The setting up of the national fire and rescue service has meant both a great deal of change for UNISON members in the service but also confusion and uncertainty. This has been exacerbated by poor communication with staff on the part of Fire and Rescue Service management. One of our principal concerns in this process is that a single standard for dealing with all staff during this process is established and maintained.
The no compulsory redundancy guarantee is of course welcome. But the existence of this policy does not detract from the fact that UNISON members are bearing many costs in regard to the reorganisation of the service. Workload is increasing for many members as staff leave under voluntary Severance / Retirement and are not replaced. This is compounded by having to deal with legacy issues arising from the merger. We have recorded instances of members who in addition to their own workload are having to cover for unfilled vacancies and at times expected to pick up the work of their former managers…