Dear Member
Various issues have come to light this week which highlight changes that are being made by Cornerstone now that UNISON is no longer recognised for collective bargaining.
Firstly, Cornerstone has published adverts for the Team Mentor and Project Lead roles.
UNISON is seeking urgent legal advice on behalf of members to protect their position as the pay and job descriptions have not been agreed or consulted on.
It is the UNISON position that these roles should in the first instance be ring fenced for existing Team Leader & Service Manager colleagues to be slotted in to.
A full explanation of the situation is held on the UNISON Cornerstone Facebook page.
URGENT – UPDATED UNISON ADVICE TO TL & SM
- If you wish to apply for the new roles then please contact Ian Fitzpatrick or John Mooney at UNISON who will provide you with a template letter deigned to protect your position.
- If you want to be part of a LCAST Team then please take no action as you have a current right to do so on your existing T&C’s and taking your verbally agreed Pay Protection with you.
- If you are currently in an LCAST team but your substantive post is a TL or SM write to confirm that you will not be applying for the new roles but wish to continue to retain your substantive post as a TL/SM and retain your verbally agreed pay protection.
- If you do not want to go into an LCAST team or apply for any of the new roles then please make sure you are making an informed decision by speaking with Ian Fitzpatrick or John Mooney at UNISON.
The behaviour of Cornerstone towards this group of staff demonstrates exactly why you need the independent trade union UNISON to be your effective voice at work.
We are also dealing with the following issues:-
- Members who have advised us that they have been told that they will not be paid for oncall shifts they have worked. If this affects you please get in contact with details of when you worked the shifts that you are not being paid for and how much money is due to you.
- Members who are being spoken to about comments they have made on our private Facebook page which was created to deal with the ongoing dispute.
- Members who have approached us in relation to potential Age Discrimination.
- Reports that the Engagement Forum has agreed changes to Cornerstone policies. We are concerned about this as the last set of policies provided to us did not meet Employment Law standards on Equality amongst other things.
Please ensure every colleague has completed the UNISON union busting postcards so we can protect all members from being treated in this manner going forward.
STRONGER TOGETHER IN UNISON
John Mooney
Area Organiser
UNISON Scotland