Your cost of living rise-what is happening

In March Martin Narey, Chief Executive Officer of Barnardo's,issued a broadcast entitled “Budgets and the Financial outlook”.

 In his broadcast he outlined the financial challenges facing Barnardo’s and other voluntary organisations within the current financial climate. He intimated that Barnardo’s may not be able to afford to follow whatever agreement is made between the unions and the Local Government employees which has been Barnardo’s custom and practice for as long as many of us can remember.

The recognition agreement signed by Barnardo’s and UNISON in 2004 is specific on the negotiation of pay and removes it from our discussions on the understanding that Barnardo’s continues to follow the NJC (National Joint Council) agreement between Local Government and the Unions. 

You will remember that last years agreement only came to a conclusion after two strikes and was paid in two tranches, in November and then in March this year.

So the policy that Barnardo’s traditionally has had of waiting for the NJC agreement is a double edged sword. It does mean that we get the same pay rise as local government workers ( although it is for all Barnardo’s staff as  the agreement is based on the award  made in England and Wales, which has implication for Barnardo’s employees in Scotland and Northern Ireland). However, it also means that sometimes we have to wait long periods before we get it. It also means that neither our branch nor Barnardo’s can influence the result as we sit outside of the negotiations between Local Government and the unions negotiating machinery.

If Barnardo’s were to decide not to follow the NJC agreement then it would mean that they would need to enter into negotiations with UNISON to amend our recognition agreement so that it would include an annual negotiation on pay. If necessary UNISON will strive to achieve this and ensure that pay awards are not simply imposed. But pay is not discussed in isolation, and other issues that impact on pay and conditions would also need to be part of any agreement.

 No formal discussions have taken place and if they were to do so, we would consult with you, our members to understand your wishes on the subject.

 Redundancies in the voluntary sector, how does Barnardo’s compare?

In his broadcast, Martin Narey paints a picture of Barnardo’s under pressure but doing better  than other voluntary organisations in staving off redundancies as a result of the country’s financial crisis.

 We have discussed this with UNISON colleagues from other voluntary organisations and within UNISON nationally. Our understanding is that on redundancies Barnardo’s is faring about the same if not marginally better than those voluntary organisations that, like us, have a majority of our work paid for directly by local authorities. However, it is fair to say Barnardo’s is faring a lot better than those organisations whose work is predominantly dependant on voluntary funds and who receive far less direct income for the services from other agencies. It is also clear from TUPE activity that Barnardo’s is being more successful than some of its larger competitors in gaining new work

 UNISON appreciates and sees at first hand the efforts made by Barnardo’s to secure funding bids to expand and also to offer continuity of employment. UNISON also acknowledges that many funding decisions come very late and are often contrary to informal indications that have been given by local authorities. So we know that sometimes Barnardo’s (and our members and service users) are victims of poor and seemingly expeditious decisions as Local Authorities panic to balance their books!  Easier to pull the plug on a Barnardo’s service and save 100K than to meet the cost of making their own staff redundant whatever the impact on services for children in their area.

 But, there have been redundancies in Barnardo’s in this last period since Christmas. Most have been related to reduction or curtailment of external funding and some are also directly related to the reduction in Voluntary funds coming into Barnardo’s.

 The reduction in Voluntary funds has also meant that Regions and Nations have less ability to be creative in supporting services in financial difficulties or supporting work that is solely support by VF. All Regions and Nations are under pressure to lessen the reliance on voluntary funds and this will continue to have an impact on jobs.

 Clearly, there has been an impact on Barnardo’s finances in the current crisis. But there has also been an impact on you, our members.

 The current discussions on pay between the unions and the local authority employers have stalled at present. The current offer is an insulting 0.5%. We will keep you abreast of developments both inside and outside Barnardo’s.

So watch this space!

What do you think? Go to the members forums and air your views. If you cannot get in please email us at unison@barnardos.org.uk