Quarriers Respond To Unison Release

Phil Robinson, Chief Executive of leading Scottish care charity Quarriers responds to Unison’s press release that it was to ballot staff to take strike action regarding pay offers.

“I was pleased to see the press raising the issue of local authority funding of the voluntary sector in recent weeks, in relation to contracts provided to local authorities for community care, and the comment about how many leading organisations are having to subsidise services provided to local authorities from their voluntary income. This is an area of great concern to Quarriers.

“Despite the fact that overall Quarriers’ local authority contracts income has only increased by 1% on average, the pay increase which Quarriers is offering to its staff of 2.5% is exactly the average increase being offered across the voluntary sector in Scotland.  

“What Quarriers is asking for is that our services should be funded on a like for like basis so that our staff are not penalised, otherwise the voluntary sector will continue to subsidise public sector services.

“Staff at Quarriers are hugely committed to the work they do for vulnerable people, for disadvantaged children and families across Scotland. Any strike action could put the issue of services under threat, and would appear to show that Unison is unfairly targeting the voluntary sector in comparison with local authority services.

“To explain the history of the current situation with Unison, Quarriers made an improved offer of 2.5% increase in pay, with no strings, to all the staff, some 1750 people, last November 2006.  In sheer exasperation regarding Unison’s lack of response over the last 6 months, and in fairness to all our staff (some 553 are members of the union), we paid the increase, back-dated to 01/10/06, this March 2007.

“Unison had suggested that a lump sum of £600 be paid to the staff. This is substantially more than 2.5% and as a charity employing these numbers, we simply can’t afford it. We are acutely aware of low pay of our basic grade staff and agree that they should be paid more, but a lump sum payment as opposed to a percentage increase erodes the differentials, exacerbating the difficulty we already have in recruiting first line managers in what is now a very competitive market.

“In comparison with other voluntary organisations, not only is the 2.5% exactly equivalent to the average increase across the sector, but salaries are well above the average, as well. We are not complacent but neither does Quarriers, as Unison’s representative, Simon McFarlane alleges, feature “chronic low pay”, or “services based on the lowest common denominator”.

“Quarriers’ management has enjoyed a very positive working relationship with Unison for many years. We meet with union representatives regularly and pay for the branch secretary to spend two days per week carrying out union duties. Most other voluntary organisations do not recognise Unison and are not so vulnerable to possible strike action. We are not being targeted because Quarriers is a bad organisation, but because we recognise Unison.

“The costs of provision of social care across the whole country are currently being aggressively driven down by local authorities. But, as we have seen elsewhere, where the local authority/Unison alliance succeeds in driving out the voluntary sector, we will not be replaced by a return to local authority run services, but by the private sector, who pay less, do not recognise trade unions and provide poorer quality services.”