GMB welcome pay cut reversal for Ealing Care Home staff
GMB welcome pay cut reversal by Viridian Housing for Ealing Care home staff.
A good society is judged by what it provides to the most vulnerable and Adult Social Care is a vital Public Service, regardless of who the provider is says GMB London.
GMB, the union for Ealing Care Home staff, welcome Viridian Housings announcement that they have withdrawn their initial proposals to cut pay for domestic, laundry and housekeeping staff and care workers from between 5% and 12%. [See notes to editors for GMB press release from November 2016]
A letter was sent to GMB and Unison members on 2 March 2017 stating that they are currently negotiating with Ealing Council about the funding level for the PFI contract and will not ‘implement the proposed adjustments to hourly rates or allowances and hold the current rates’ whilst negotiations take place. [See notes to editors for a copy of the letter]
Viridian Housing run 4 care homes in the area: Sycamore Lodge in Acton, Martin House in Southall, Chestnut Lodge in Ealing and Elm Lodge in Greenford.
Keith Williams, GMB London senior organiser said,
“A good society is judged by what it provides to the most vulnerable and Adult Social Care is a vital Public Service, regardless of who the provider is. GMB welcomes the decision by Viridian not to implement their proposals to cut the pay of low paid staff from between 5% and 12%, and hold negotiations with Ealing Council regarding the level of funding they receive though the PFI arrangement they have with the Local Authority to run the Boroughs care homes.
“The workforce who are at the low end of the pay spectrum are dedicated and care passionately about the invaluable service provision they provide to the most vulnerable within the Care Homes, they have shown, that they are not prepared to sit down and accept an attack on their terms and conditions, in order for Viridian to maintain the viability of the PFI contract they have with the Council, which is seriously underfunded.”
End
Contact: Keith Williams 07710 631339, Dean Gilligan 07877 775534
Notes to editors:
1) Letter sent to GMB members in 4 Ealing care homes on 2 March 2017
Terms and conditions restructure consultation
Closure of consultation period
Further to our group consultation meetings and subsequent individual and small group consultation meetings I am writing to formally close this consultation period. I realise that this consultation has been a difficult subject and I would like to thank all colleagues for their feedback thoughts and questions in relation to this. In addition to consultations with staff I have had several meetings with Unison and GMB representatives and this matter has been discussed extensively by Viridian’s Executive Team and Board. Through the consultation process we received almost 300 items of feedback from colleagues and as a result of these we expected to revise the proposal that we had put forward.
At the meeting you were informed that we are currently in negotiations with Ealing Council with respect to the funding level for the PFI contract and therefore decided not to implement the proposed adjustments to hourly rates or allowances and hold the current rates whilst these negotiations are taking place.
In light of the above the management decision following the consultation process is to freeze the pay of care and domestic staff. We will do this by reducing the Local Market Weighting (LMW) by the same amount that the National Living Wage increases in April 2017 (30p). Although this is a wage freeze, affected colleagues will be slightly better off as the transfer of money from the LMW into the basic hourly rate means that some allowances and things like sick pay, annual leave and pension contributions will be calculated on the higher basic hourly rate.
The change will take effect on 1 April 2017.
Next steps
You will not see any changes to your salary in April 2017, however as advised at the meeting the removal of 30p from the LMW to your basic pay is regarded as a contractual change which requires your acceptance.
Attached you will find a variation to contract letter which you need to sign and return to your manager by 16 March 2017.
Should you choose not to sign up to the variation to your Terms and Conditions (T&C’s) we would meet with you to try and establish the reasons why. Management would then consider what steps we need to take thereafter.
I am sorry if this period of uncertainty has caused you distress. If you have any questions about this letter please discuss these with your Care Home Manager or a member of the HR Team, Sharon Powell 020 3202 3712, Harriet Kyekye 020 3202 3874 or Gavin Simmonds 020 3202 3245.
Please remember that you can also access support from our Employee Assistance Programme on 0800 030 5182.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your hard work for Viridian and for the care you provide to our residents.
Yours sincerely
Matt Campion
Director of Operations
2) GMB Press release 7 November 2016
GMB CALL ON LABOUR GROUP IN EALING COUNCIL TO AVERT PAY CUTS FOR LOWER PAID WOMEN WORKERS IN OUTSOURCED CARE HOMES
Viridian’s proposal to reduce the pay of low paid workers is unacceptable in order to maintain the viability of the PFI contract says GMB London
GMB, the union for Ealing Care Home staff, has learned Viridian Housing, who run four care homes in the borough, are proposing to cut wages for domestic, laundry and housekeeping staff and care workers from between 5% and 18%.
GMB London have written to Viridian Housing to advise them that the terms of the PFI Contract they have with Ealing council require them to notify and enter into meaningful consultations with GMB on the proposals. The position that Viridian have embarked on is diametrically opposed to the terms of the PFI Contract.
Keith Williams, GMB London senior organiser said “Working people have just endured the longest wage squeeze since Victorian times. Viridian’s proposal to reduce the pay of low paid workers, the majority of whom are female, is unacceptable in order to maintain the viability of the PFI contract that Viridian entered into.
GMB members, like everybody else, are already treading water in order to stay afloat in respect to the increasing inflation and consumer prices and to incur a pay cut of that magnitude, can only bring added pressure to what is already a difficult and stressful time to everyone’s purse strings, as working people have just endured.
GMB call on the labour group in Ealing council to step in and avert the pay cuts for the lower paid women workers in the Viridian run care homes.”
1 Viridian Housing run the following care homes in Ealing:
Sycamore Lodge, 1 Edgecote Close, Acton, W3 8HP
Martin House, 1 Swift Road, Southall, UB2 4RP
Chestnut Lodge, 3 Woodfield Road, Ealing, W5 1SL
Elm Lodge, 4A Marley Close, Greenford UB6 9UG
2 For year ending 31 March 2016 the group had an operating surplus of £37.6m
3 Nick Apetroaie, Chief Executive, total salary including pension contributions and expense allowance was £182,748, up from £159,370 in 2015.
4 Matt Campion, the Operations Director leading the change saw his salary increase by 13.8% in 2016 from £118,555 to £134,895.
