"Addaction" drug and alcohol staff to strike on Friday (tomorrow)

Solidarity to privatised NHS UNISON members striking tomorrow. 

Addaction is headquartered in London

"Strike action involving 31 staff employed by Addaction is set to go ahead after Acas talks did not reach a resolution to their dispute on Wednesday.

A 100% vote for strike action was prompted by Addaction’s failure to keep its promise to pay staff the NHS rates for the job. Their union UNISON says that the striking workers stand to lose up to £1000 per year.

The staff are support workers within a drug and alcohol service which is commissioned by Wigan Borough Council. They used to be employed directly by the NHS, and Addaction promised staff that they would continue to receive pay rises in line with NHS rates of pay.

Support workers have been left frustrated as the employer has reneged on this pledge, refusing to implement the NHS three year pay deal which came into effect in April 2018.

Addaction has its headquarters in London and provides services all over the country. It has an annual income in excess of £70million.

Paul Almond, a drug and alcohol worker and UNISON rep, said:

“I never expected to have to go on strike, and I don’t think many of my colleagues did either. We have agonised over this question. But the fact that 100% of us voted to take action shows how strongly we all feel about this issue.

“We’re all willing to stick together to secure the pay rise we were promised.”

UNISON North West regional organiser Paddy Cleary said:

“Addaction have given repeated assurances to staff that they would receive the NHS pay deal, but they have gone back on their word.

“This dedicated group of support workers have been out of pocket for 16 months and have been forced to take strike action by an employer that just won’t listen.

“We had hoped that the Acas talks would be successful, but the local and regional managers who attended made no offer to staff and seemed to have no authority to reverse decisions taken nationally. Assurances made by managers to staff in Wigan and Leigh seem to have been ignored and overridden by bosses in London.

“Our members voted 100% in favour of taking strike action. They are willing to do whatever it takes to secure the pay rise they’re owed. I would strongly urge Addaction to reconsider its position and pay up now.”

Archbishop of Canterbury's "Housing Crisis" Commission visits Newham

This afternoon I met members of the Archbishop of Canterbury Housing Commission at a building site in Newham where the Council is to build new high quality homes at truly affordable rents. Officers and contractors explained what we are doing with the site and answered questions from the Commissioners.

The Commission is investigating the UK housing crisis and how to contribute to the national debate on what should be done to resolve the crisis.

They were interested not only about building new homes, but housing policy regarding right to buy, private sector licensing, planning and community involvement.

Afterwards, Councillor Mohammed and myself went back for a presentation by our policy team and then we had an in depth Q&A with the Commission and Newham housing and planning managers.

I hope the Commissioners found their day in Newham helpful. We invited them back next year to check on what we have delivered.

Many thanks to Stephen Timms MP and his staff for helping to organise this event. 

TUC LESE Annual Health & Safety Briefing – Respiratory Health – a Workplace Issue

TUC LESE Annual Health & Safety Briefing – Respiratory Health – a Workplace Issue

Friday 27 September 2019

Congress House, 23-28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS

·        The central theme for this year is respiratory health, and asbestos past present and future will feature large.

·        This is an event for trade union health and safety reps and trade unionists interested in campaigning on health, safety and well-being issues at work or in the community.

·        Agenda and Guest Speakers to be confirmed  

·        Free event - please register: 020 7467 1218 / jowilliams@tuc.org.uk

Joanne Williams

Administrative Assistant

TUC London, East & South East

020 7467 1218

Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS

tuc.org.uk 

Costa Coffee "stealing" money from their staff

Check out this BBC report

Costa Coffee: Employees call £200 deductions for training 'unfair'

This is outrageous and I hope people boycott this @CostaCoffee in Upminister (& any other employer who steals from its workforce). 

This sort of things is what tends to happen in employers who do not recognise trade unions. 

Park Road Crime & ASB re-inspection 12.8.19

Last week I went on a second walkabout in Park Road, E6 with Residents, Council Officers, Police and local ward Councillor, Nilufa Jahan. Cllr Jahan had persuaded the Police to send a "design out crime" specialist to the block, who had produced an excellent report on ideas to reduce crime and Anti-social behaviour.

Since the last walkabout in November residents, had said that there had been improvements but more needs to be done. I noted that the communal garden maintenance had not been actioned and I have taken this up.

A report has been circulated on problems and possible actions. Our technical officer thinks that we can implement some of the Police design recommendations fairly quickly, which is very positive news. Especially with regard to improving the security of door entry systems.

Ideally we should visit all blocks across the Council with Police design specialists, residents, ward members and technical officers. We do have some money to make improvements.

It may take some time but watch this space. 

UNISON equality survey 2019

Win a holiday AND fight for equality by filling out the 2019 equality survey by 26 August. Go to https://unison.org.uk/eqsurvey2019

Newham Council Under the Stars 2019

Loved it

Concerned about someone sleeping rough?

Hat tip Newham Council "If you are concerned about someone who is rough sleeping and medical attention is not immediately required, you can make a referral to StreetLink through their website or call 0300 500 0914 which is charged at normal call rate.  

You will need to provide:

• ​a specific location of the rough sleeper to enable our outreach team to find them
• the time the rough sleeper has been seen at the location
• any information that will help identify them (gender, approximate age, what the person looks like, what they are wearing etc.).

Once your referral is received by StreetLink, they will alert Newham’s outreach team who will seek to find the rough sleeper and connect them to support services within 24hours. You will receive details of the action we have taken as a result of your alert within 10 working days if you have requested it." 

If the person needs urgent medical attention or you believe they are under 18 years of age please call 999.

Vote Wendy Nichols for UNISON National Labour Link Committee representing Yorkshire & Humberside

Wendy is a superb working class, life long trade unionist. We need members like her putting UNISON values at the heart of the Labour Party. 

St Matthews public meeting on Crime and ASB

A lovely picture from last Friday evening when Councillors and officers met Residents and Police to discuss how to tackle jointly crime and anti-social behaviour in the area (Forest Gate South ward adjacent to Romford Road).

The meeting was Chaired by Cllr Shaban Mohammed and went in my view really well with constructive but frank views expressed and received. Residents seemed to have been pleased with recent changes (thanks to the new ward Council Housing liaison officers who have been very proactive). Residents let us know that they expected us to deliver for them.

The Police and the Council undertook to support residents with improved enforcement action and also for housing to make improvements in order to try and "design out crime".

We also had a decent discussion about the impact that Government cuts to Police numbers and local authority grants has had. 

I have never been inside St Matthews Church before and did not realise how large it is and its beautiful stained glass windows. It parish war memorial from the first world war was also striking and it stuns you how many local men were killed in a relatively small London parish. There were also 3 family plaques on the walls remembering the war time deaths of young parishioners.