A crack in the anti-smoking edifice?

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Only a small one:

Health bosses have announced they are planning to install controversial smoking shelters at the James Paget Hospital despite it being a smoke free site for more than seven years.

There are predictable exclamations of outrage from the normal culprits plus, a new entrant to the nannying fussbucket ranks, Unison:
 

And Unison, which represents thousands of NHS workers, thought health bosses had more opportunity to address the problem rather than just installing shelters.

Jeff Keighley, Unison regional director, said: “Three quarters of smokers want to quit when asked and I would expect this to be higher in health professionals and hospital workers. 

So much for looking after the workers!

There's a poll on the idea with the article too.

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Bring it on!

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The public sector trade unions - or at least their leaders - are threatening us with strikes again. After assorted teachers' union leaders calling for strike action because their pension contributions will rise a little, we have Dave Prentiss from Unison:

Unless this government changes direction, it is heading for industrial turmoil on a massive scale,'he added. 'The government must understand that UNISON will fight tooth and nail to protect and defend public services.'

I remember the late 1970s when we buckled time and again to these sort of threats. And I remember the damage that unions did to the economy, damaging - even destroying - good businesses, creating misery for millions and using their power to demand preference for their members at the expense of the old, the sick and the poor. We should never do so again. Never.

So bring it on Mr Prentiss.

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No.......

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I'm sure many of you are familiar with the kind of meeting where the Chief Executive paints the gloomy picture of the business - pay freezes, shorter hours, no promotion raises and the dread spectre of the 'R' word - redundancy. I spent yesterday morning in one of those meetings - depressing stuff.

So imagine my delight when opening my council e-mail to read this:

Councillor

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PAY AWARD 2010- 2011

We are writing to you as the UNISON members representing NJC workers in Bradford Council to make you aware of our members’ anger at the pay ‘freeze’ imposed on them for the 1 April 2010 – 2011 pay settlement. We believe that, as a councillor, you should be aware of this, particularly in a year of local – and the General – elections, when issues such as pay will obviously influence how our members vote. We are urging you to ask our council and the LGA to reconsider their support for an effective pay cut for our members this year.

There have been no negotiations over our pay this year. At the last meeting of the NJC Joint Secretaries – at which they were expecting to open negotiations – they were told that the Employers’ Side had decided that there would be no increase in pay for our members this year. We understand that there was cross-party consensus amongst LGA Group Leaders on this decision. We are surprised and disappointed at the decision itself and the manner in which it was arrived at. The consequences of it are likely to be very serious indeed – for our members, service users and for local government itself.....

The letter carries on in this mildly threatening vein for several more paragraphs ending with this:

Below-inflation pay increases in recent years have already left our members – your employees - struggling to make ends meet. As a councillor, we know that you will appreciate the vital contribution they make to local people in our local authority and will want to ensure that our council can continue to recruit and retain such dedicated staff. We are sure that you will be seeking their support to continue to provide vital services as redundancies and workloads increase, but they will be reluctant to do so with only a pay cut to reward them for their efforts! Their commitment is being severely challenged and you will appreciate that 1.6 million employees, their families and friends will be unlikely to show electoral support for those who appear to value them so little.

We would like to hear from you and would ask you to give us a response to the following questions:

Do you agree with this year’s pay cut for NJC workers in our council?
What was the budget for pay this year in its Medium Term Financial Plan in 2008-9?

How does this council intend to use the pay element of the formula grant from central Government?

If you support our members’ right to a pay increase this year, we would ask you to write to the Chairman of the LGA, Margaret Eaton, urging the LGA and the Local Government Employers to change their minds.

We look forward to a response to our letter.

With best wishes,


UNISON Rep

Well that just took the biscuit. I thought about writing a long, considered response but why should I bother?

Dear Unison Rep

Why should you get a pay rise when others (equally poorly paid and without your lovely index-linked final salary pension) are facing pay cuts - assuming of course they've kept their jobs.

You and your members don't have a "right" to a pay rise - you get one when it's affordable just like everyone else. And in case you haven't noticed there's not a great deal of spare cash around out there.

So do I support your case? In a word....

++++++++++NO++++++++++

Yours etc.


Cllr Simon Cooke

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