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AWP JOB CUTS UPDATE: UNISON AMBLE INTO ACTION

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Unison are now officially IN DISPUTE with Avon and Wiltshire Partnership (AWP) mental health trust over a proposed ‘admin review’ (BRISTOLIAN #48 ). The review will see over 70 jobs cut or downgraded by a trust whose main concern is CLEARING A DEFICIT rather than CARING for patients.

AWP is a struggling mental health trust and losing scores of skilled administrators will pile MORE PRESSURE ON FRONTLINE STAFF already over-burdened with heavy workloads. Unison are gearing up for a strike ballot but, without support from outside the trust, any strike WILL FAIL.

Bristol Care Workers Network (BCWN) are supporting the WORKERS AND RANK-AND-FILE UNISON MEMBERS fighting to protect their jobs and public services at AWP. BCWN have been active in spreading AWARENESS about the dispute and AGITATING among the affected staff to vote in favour when a strike ballot finally happens.

BCWN say, “we are especially keen to speak to any workers in AWP (whether you are a Unison member or not) who are worried about the job cuts and who want to TAKE A STAND. We want to build a GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT within the trust; to SUPPORT THE STRIKE, to KEEP THE PRESSURE ON UNISON to do right by us and to TAKE OVER THE STRUGGLE if and when Unison let us down.”

More details at https://bristolcareworkersnetwork.org/

UNISON INACTION

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AWP, the local NHS mental health trust, is SLASHING over 70 band 4 admin posts with a knock-on effect on the band 3 admin staff underneath them. AWP are predictably doing this to try and make up a funding deficit.

Targeting admin rather than clinical staff is a sneaky ploy from the bosses. They know that admin staff are less likely to be unionised and less likely to FIGHT BACK than the frontline staff. Make no mistake, though, admin workers are essential to the provision of services. These cuts will have a huge impact on the delivery of essential care in an already FAILING NHS trust.

Unison promised to FIGHT these cuts but, despite enthusiasm from the workers, their plans were underwhelming. They failed to adequately consult their membership on their plans and many of the affected staff were left feeling cynical, jaded and voiceless by the union that CLAIMS to represent them.

Unison promised a ‘DAY OF ACTION’ in early December against the job cuts. However, ‘action’ may be the wrong word here. What unison actually proposed was a TOKEN half-hour protest outside workplaces, with the not-insignificant caveat that members take this time out of their lunch breaks so that there would be no disruption to services and no stoppage of work. It is the staff – not the bosses – that are losing out.

This wasn’t an ‘action’ so much as a photo opportunity. One AWP employee described the ‘action’ as “like punching yourself in the face so you can show off the bruise”.