Issue - meetings

Report by the Interim Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change.

Following the deferral of this report at the last meeting, the Committee is asked to consider a revised report on a proposal for a voluntary agreement to provide greater clarity on the relationship with Unison as representative body for staff.

12.1     Following the deferral of the issue at the last meeting, the Committee considered a revised report by the Interim Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change on a proposal for a voluntary agreement to provide greater clarity on the relationship with Unison as representative body for staff (copy appended to the signed minutes).

12.2     Cllr Lanzer, Cabinet Member for Economy and Corporate Resources commented that there were two options for proceeding towards recognition for the group of staff for the purposes of collective bargaining on pay: a voluntary recognition agreement or a statutory recognition route. The statutory recognition route was an application to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) which was an independent body. If there was a majority of staff in the proposed group in the union the process would invoke statutory recognition without the need for a ballot. If not, a ballot would be required and, in his view, the statutory route was preferred.

12.3     Cllr Lanzer said he accepted that recognition via either route could be beneficial for staff relations. However, the report referred to membership of Unison being close to 50% of the proposed bargaining group.  In order to operate a process which was truly independent and therefore be likely to meet the will of the staff involved, in his view the Committee should opt for the statutory recognition route by not approving voluntary recognition at this time.

12.4     The Leader thanked Cllr Lanzer for his comments and for the revised report.  He commented that the Council valued good relationships between all stakeholders including staff who wanted to be represented by a union. He acknowledged that previously there had been some issues with the negotiation of pay settlements for the group of staff in question.  However, there had been a change in management and, given the response rate to the recent staff engagement, it was hard to see it as representative of the group and to give enough justification to pursue the voluntary recognition route.

12.5     The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change commented that the recent exercise had asked staff to raise any comments or objections rather than seeking confirmation.

12.6     Some members supported the proposals in the report which they felt would build on and strengthen the previous good relationships with staff.  The alternative was a process which was only followed when a voluntary agreement could not be achieved within an organisation. However, on balance the Committee did not accept the proposal for voluntary recognition in the report and voted to reject the recommendation.

12.7     Resolved – That the request for the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change to enter into and maintain a recognition agreement with Unison to include recognition rights for employees on HAY; and Public Health/Agenda for Change grades for pay reviews be refused.

Report by the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change.

The Committee is asked to consider a report on a proposal for a voluntary agreement to provide greater clarity on the relationship with Unison as a representative body for staff.

4.1        The Committee considered a report by the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change (copy appended to the signed minutes) on a proposal for a voluntary agreement to provide greater clarity on the relationship with Unison as a representative body for staff.

4.2        The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change introduced the report, advising the proposal as key to good working relations with unions and staff and to pay negotiations and organisational change.  It would help rebuild the Council’s relationship with Unison and send a positive message to staff.

4.3        The Committee discussed the proposal, noting the context.  Suggesting a need for more time concerns were raised about:

·        the need for detail about the staff affected and Unison membership;

·        the implications of a ‘voluntary’ agreement.

·        The reasons for a move away from the current informal arrangements, and a fuller rationale for the proposal.

4.4        The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change clarified that:

·        the proposed agreement is symbolic rather than significant;

·        Unison membership has increased recently;

·        either party may withdraw from the agreement at any time;

·        that the proposal would strengthen the bond with local Unison members and would demonstrate commitment from the Council to its staff.

4.5        Cllr Walsh and Cllr M Jones stated that to delay the proposal would send the wrong message to both staff and to Unison.

4.6        Cllr Bradbury, seconded by Cllr Marshall, proposed a decision on this report be deferred so that additional information can be brought to Governance Committee for consideration on 22 June 2020.  The proposal was agreed.

4.7        Resolved – That the decision on the proposal to enter into and maintain a recognition agreement with Unison to include recognition rights for employees on HAY; and Public Health/Agenda for Change grades be deferred until the Committee received a further report providing additional information.