will be moderated by John Gray, trade union representative on London CIV, and include a contribution from Councillor Anthony Wedlake from Wrexham who is a member of the Clwyd pension committee".

Topic: Oscar Mayer dispute and Pemberton Asset Management
Time: Jan 16, 2025 04:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting 

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Meeting ID: 928 9208 0496 

Password: 798521 

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Standing for re-election UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) 25-27 - Members Together

 

Yesterday, Denise and I opened our re-election campaign to stand for the UNISON Community Service Group NEC seats to represent 80,000 members, who work in Charities and Housing Associations. We emailed 548 branches to provide information about ourselves and to ask for their nomination. 

There are number of other NEC candidates, who we are supporting, who I will post upon later. Please see below our covering email to branches. 

"Dear Branch Secretary,

 

We are writing to ask you to nominate us for the Community seats on the National Executive Council (NEC), by Friday 14 February. We also ask you to support all Members Together Candidates.

 

Both of us are experienced NEC members seeking re-election, we pledge to:

 

• Prioritise Branches
• Support our Community Activists
• Deliver for Community Members
• Restore Unity
• Fight Discrimination and put Equalities at the heart of UNISON

Please find attached our nomination request letter with more details on our pledges, who we are and what we stand for, we ask that this is please circulated to your branch committee and reps.

 

Members Together

We are part of Members Together - a group of like-minded members who put members first. We believe in our union and know the power it has to improve our lives at work. We also recognise the challenges that branches face and are determined to address them. We do not think this has happened over recent years because of political infighting.

  

What you need to do

 

The steps you need to take are:

 

1. Set a date between 13 January and 14 February for the branch nominating committee or branch executive to meet
2. Decide who to nominate, please read our full letter
3. If you have community members but are not a community branch, please ask them to support our nomination and ratify their decision at your committee meeting. We appreciate this is time consuming, but we know how important it is that they also have a voice in our union.

3. Fill in the online nomination submission in the email from CES you should have received as soon as possible and before 14 February 2025. 

 Please consider nominating us and other candidates in the Members Together group.

 

You can find more information about nominating on page 5 of the 2025 NEC Election - Procedures document - NEC election procedures

 

If you’d like to discuss anything mentioned in this letter, feel free to get in touch by emailing or calling us. We are more than happy to discuss Members Together, our platform and what we’re doing for your branch.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Denise Thomas

John Gray

New UNIONREPS site

 

The TUC last year relaunched its UNISONREPS website which you can apply for a log in here TUC - UNIONREPS

It is an excellent resource where you can ask (and answer) questions of reps from other trade unions on various issues :-

• Equality
• Health & Safety
• Law & Representation
• Learning & Skills
• Organising & Recruiting
• Pensions

While it is not designed to replace your traditional sources of advice and support from your branch or region it is a really useful and informative resource for all trade union reps. 

A-Z of UNISON learning resources

 

Hat tip Fife Health Branch. 

Did you know there is a whole page of UNISON learning resources and resources created by other organisations, which may be helpful to you? See full detail below: learning.unison.org.uk/a-z-of-uniso...

National Executive Council elections 2025-2027

(It is that time again...and yes I will be standing for re-election. More to follow).

"On this page you can find out everything you need to know about the vote to elect UNISON’s new National Executive Council (NEC). NEC Election 2025 | UNISON National

What is the NEC?

The NEC is made up of representatives elected from all of UNISON’s regions and service groups, as well as seats for four Black members, two young members and two disabled members. It has the power to act on behalf of the union and is responsible for implementing UNISON policy and delivering on the union’s objectives and priorities.

UNISON’s rule book says we have to elect our NEC every two years.

When is the ballot?

The ballot opens on 21 April 2025 and runs until 21 May 2025. The results will be announced on 11 June 2025.

Who are the candidates in this election?

Candidate applications are welcomed from members who have held full membership of UNISON since 11 September 2024. If you wish to run as a candidate, please fill out the candidate form found online here from 13 January 2025

Candidate applications must be received by 5pm 14 February 2025".

"FTSE 100 bosses make more money in less than three days than the average worker does in a year"

The High Pay Centre estimates that FTSE 100 CEOs’ earnings for 2025 will surpass the median UK worker’s full time annual salary today, just before midday on Monday 6 January

FTSE 100 bosses’ will have to work two hours more to overtake UK median worker than they did in 2024

Calculations based on most recent available figures for CEOs and other top professions, plus Government data on UK workers’ pay.

The median FTSE 100 CEO’s earnings for 2025 will surpass the median annual salary for a full-time worker in the UK by around midday on Monday 6 January, according to HPC calculations.

The calculations are based on HPC’s  analysis of the most recent CEO pay disclosures published in companies’ annual reports, combined with government statistics showing pay levels across the UK economy.

As with last year, the executive pay data suggests that CEOs will have to work less than three days of 2025 to surpass the annual pay of the median worker.

Median FTSE 100 CEO pay (excluding pension) currently stands at £4.22 million, 113 times the median full time worker’s pay of £37,430. This represents a 2.5% increase on median CEO pay levels in the past year, while the median worker’s pay has increased by 7%.

In October, the new Government introduced an Employment Rights Bill, including measures promising to give trade unions reasonable access to workplaces to speak to workers and requiring employers to inform new employees of their right to join a union. The decline in trade union membership is widely recognised to have been a key factor in rising CEO to worker pay gaps and widening inequality that has occurred in the UK and across other Western countries since the 1980s.

HPC’s Charter for Fair Pay, published last Autumn called for effective implementation of the Employment Rights Bill as well as further measures giving workers more of a voice in the running of companies.

FTSE 100 bosses make more money in less than three days than the average worker does in a year • High Pay Centre

Happy New Year!

Nuf said. View from Peak Forest, Derbyshire December 24. 

Nadolig Llawen

 Merry Christmas! 

Elevated to the peerage

 

Hat tip to Martin's blog for this news "Lyn Brown, who stood down as MP for West Ham at the last general election, has been appointed to the House of Lords.

The full list of political peerages is here.

Many congratulations, Lyn!"

Lyn is of course a long standing UNISON member (and former local government officer). I was also really pleased that UNISON convenor (and our nominee on the Labour Party NEC) Wendy Nichols was also appointed UNISON welcomes new appointments to the House of Lords | News, Press release | News | UNISON National

Young LHG Conference: Solving the housing crisis for your people - Sat Feb 8

 

Registration for the Young LHG Conference is now open! All Under-40s are invited to join us for a day of discussion themed on 'Solving the housing crisis for young people' Click below to register now! https://eventbrite.co.uk/e/young-lhg-conference-solving-the-housing-crisis-for-young-people-tickets-1113986707229?aff=ebdsoporgprofile