Minutes:
A Unison representative presented a report in relation to proposed trade union Facilities Agreement amendments.
In January 2018, the Bolsover Branch of UNISON merged with the wider Derbyshire Branch. Terminology in the Trade Union Facilities Agreement required updating with a view to recognising the current position. The agreement also required updating to reflect changes in job titles within the Council.
A draft agreement with tracked changes to reflect the proposed updates had been circulated to Committee members after the publication of the agenda for this meeting.
In addition to updated terminology, the agreement contained amendments to deal with issues in relation to facility time.
Branch Facility Time
It was the democratic right of any UNISON member at the Council to stand for official positions within the Derbyshire Branch. It was important to recognise the contribution Bolsover members could make through these roles to the wider branch, the visibility this would offer Bolsover within the Branch and that this cooperation reflected well on the Council in its recognition of the trade union movement.
It was proposed that in this respect the Agreement be amended to provide one day of paid facility time per week to any Bolsover employee elected to one of the following recognised branch officer roles:
· Branch chair
· Branch secretary
· Branch treasurer
· Branch health and safety officer
· Branch young members’ officer
· Branch equalities co-ordinator
· Branch education co-ordinator
· Branch lifelong learning co-ordinator
· Branch communications officer
· Branch membership officer
· Branch welfare officer
· Branch women’s officer
· Labour Link officer
· Environmental officer
It was proposed that this facility time be limited to a single person (whether or not combined with other duties). Any additional facility time for Branch roles would need to be determined through negotiation with the Branch and Derbyshire County Council.
Local Facility Time
While the Convenor for Bolsover benefitted from a set amount of facility time for organising purposes, trade union duties (whether carried out by the same person or others) were determined on an ad hoc basis.
Recent experience had demonstrated that an ad hoc approach to facility time was difficult for those who had fluctuating workloads and/or work in teams too small for effective cover arrangements to be determined on such a basis. This could lead to situations where both the individual and their department were unable to properly plan and manage their workloads and availability.
In the case of the current UNISON Convenor it had resulted in negotiations, representation and other TU duties being undertaken in time set aside for organising, consuming much of that fixed period of facility time and undermining the purpose of having that time allocated to them.
Therefore it was proposed that the agreement be amended to provide fixed periods of facility time for trade union duties where appropriate. It was suggested that requests should generally be based on providing a minimum period of facility time. For example, a steward could be granted 5 hours a week of fixed facility time but could still request additional ad hoc time as and when demanded by their case load.
It is anticipated that determining fixed periods of facility time would be done following discussion between the trade union, the individual’s manager and HR.
Members were requested to recommend the above amendments for inclusion in the Trade Union Facilities Agreement.
In response to a query from the Strategic Director – People, the Unison representative confirmed that the proposals were for 1 trade union person to have 1 day per week to spend on branch roles. Holding multiple roles would not result in additional days’ release.
The Human Resources & OD Manager suggested that the wording in bold and underscored below be added at 10.2 in the Agreement;
The Council understands the positive contribution that local UNISON members can make to the wider Derbyshire Branch and the importance of Bolsover having a voice within the Branch Committee. In recognition of that the Council will permit one day per week of paid time off for one employee elected to one or more of the following recognised branch officer roles:
Moved by Councillor Mary Dooley and seconded by Kevin Shillitto (Unison)
RESOLVED that subject to the following amendment highlighted in bold and underscored below, the revised trade union Facilities Agreement amendments be recommended for approval by SAMT under delegated powers;
The Council understands the positive contribution that local UNISON members can make to the wider Derbyshire Branch and the importance of Bolsover having a voice within the Branch Committee. In recognition of that the Council will permit one day per week of paid time off for one employee elected to one or more of the following recognised branch officer roles: