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SCOTTISH WATER BRANCH
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Minutes of the Scottish Water Branch Meeting held on Tuesday 13th December 2005, Fitzroy Place, Glasgow
Apologies for absencePresent: Fred Gibson (FG) Iain Diamond (ID)(part) David Wilkinson (DW) Andy Nisbet,(AN) Elaine Noble (EN) (minutes) Willie Fortune (WF) Paul Hyles (PH) Fergus Allan(FA)(part) Gareth Lithgow (GL) Barry Allibone (BA)(part) Kirsten Helms (KH) W Rintoul(WR) Craig Christie (CC) David Wilkinson in the chair JA refers to Jim Anderson (Shetland); and JSA refers to Jim Anderson (Edinburgh)) Apologies were received from: Ravi Nathan, Kate Brown, Jim Anderson (Shetland), Jim Anderson ( Edinburgh), Alison Yule, Paul Hyles, Steve Scott. Minutes of previous meeting (November 2005) Minutes of previous meeting were approved (proposed EN, seconded AN) Matters Arising Accommodation is still to be arranged for 2006 Conference Equal Opportunities: SS was to find out from HR if an Equalities policy group has been set up. EN to chase up Steve Scott to find out. Pensions Not much progress on pensions since the last branch meeting. SS/JA to ensure that they communicate with WF as part of the pensions sub-group. SS Attended Scottish pensions meeting in Glasgow, awaiting feedback from the meeting. WIC’s Draft Determination DW reported that massive savings were required to be made Scottish Water and that this would result in significant structural changes. AN enquired if there was to be a new VR package as a result of the savings to be made. DW stated that no discussions had taken place yet. AN raised concerns that these savings would have a massive effect on the staff and operations. Dave Watson and Pat Kelly to be invited to the next meeting to answer questions on the WICS draft determination. Group asked for more information on Determination analysis. Will be produced at next meeting. SW Retail DW stated that a consultation exercise was taking place. Documents available on the WIC web page. It was agreed that SW unison branch would put a response to the document. Reorganisation going on at the moment in Customer Services and there is uncertainty about who is going into commercial or retail. It was reported that SW employees are applying for their own job and if unsuccessful, some staff are being put into lower roles. Concern was raised over the recruitment process being unfair. Branch Officers Reports Branch secretary – no report as absent from meeting but chairperson (DW) gave the following information. AGM- The agreed venues and dates for the meetings will be circulated JTUG- DW initiated restart of the Joint Trade Union Group. Had first meeting on the 15th November 2005. DW felt that it was very worthwhile meeting and that the group had the achieved something. Next meeting will be Friday the 16th December 2005 (Agenda will be circulated) . Minutes of last meeting to be circulated Agreed that Willie Fortune and Andy Nisbet would be substitutes for the group meetings. SWC- Rewards project- The group has not had their first meeting yet to discuss pay award. Scottish water wants it to go as a package along with the Differentials payments. Unison position is to keep these issues separate. Communications will be going to BUCs. Policy group- Mileage on cars - management accepted that 9 pence per mile does not cover costs for lease cars so agreed to go up to 11.5 pence per mile. SW stated that it is proposed to continue to look at the policy and to develop a mechanism to annually review it. BUC - Solutions BUC - QS2 ramped down and 20 staff transferred to solutions. NW BUC - Were asked to endorse 90-day notice being issued to staff at Elgin in relation to cross-functional working. This was opposed by UNISON’s reps. The BUC have requested guidance from SWC re their remit on this issue. DW suggested that a good idea would be to map the areas in SW that are doing cross-functional working. Cross-functional working to be on the next agenda for discussion. NE BUC - Discussions took place to on long term sickness on how to bring people back to work faster. DW stated that local BUCs should not be looking at this as a Case Management group has been set up to deal with this. Working time directive was discussed. Unclear on when to take 8 or 11 hour break when called out on standby. AN said that a group had been set up to discuss and clarify this and will reconvene soon. Scientific services BUC - Edinburgh member’s issues that were sent in an email to the stewards were discussed at great length. AN to speak to member to get resolution on the issues. It was reported that managers were making decisions on staffing and recruitment without it being discussed at the BUC. EN to bring it up at the BUC Treasurer: – WF stated that he was not happy about the branch not applying for funding for the branch development weekend. ID produced detailed branch finances. AN stated that there needs to be a budget for H & S training. AN wants to be a holder of the H & S budget. SS/ID to update budget for next meeting. BR stated that he would like to know how much Branch Meetings are costing. Service Conditions : No report Health & Safety Scottish Hazards report – paperwork issued by AN H & S communication regarding Conference in London. Agreed that AN, WF and PH should attend. Hazards are asking for financial support the campaign. Agreed to give £50 support. H & S Reps meeting was very poorly attended. DW stressed the importance of reps attending meetings. Publicity Possibly setting up a forum page on the Scottish Water Unison website for members to be able to communicate more freely with the Branch and with each other. Young Members No report Equal Ops No report Education BR – advised that the new member’s course (induction course) was only meant to be for inexperienced stewards. Course is full TUC courses for all union reps have been sent out. Retired members BR - retired members committee not replying to BR emails. BR to pursue. Welfare No report Labour link No report Discussion around whether to display Labour campaign posters at the Alloa office. Group voted not to. Recruitment New members are joining each month but UNISON HQ are requesting that we redouble our efforts to ensure leavers are replaced. Correspondence PSPM conference – 4 places. Agreed AN, KH, DW, and SS to go. Hazards conference: H & S hazards manuals. 10 being bought and sent to H & S reps. AOCB GL – Concerns on payslips not being sent out in paper form. They can be requested from HR /payroll to continue to be sent out in paper form. EN – Weekend working- Discussion on standby cover for short-term absences. Unison to clarify where we are with this issue. DW to see JA (Edinburgh) re issue. ID- 2 auditors required for auditing the SW branch books. Agreed FG and KH will audit. Date of next meeting The next Branch meeting will take place on 17th January 2006 at 10am Unison office, West Campbell Street, Glasgow |