Union Power

As probation staff employed by NPS continue to try and make sense of the pay offer and associated changes to terms and conditions, the thorny issue of union membership is once more highlighted. Along with other unions, Napo has seen a steady decline in recent years due to a number of factors and here we have the Bank of England no less joining up a few dots as reported last week in the Independent:-  

Weakening of trade union power has hit workers' pay, says Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane

Haldane added that if the decline of unionisation continued over the coming decades, so would the drag on pay

The historic decline of the role of trade unions in the UK economy has held back British workers’ pay, the chief economist of the Bank of England has warned. In a speech in London, Andy Haldane, who was also this week unveiled as the chair of the Government’s new Industrial Strategy Council, noted that the share of UK workers in unions has declined from half in the late 1970s to just a fifth today.

He said trade union membership has been associated with higher pay for workers of between 10 and 15 per cent and that the decline of unionisation is therefore likely to have exerted downward pressure on pay. “Using the long-run estimates that will have lowered wage growth by around 0.75 percentage points per year over the past 30 years, a significant effect,” he said.

Haldane added that if the decline of unionisation continued over the coming decades, so would the drag on pay. “If this trajectory were to continue the fraction of the workforce unionised would fall by a further 16 percentage points by 2030. According to our estimates, that could suppress wage growth by over 0.25 percentage points each year,” he said.

The remarks come at the end of the worst decade for inflation-adjusted average pay in almost 200 years (described by Mr Haldane as a “lost decade”) and when the Labour Party is pledging to give trade unions a major boost in order to “restore the balance of power in the workplace”.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, told Labour’s conference last month that a future Labour government would extend union rights to part-time and temporary workers. He has also said he will roll out “sectoral collective bargaining” across the economy.

Mr Haldane, in his speech at an ACAS conference in London, also echoed another Labour critique of the modern workplace, by suggesting that the rise of insecure work and zero hours contracts was holding back pay by acting as a disincentive for people to move jobs (or “twist”), something that has been traditionally associated with a pay rise.

“One of the side-effects of structurally-higher job insecurity is a reduced willingness to add to that uncertainty by moving job,” he said. “If so, this would mean ‘twisters’ are fewer in number than in the past and that stickers are at an even greater pay disadvantage to twisters as their outside option has lost value. In short, job insecurity reduces workers’ pay power and weakens upward pressure on pay.”

Mr Haldane identified other factors that have dragged on UK pay growth in recent years, including the growing market power of large firms and automation. However, he struck a more optimistic note about the immediate prospect for pay growth saying that we may be witnessing a “new dawn” for pay growth due to the exhaustion of slack in the economy, something that should compel employers to lift pay awards.

According to the Office for National Statistics nominal annual average pay growth, excluding bonuses, was running at 2.9 per cent in July, still well below pre-financial crisis growth rates.

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Of course one of the reasons probation finds itself in steady decline and marginalised is as a result of a long history of refusing to take any kind of effective industrial action. Historically the reason cited has been that such action would be 'unprofessional' and potentially harmful to vulnerable clients. Politicians have simply taken this as a green light to walk all over the profession and hence we are where we are. It's therefore somewhat sobering to reflect on what's happening in other parts of the criminal justice system where such qualms no longer seem to hold sway, such as the Criminal Bar. This from the Law Society:-  

‘It’s breaking my heart’: Barristers say resumption of action ‘almost inevitable’

The body that represents criminal barristers has said a resumption of action is ‘almost inevitable’, as one junior member claims to be on the verge of quitting with a ‘broken heart’.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said today that heads of chambers will meet at the end of the month to discuss the way forward. ‘Unless the full £15m is honoured, and that the months of delay are fully compensated, a resumption of action is inevitable,’ it said.

In its consultation response to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) plans for injecting £15m into the advocates graduated fee scheme, which determines how barristers are remunerated, the CBA said the fee arrangement is akin to cases with multiple experts being paid as if it were a minor punch up and a case with thousands of pages paid as if it had less than 200.

The CBA also reiterated concerns outlined by barristers and The Law Society that the promised £15m is actually based on calculations for previous years and in fact only amounts to £8.6m when compared to 2017/18 figures.

‘This is not remotely enough to fix the broken fee system,’ the CBA said, adding: ‘The government will need a little time to respond. But we cannot go on like this.’

Last week the Gazette reported that pressure was mounting on the CBA to reinstate ‘no returns’ with immediate effect. No returns, whereby barristers would not take on new work and refuse to take over cases when diaries clashed, was due to come into force earlier this year but was suspended after the MoJ made its offer.

Meanwhile the CBA has published a message it received from a junior barrister. It doesn’t name the barrister only revealing that they female and under ten years call.

The barrister said: ‘I was in tears last night. I got into £30k of debt from professional loans. I worked so hard to get to where I am, as we all did, we all slogged it out, got into debt, struggled through pupillage. We’ve all missed holidays, nights out, family events, given up weekends, given up sleep, given up our sanity at times. And now the choice to carry on doing this job I love, this important job, is being taken away from me by a disgraceful fees system. And it’s breaking my heart.’ The consultation into the MoJ’s proposals closed on Friday.

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Meanwhile the POA and HM Government will shortly be locking horns in the High Court:-

POA leaders today appear in court as the government attempts to force prison officers to return to work in dangerous working conditions.

A prison officer was last week hospitalised after being strangled unconscious at HMP Lindholme while, in a separate incident, another officer was punched in the throat. The POA says these assaults breach their members’ rights under health & safety legislation.
POA general secretary Steve Gillan stormed: “These were serious assaults against prison officers. The POA has no argument with the courts and its judgements, but the government and HMPPS need to deal with the serious violence in our prisons before we are talking about an officer being murdered.

“We will sit down and negotiate but we will not sell our members’ health and safety. The courts cannot remedy the violence in our prisons – only the government and HMPPS can do this, with the POA at the heart of those discussions and solutions.”

POA national chair Mark Fairhurst added: “We are disappointed that the employer is more concerned with running the union into court instead of actually sitting down with us and addressing the safety issues that staff at Lindholme face. The safety of our members is non-negotiable and we will always defend the basic human rights of POA members to work in a safe environment.”

The POA is being backed by a cross-party group of MPs and peers and fellow justice-sector trade unions who have warned the government not to bully prison officers into accepting dangerous working conditions.

The Justice Unions & Family Courts Parliamentary Group called on the Ministry of Justice to drop today’s scheduled High Court action, warning that officers would resist “any attempt to normalise the extreme violence they face every day at work”.

JUFCPG co-chairs Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and Labour Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede have written to Justice Secretary David Gauke insisting that “inadequate staffing levels and overcrowding have helped fuel a dramatic escalation of violence in HMP Lindholme and across the prison estate – yet with this legal action it appears that your Department and HMPPS are trying to deny prison officers their basic Health & Safety rights”.

The Parliamentarians added: “These brave public servants will not be bullied into submission”, and questioned why the Ministry “has not yet made a statement regarding the serious assaults at HMP Lindholme on the night of Thursday 11 October, which saw an officer hospitalised after being strangled unconscious”.

Probation union Napo expressed solidarity with the prison officers, with general secretary Ian Lawrence saying: “Prisons must provide adequate standards of safety for staff and those whom they supervise. How does this government expect more probation officers to undertake their work in the prison estate when such a basic requirement cannot be met? The POA are standing up for their members – and we fully support their struggle.”

Labour’s shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon also backed the POA, tweeting: “The situation at HMP Lindholme shows the urgent need for the government to get round the table with the POA and work together to make prisons safe. They should be working with – not against – our prison officers because it’s them – not politicians – who are on the front line.”