A second council meeting in Bath has been interrupted by the sound of “angry but determined” social workers protesting outside.
The official picket outside Keynsham Civic Centre | Photo © Unison B&NES
Thursday 19th March – dubbed a “day of action” by trade union Unison – saw some Bath & North East Somerset Council social workers take strike action and hold a picket outside offices at Keynsham Civic Centre.
In the evening, a huge protest of social workers gathered outside Bath Guildhall where the councillors were attending a full council meeting.
Inside the council chamber, councillors had to turn up the volume on their microphones to be heard above the sound of the protest, which had relocated to the back of the Guildhall below the council chamber’s windows when the meeting began.
It followed a similar protest which took place during a council scrutiny committee on 9th March discussing the changes to children’s social care.
Two separate issues have led industrial relations between the council and staff working in its children’s social care department to a low point. Team managers and deputy team managers in the department have been in dispute with the council after pay regrading put them on the same level as some of the staff they manage.
Original plans for an 11-day strike were suspended after a council offer, but team managers and deputy team managers later voted unanimously to strike for a single day of action on 19th March.
A Unison spokesperson said: “This dispute has never been solely about pay. It is about our progression, a workable and safe structure, and the ability to retain skilled and experienced staff.”
At the same time, many social workers and children’s services staff received letters telling them their role would be deleted as part of a major restructure of the department planned by the council – sparking the protests outside the Guildhall.
Social workers have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the restructure will reduce their capacity to do the vital work they do; from early intervention to supporting foster parents.
The restructure is partly driven by the government’s “families first” social work reforms, which require the creation of new multi-disciplinary family help teams so that families experience fewer changes in social workers. But this means reducing or completely deleting existing teams, such as the council’s Connecting Families team.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that five people in the children’s social care department are at risk of redundancy, while all other staff should be able to continue working in the children’s services department – although this may mean having to move into a different role in a different team.
The word “deleted” comes from the technical language around consulting on redundancies and refers to job roles being removed, even if replaced.
The council meeting on 19th March heard public statements from two foster carers, addressing it as public speakers, who warned that reducing the amount of staff who supported them would push people away from fostering.
Green councillor for Lambridge Joanna Wright also criticised the plans.
She told councillors: “It appears to me, as a corporate parent, that the frontline staff delivering for us are completely demoralised and disillusioned by the way B&NES senior management and the Lib Dem cabinet has decided to implement culture change.
“There needs to be real and meaningful consultation; all parties need to rebuild trust before any new systems are considered and implemented.”
The Labour opposition on the council want to see the process halted and restarted.
Labour group leader Robin Moss told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Staff are saying that they want the process to start again.
“We are agreeing with them. There is time to stop, take a breath, restart, and bring the staff on board through the restructure process.”
A Unison spokesperson said: “The large demonstration on Thursday was a testament to how strongly workers and the wider community feel about this issue.
“Senior leadership had tried to dismiss the union’s concerns as ‘a few loud voices’ – we demonstrated conclusively that there are far more than just a few angry about this!
“The atmosphere at the protest was angry but determined. We are grateful to everyone who came out to support us, including the foster carers who gave such moving testimonies.”
In a statement ahead of the strike day, Bath & North East Somerset Council said it was “disappointed” that it was going ahead.
A spokesperson said: “The council greatly values its children’s team managers and deputy team managers and has worked hard to explore options to avoid industrial action, including holding extensive talks at ACAS with these colleagues. We remain at the negotiating table to find a solution. Children and families are the priority for all of us and to that end we want to work through this to come to a resolution.”
They added: “We need to be clear that the strike is about pay for a specific group of staff and is separate to a children’s services restructure consultation where we are looking at proposals to improve services for children and families.
“We are currently consulting with 350 staff on the best way to do this. While no decisions have been made yet, the current proposals have put five members of staff at risk of redundancy.
“The 45-day consultation period is there to ensure we hear views from staff about the best way to deliver reforms that we believe will deliver better results for children and young people across Bath & North East Somerset.
“We welcome staff members’ engagement with the consultation to help us make the best possible decisions.”
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
