UNISON Yorkshire Water Newsletter Sept 2017

www.ywater-unison.org.uk September 2017

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IMPORTANT – Change of Contact or Banding Details Planning for the Pay negotiation process has highlighted how many of our members have moved job, pay grade or home address. In order to benefit fully from your membership to your union, should any of these details change, please ensure that your new ones are emailed to Paul A Smith, Membership Secretary as soon as possible to allow any future updates/news/ ballots to be sent to you.

New Members and New Officers Welcome to all new members of the union, this year and since the AGM. You may still be wondering, with the ongoing pay negotiations, just what it is you are receiving for your subscriptions.

The protracted pay negotiations are an indication of just how hard your union representatives are fighting for your rights in the workplace. Alongside these, the most difficult negotiations in years, your representatives are ensuring Health and Safety standards are maintained and improved, you are supported when attending formal proceedings, change is introduced fairly and legally and then there are the UNISON benefits that can be found on the internet. So please look up these benefits and share them with your non-union colleagues; bang the drum for safety and fairness here at the Yorkshire Water Branch.

I would like to extend a welcome to Rosie Pickard, elected as our new Retired Members Secretary, currently putting some hard work into her new challenging role. Her report is included later in this newsletter, as is the farewell note from the outgoing Secretary, Anthony Toon.

Yorkshire Water

UNISON newsletter

Convenor’s Report It has been a busy few months since the AGM and since I returned to work full time.

What with change days, pay negotiations for YW and KWS Alpha Ian Blakeley Branch Convenor and Grampian, health and safety improvement plan, life saving rules and in more recent days the inquest into Mick Jennings death.

One thing of note to report is the agreement to free up Natalie Mladenovic to act as full time support to the convenor.

Although this has come at a cost with the branch stumping up half of her wages, this has been long since needed and is welcomed by the two of us and the reps alike.

The pay talks at YW have been the worst I have ever been involved in and as you will be aware are still not concluded. Many thanks to members who returned the recent ballot. The officers remain committed to fulfilling the wishes of our members.

There has been some recent successes with members who have pursued employment tribunals against the company and following the success of the appeal by UNISON on tribunal fees I expect there to be more cases taken to tribunal in the near

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future. I do however feel a tinge of disappointment when cases have to go to tribunal as I like to feel the branch can resolve all issues without the need and expense of going to court.

I am disappointed however at the moment at the length of time the company seem to be taking to resolve certain situations. The most obvious one being pay but also several grievances of late are dragging on months but it is these grievances that will end in tribunal in the very near future.

The branch are having to take a strong stance with some areas of the business that seem to have forgotten that safety is more important than anything else we do.

If you have any areas of concern please let your local rep know.

As you should know the inquest reached its verdict on the 17th August however that is still not the end for our members as the HSE have still to conclude on its findings. I have been pleased at the support our members have received from the company and the unions as this has been harrowing times for our members and of course we must never forget the pain the families are going through.

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UNISON Yorkshire Water newsletter

Retiring Officers

Esholt Hall Closure

Anthony Toon our long serving Retired Members Secretary stepped down this year and sent the following…

The unexpected and sad closure of Esholt Hall has received much criticism and prompted much discussion since the announcement.

The sad fact is that the building is not safe to use, there being no safe emergency exit from upstairs if there was to be a fire in the building in the foyer. There are further complications regarding the wooden substructure of the building and woodworm infestation, compounded by the damage to the structure and electrical circuits and water ingress when the lead was stripped from the roof by thieves.

The unions supported the closure of the Hall under Health and Safety grounds, and the company has chosen not to invest financially in continued use of the asset. It has been sad to read the responses of our colleagues, and the heartfelt pride they had in this wonderful property, often the location of many great first impressions of Yorkshire Water.

A small collection of my memories of Esholt Hall are below.

“Thank You and Farewell”

Anthony Toon

I would like to thank the Branch for the kind farewell to me at the Branch AGM. Thank you for the Leaving Gifts and Farewell Cards, wishing me all the best.

A thank you to Ian, Natalie, Janette and John Hodgson, who have assisted me in running the Retired Members Section (RMS) and also a thank you to other Branch Officers and Reps who signed my farewell card.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve the Branch and RMS members for the past 24 years.

Myself and Alex Parker set up the RMS in 1993, sadly Alex died in 1996, our intention was to provide a service to our Retired members, so that they could enjoy the same benefits in UNISON as working members, I feel that this objective has been met.

I have to thank the Branch for its funding of the RMS, its only source of income.

My leaving has left me with many happy memories and it is these memories I will keep forever.

So, I say a farewell to the Branch and look forward to the future.

Anthony Toon

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Loss of the Cancer in the workplace course As Esholt closed at short notice it was a great

shame that the Cancer in the Workplace course was cancelled, a lot of effort and fight had gone in to organise this and it was just too short notice to hold it anywhere else.

The tutor David Limer understood the reasons and was very understanding and we hope to be able to run it at Buttershaw in the future.

On the cancer course on the last session we were due to have a Speaker who had been fighting cancer himself for the last five years by keeping fit and going to the gym every day. Trevor my friend was a great example of fighting cancer with a stiff upper lip.

He was told in 2012 he had six months to live!

Yet five years later Trevor was still here. I say was, as unfortunately on Saturday just gone Trevor finally lost that fight and passed away.

A true inspiration for anyone fighting or suffering from cancer and such a shame the course delegates never got chance to meet him.

Neil Auty

Please note: The views expressed are those of the Authors and not necessarily of either the Editor or of the Branch. The Branch does not endorse any companies.

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Current issues affecting retired members Just 24 hours after Sir Michael Marmot’s report showed that increases in life expectancy had come to a halt for the first time in a century, the government made a breathtaking announcement that the state pension age (SPA) would be going up to 68, seven years earlier than previously planned.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions David Gauke announced the Tory’s have decided to, adopt the main recommendations of the Cridland Review, and raise the pension age to 68 in 2039 seven years earlier than planned.

to conduct a review of the SPA every five years. The first of these was carried out by the former CBI leader, John Cridland entitled Smoothing the Transition. The main recommendations were as follows: The State Pension age should rise to age 68 over a two year period starting in 2037 and ending in 2039. This brings forward the existing timescale by seven years (2044-46).

The SPA should not increase more than one year in any ten year period.

Under existing legislation, all those born since April 6 1978 already face a state pension age (who SPA) of 68, and this proposal does nothing to alter that. However, more than six million people born between April 6 1970 and April 5 1978 will see their SPA of 67 rise incrementally to 68. This group aged between 39 and 47 will lose out by £10,000 because of this decision.

The triple lock on the state pension should be replaced after 2020 by a simple link to earnings.

The Cridland Review

The government has a responsibility to communicate directly with those affected by necessary changes to the SPA.

Under the Pensions Act 2014, the government has the right

Access to the means-tested Pension Credit should be set one year below SPA from the point at which the increase to 68 is introduced for a defined group of people who are unable to work through ill health or because of caring responsibilities.

The Government’s proposal Despite the government announcing their intention to set the SPA at 68 earlier than the law currently allows, this is far from being agreed by Parliament (even though the DUP has said it will back the plans). The legislation provides for the next SPA review to be conducted by July 2023, and the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that this is the time when the increase to 68 will need to be agreed.

However, this is what the proposal would mean if it was introduced: How the proposals affect you: Born on, or before 5 April 1970 No change Born between 6 April 1970 and 5 April 1978 Your State Pension age is currently 67. It would increase to between 67 years and 1 month, and 68 years, depending on your date of birth Born after 6 April 1978 No change. Your State Pension age remains 68

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Take a look at our Yorkshire Water UNISON Website at www.ywater-unison.org.uk

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UNISON Yorkshire Water newsletter

Conference reports Hazards Conference 28-30 July 2017 – Report by Seema Rahim Hot topics were: 1. International solidarity to combat attacks on workers; lives and health Main health and safety problems facing workers worldwide including Brexit, treaties Developing Global Occupational Safety and Health Networks GOSH to fight back.

Speaker: Jessica Martinez, USA National COSH 2. Campaigning against Asbestos in schools, in all workplaces, in UK and globally Update on campaigning locally, nationally and globally to get asbestos banned globally, to get asbestos removed from schools and other workplaces and for better treatment and compensation for sufferers.

Speakers: Sarah Lyons, Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC)/ NUT; Harminder Bains; Leigh Day Solicitors; Graham Dring, Chair of Asbestos Victims Support Groups 3. Update on the legal state of health and safety Recent legal changes to legal aid, tribunals, personal injury/workdeath, stress causes, TU Bill, and their implications for workers and union safety reps Speakers: Satinder Bains and Keith Cundall, Irwin Mitchell

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4. Dogs can be dangerous Raising awareness of the hazards of dogs to workers who call or enter some premises, the preventative measures developed jointly CWU and Royal Mail to reduce the risk – prevent serious injuries or death. What union safety reps can do in discussions with their employers to improve policies or improve them to protect workers.

Speakers: Andrew Hickerman and Tony Pedal, CWU 5. Work-Related Death, supporting families and fighting back Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) – this organisation supports families after a work -death and advocates for them through the investigation, inquest and prosecutions. Including issues arising from Grenfell.

Speakers: Tracey Seward, Michael Lancaster and Helen Clifford,

McMillian Williams Solicitors. FACK is supported by TU donations and sponsorship from Irwin Mitchell and McMillan Williams Solicitors 6. Whatever happened to welfare?

Welfare at work – it’s the poor relation to Health and Safety these days. What happened to the lunch hour? Has your tea break been sold? Do you eat lunch at your desk these days – where did staff common rooms or canteens go?

What else should we demand from our employers? Let’s make improved welfare provision a workplace campaign this year Speaker: John Bamford, GM Hazards Centre 7. Air Pollution as a Workplace Issue Air pollution is a public health emergency and is linked to at least

Please note: The views expressed are those of the Authors and not necessarily of either the Editor or of the Branch. The Branch does not endorse any companies.

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Yorkshire & Humber NPC Meeting at the York Tramway Club –12 July 2017 40,000 deaths in the UK each year. It is a workplace issue taken up by the Greener Jobs Alliance, UCU and Hazards Campaign. What can we do about it as union safety reps?

Speaker: Adam Lincoln, UCU Health, Safety and Sustainability Advisor To coincide with the national Hazards Conference 2017 the Hazards Campaign launched the ePostcard Campaign to tell the Prime Minister that “Enough is enough.”

“As the nation watched in horror as fire ripped through Grenfell Tower, questions about government culpability were being asked. The Conservatives have discarded critical fire, building, product, environmental and workplace safety protections and shackled and starved regulators. A government with a criminal disregard for human life has now been left with blood on its hands.

The Hazards Campaign warned the government repeatedly that its ideological obsession with cutting red tape is a deadly mistake.

After the Grenfell disaster the Hazards Campaign says: “Enough is enough. Stop undermining the laws that protect us.”

The meeting was opened by the Chair, Barry Bothamley, who introduced the Guest Speaker Jan Shortt, the NPC General Secretary.

Jan gave a picture of where the NPC is at present and where she would like it to be in the future.

The NPC is at present undergoing re-structuring, introducing new technology and is to be re-located due to HS2. It is hoped by the 1st of September there will be someone in the NPC Office, five days a week to deal with incoming calls. Jan wants to bring in more income, giving more financial stability in the future. It is hoped that the Co-op and Waitrose will provide grants and more money can be obtained from “grass roots” membership groups. More income is needed to mount a strong campaign for a better standard of living and to get the Pensioners’ Manifesto accepted by Government.

There followed a general discussion on Jan’s address and some interesting points were: The Basic State Pension is not a benefit; you have paid for it out of your wage.

Tony Blair, Ex Labour PM said “Dementia is not a medical condition, it is a social condition”, this is incorrect, it only moves the cost of treatment from the NHS to local councils.

On the 1st October, during The Older Peoples Week – a recruitment campaign will take place to encourage more elderly people to join the NPC. Existing members are asked to do their bit.

Unite provided a free buffet for this meeting, a very kind gesture. Les Belk the Leeds Branch Sec. for Unite was present and members thanked him for Unite’s generosity. Nice to see a Union getting involved in the NPC. There was concern over the free TV licence for over 75s, this provision is only till 2020 and will then be reviewed. It was felt that every OAP should have a free licence at retiring age.

The NPC Transport Committee is to look into Concessionary Bus Travel, at the present time there are different Time Tables and Availability – a Post Code Lottery, where rural areas appear to be losing out. A motion is to be drawn up to get a National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme, where all areas are catered for. This motion will be submitted to the committee for consideration.

One of the Freedom Riders is to attend York Magistrates Court on the 31st of July 2017, they are asking for support for this person.

There will be a meeting/ rally before the court appearance at Foss Green at 9.30 am on the day of hearing.

There was relief that OAPs still had the Triple Lock on the State Pension, the Concessionary Bus Pass, and the Winter Fuel Allowance.

The Branch is affiliated to the Y&H NPC, so any retired member can attend free of charge. You can become an Individual member, anyone wishing to do so please contact the Retired Members Sec, Rosemary Pickard.

Anthony Toon

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UNISON Yorkshire Water newsletter

Conference reports continued...

W.E.T. Conference – 18 June 2017 Report by Lisa Buxton, International Officer; Motions by Malcolm West My first WET conference since my accident. It was brilliant, so thank you branch for allowing me to attend. There were a lot of very passionate motions put forward and every one of them was passed that was heard. A young member from the transport branch gave a very passionate motion and I was very impressed by the commitment she showed to her branch and her Union, leading me to a strong belief that we need to recruit more young members and help them get more involved in becoming an activist.

Motions from the conference were all passed, and this year our branch was very active in this arena.

On behalf of the branch I spoke to her afterwards and congratulated her on her first conference and being a first-time speaker. A special mention was given to Yorkshire Water for their motion that was very like the execs motion. On a personal note, I was made to feel very welcome and looked after by everyone in our branch that attended. It was good to see these people on a different footing and get to know them a lot better.

5. Under-Representation of Bus Sector – Transport for Greater Manchester

As a branch, I believe there is lots we can do to move forward to becoming a more effective branch and a lot was learned at conference.

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1. T he Importance of Branch Magazines in Water, Environment & Transport Branches – United Utilities 2. P ension Trustee Training in Water, Environment & Transport Service Group – United Utilities Support by Lisa Buxton 3. Contracting out of services in the Water Industry – Southern Counties Water 4. Environment Agency UNISON Members transferring to Defra – Environment Agency NW UNISON

6. Protecting National Collective Bargaining through the PTF – West Yorkshire Transport 7. Equality in WET Companies: National Equality Standard Yorkshire Water – Moved by Malcolm West 8. Race Inequality in the Workplace National Black Members’ Committee – moved by Aniqa Hashmi, Regional representative.

9. Water, Environment & Transport Conference Health & Safety Event 2018 – United Utilities 10. The Water Framework Directive and UNISON – National Young Members’ Forum

11. Canal and River Trust: Sink or Swim Canal and River Trust 12. Bus services in crisis – National Women’s Committee 13. Maintaining environmental protections following the UK’s departure from the European Union Yorkshire Water – withdrawn by the request of the executive so motion 16 could progess 14. Tackling Health and Safety from the Inside Yorkshire Water – moved by Natalie Mladonovic and supported by Jim Egan 15. Competition in the Water Industry – Water, Environment and Transport Service Group Executive 16. Ensuring strong environmental protections for the UK following exit from the European Union (Brexit) – Water, Environment and Transport Service Group Executive 17. Call Centre Charter: how far have we come? – National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Committee 18. Wheelchair Access on Buses – West Yorkshire Transport 19. Defending the safety of our members in Transport – National Young Members’ Forum 20. UNISON Activists on the boards of Water Companies – United Utilities

Please note: The views expressed are those of the Authors and not necessarily of either the Editor or of the Branch. The Branch does not endorse any companies.

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Equalities Seminar – Notes by Ian Blakeley The seminar covered the role of the Equality Officer and how stewards deal with Equality issues. Lucille Thirlby, Head of Member Participation, covered the subject ‘Equality it is not an optional extra’. An Organising for Equality guide will be available soon.

Key issues on day one included: Better pay and conditions, hate crime, mental health, immigration, Brexit, and inequality.

Subject talks were received on: Disabled members Reasonable adjustments legal rights guidance to be produced Access to work. DWP Disability leave not sick leave. Time off for essential appointments etc model policy.

Pension inequality won in Supreme Court for same sex couples re pensions WASPI (Women against State pension Inequality) campaign.

Women Domestic abuse policies Proportionality.

contentious subjects: John Halligan mental health and work mental first aid trainer presented on mental health first aid People with mental illness die on average 20 years younger 72% of people treated for depression are female 78% of people who take their lives are male Break out session was frustrating, being poorly organised and facilitated. Maybe a lesson learnt.

Not clear on what the group should do Poor facilitation Someone uses Yammer created a TU page called project happiness Do mental health first aiders receive any payment?

UNISON health and safety unit produced a guide on stress to be released shortly.

Very good research on presenteeism costs much more than absenteeism

Retired members Fuel poverty key for retired members.

Ruth Davies branch experience Mental health in the workplace More for less. Impact long term.

Regional pool bid to train reps 10 day training course monthly assessed work and research project Produced a work programme for the branch.

Runs through Manchester college TUC section

Day two also introduced many

Neil Guss, Thompson solicitor:

Young workers Bullying and harassment of young workers Naivety about unions.

Mental health and reasonable adjustments sec 20 Equality Act 2010.

Mental impairment includes ME, chronic fatigue syndrome Use reasonable adjustments rather than flexible working requests but they could be under regular review Employers must go the extra mile.

The Afternoon sessions included: Dyslexia the more we talk about dyslexia the more we understand Dyslexia affects 10%. The presentation was made by a representative who also has Autism, and much of his presentation was centred upon his own experiences.

Evening meal raffle and quiz was good fun however food ran out and was cold.

Sunday Morning also saw some good work with Emma Proctor presenting on supporting parents with transgender children.

Numbers are quite small but very little research out there showing that parents have very little support. Perhaps this could be improved through schools via policies etc. Manchester has the LBGT forum that can help.

Overall, the Seminar Weekend was worthwhile and hopefully, earlier publicity and requests for contributions will see more input from our side. I did ask for agenda to be out earlier to be able to invite relevant branch officers for relevant topics in future years.

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UNISON Yorkshire Water newsletter

Show Racism the Red Card You may be aware of UNISON’s involvement with various activities and events to highlight and challenge racism in the workplace. Hence “Show Racism the Red Card” has been UNISON’s rallying call to support our Black members whose experiences at the workplace can often be marred by racism and discrimination.

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It is undeniable that Equality legislation allows our union to hold employers to account for any bias placed on our member’s progress at the work place.

However, the reality is that we still do need to support our Black members and encourage them to highlight racism and discrimination wherever these occur at our workplaces.

Wear Red Day on Friday 20th October 2017 is one of UNISON’s activities in support of “Show Racism the Red Card” and provide solidarity with our Black members at our workplaces. I am therefore kindly asking you to highlight this event with our attached flyer at your various Branch and stewards committee meetings as well as at your Self Organised group meetings so that your membership can be made aware of the planned Wear Red Day to unite against racism.

Thank you for your continued support of the Black members at your branch and for highlighting this event to your membership. I look forward to a successful day of solidarity and support for our Black members on 20th October when all our members will unite to “Show Racism the Red Card” by wearing something red to work on the day.

Magda Lezama Chair, Y&H Regional Back Member’s SOG

Please note: The views expressed are those of the Authors and not necessarily of either the Editor or of the Branch. The Branch does not endorse any companies.

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CQC claims one in three care homes unsafe The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report has revealed that one in three care homes are unsafe – with staffing levels partly to blame.

The report shows that some care homes are going weeks without being cleaned and residents are served dangerous levels of medication. The report covers all 24,000 providers in England and found that of 10,858 residential care homes inspected, more than 2,600 were rated either inadequate or required improvement for safety.

Meanwhile of the 4,042 residential nursing homes visited by the CQC, 1,496 or 37 per cent were unsafe.

80% of social care is provided by the private sector, which has profit as its driving motive, rather than the care of residents.

Across the entire adult social care sector, including domiciliary and community social care, 23 per cent of services were found to require improvement for safety, and 2 per cent were judged to be inadequate, approximately 6,000 organisations.

These continual failings will not be resolved by “savvy consumers” picking the best home for their loved ones.

The NPC continues to argue that these failings arise because over

The entire sector needs to be brought into the public sector as part of the NHS and should be funded through taxation. Clinical commissioning groups in a lot of debt with lots of problems e.g. East Coast of Yorkshire.

Housing Association tenants now under threat 1. M any pensioners living in housing association (HA) properties could be about to face huge rent rises, campaigners have warned.

2. C haritable landlords are catching up with 1999 legislation that made secure tenancies’ rents subject to inflation + 5%, and in the last year, many secure tenants’ rents have rocketed.

3. T oday, most HAs are huge private businesses and the 2016 Housing and Planning Act effectively deregulates the sector.

4. U nder the Act, associations that used to be registered at the Office of National

Statistics as public providers of social housing, are now private providers, so their gambling on the money markets doesn’t show up as public debt in the government’s books.

5. T he government regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), no longer controls the sale of HA homes and the HCA no longer controls housing association mergers into bigger and bigger property empires.

6. E ffectively, HA tenants are now private tenants.

7. A t present, the Valuation Office Agency sets secure tenancies’ rents, and the

government also regulates assured tenancies.

8. B ut the National Housing Federation recommends that rent setting should now go to individual housing associations.

9. M ost large housing associations consider rents as income streams for raising private finance, so understandably many tenants are worried about losing their rights.

10. T he Grenfell Tower fire has clearly pushed the housing crisis up the political agenda, and the NPC is currently developing a detailed policy and campaign on housing.

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UNISON Yorkshire Water newsletter

On The NAuty Step… Neil Auty With so much happening to our business this year, I could rant and put something all the way from the Nauty Step to the rafters. Many issues have arisen this year, pay negotiations not being the only contentious issue with meeting facility closures across the region and an impact on company car users still stuck on a roundabout of decision somewhere.

So, to cover these three small issues in turn: 1. Pay negotiations and their outcome Your union represented you at the negotiations to obtain the best deal that the company is prepared to make. The negotiating team from all three unions then put the resulting offer to ballot for each union to either accept or refuse. Although the offer from these negotiations is recommended by the union as the “best available deal from the negotiation”, this does not in any way mean it is a fair offer. For every half a percent that your pay deal falls short of inflation indices, you will be working, in real terms, free for the company for over a day. You wouldn’t do it now, so why accept a pay deal that does it for you.

We have all watched in horror the impact pay caps and pay freezes have had on our public servants, why would you want

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our shareholders to put more in their pockets whilst you work for free. Free work is called slavery or charity, and last time I looked, our company was not listed as a charity. Use your votes with some thought and make sure you use your vote, a “no vote” is taken as an agreement to take less pay for the work you do.

2. Loss of meeting facilities Temple Park and Woodlands, both modern office facilities are under threat of closure, with staff having to move their work base to neighbouring office and sites. I would hope that these threatened closures do not take place and would like to see a company statement on the Hive to that effect, following the unexpected closure of Esholt Hall due to safety issues.

Buttershaw is already at breaking point for parking and asking people that already work

here to ‘park somewhere off site and bus in’, as is rumoured to be a suggestion, is not realistic considering the geographic home locations of our staff within the company.

Malton WwTW meeting rooms have also been closed for repairs, and rightly so. One of my first off site meetings when I started at YWS was at Malton and I was appalled then that the meeting room and adjoining store were wet and musty due to a leaking roof. A decade of decay is now catching up with us.

The Loss of Naburn WwTW meeting and hot-desking facilities at the cusp of the new year also added to our woes for space. Our buildings are assets just as much as our pipes, our works and our colleagues, and failing to care correctly for them can only lead to an uncertain future for the business and any hope for further future new investment.

3. Company cars It is interesting that the loss of Esholt and the potential loss of the use of a company car has more response from people than a loss of pay. Yes, the company is still looking to take away your company car if you do not do enough miles in it. We have a huge area to travel across to undertake our business, and often need to travel to meetings,

Please note: The views expressed are those of the Authors and not necessarily of either the Editor or of the Branch. The Branch does not endorse any companies.

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Retired Members Secretary Report As the newly elected Branch Retired Members Secretary I am currently working on the retired membership list to try bring it as up to date as possible. The retired members’ committee would like to reach out to all our retired members but we need accurate information to enable us to do this.

but the company feel we can do it in our own cars.

Well the truth is that if you don’t do anything, you will be using your own car to travel for work, you will be paying insurance to do so and paying for fuel to do it. Pool cars do not exist for widespread use at Yorkshire Water and have you ever tried to use somebody else’s lease car to go to a meeting? I would think not, as you will not have paid for the petrol in that car and there is no mechanism for the person with a lease car to claim mileage for a journey they haven’t done.

So, get out your bus pass holders and your bikes and tool bags. Use the bus or a taxi to go between meetings and claim the fare back, because it is your right to do so.

You can walk if you feel healthy enough or cycle. Your role may require you to be a driver, but the company CANNOT COMPEL YOU TO USE YOUR OWN CAR FOR BUSINESS USE.

At the Retired Members AGM I was elected to continue as a representative on the Regional Retired Members Committee and as the Female Delegate to the National Retired Members Conference. Anthony Toon was elected as the representative to the Yorkshire and Humber Pensioners Convention and as the Male Delegate to the National Retired Members Conference.

I have submitted a budget to the Branch Treasurer to cover the expenses for our group.

The Branch Committee agreed to fund the expenses for both delegates to the National Retired Members Conference in October at Llandudno and for Anthony Toon to attend the National Pensioners Parliament to be held 6 to 8 June in Blackpool 2017. (Report in conferences section).

I would like to highlight a few issues that we all need to be aware of in the runout to the snap election held on 8th June.

The state pension triple lock was a significant issue at the election, primarily because the Chancellor Phillip Hammond had already said he was going to review it after the 2020 General Election, and Labour said they would keep it. At this stage it is unclear what the other parties will do, but clearly not only the future of the triple lock will be determined by the election result, but potentially also whether or not it is replaced before 2020.

In their 2015 manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged to retain universal pensioner benefits such as the winter fuel allowance, free prescriptions and the concessionary bus pass. However, since that time there has been considerable pressure, particularly from think-tanks such as the Intergenerational Foundation and members of the Work and Pensions Committee to scrap some or all of these benefits in the name of “intergenerational fairness”.

It is unclear at this stage what the other parties will offer, but it is possible some changes will be proposed.

It’s worth remembering that under George Osborne, the government moved the free TV licence for the over 75s from the Department for Work and Pensions to the BBC, and it is likely the broadcaster will seek to cut this back from 2020.

Continues on back page >

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UNISON Yorkshire Water newsletter

Retired Members Secretary Report continued...

In the Spring Budget statement the Chancellor announced that the government would be publishing a Green Paper on the future funding of social care later this year. Given that this is probably one of the most important issues now facing the older generation, it will be important that each of the parties spell out exactly how and when they are proposing to tackle the crisis in the care system.

Part of the election propaganda was around around the issue of Brexit, and what sort of final deal people wanted to see. Some of the issues affecting older people will focus on their right to receive their UK state pension if they live in an EU country, and whether the 80,000 EU workers currently employed in the care sector will be entitled to stay in Britain. At this stage, neither of these issues have been resolved.

Your Branch Officers are here to help New and specific legislation to outlaw elder abuse The impact of the bedroom tax on older tenants in social housing Issues around increases in the State Pension Age The unfairness of ‘frozen’ pensions for 500,000 UK pensioners living abroad Fuel poverty and the number of winter deaths among older people The effect of cuts to meals on wheels services The need for guards on trains to assist disabled and older travelers The ‘digital divide’ which discriminates against older people who are not online The negative portrayal of older people in some parts of the media

Affordable and suitable housing for older people

Don’t forget all these issues affect someone you know and ultimately will affect you in the future regardless of your current age we need to all work together for a better future for all!

The rights of older carers, including gaining entitlement to the Carer’s Allowance

Rosie Pickard Retired Members Secretary rpickard@mail.com 01943 511263

There are a lot of other very important issues affecting older people we need to be aware of:

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Who’s Who Secretary Natalie Mladenovic-Haigh Convenor Ian Blakeley Branch Chair Paul Kelly Branch Treasurer Shaun O’Dell Assistant Treasurer Paul A Smith Membership Paul A Smith Health & Safety Graham Phillips Communications Neil Auty Education and Lifelong Learning Adrian Roberts Young Members Vacant Women’s Officer Vacant Black Members Aniqa Ali Hashmi Disabled Members Officer Chris Haywood International Lisa Buxton Labour Link Officer Emily Brady Loop Lead Rep Sandra Halmonroyd Retired Members Rosie Pickard Unemployed Sec John Hodgson Welfare Officer Netty Murray LGBT Officer Vacant Recruitment Officer Elaine White To contact an officer please phone the main switchboard 01274 691111 and ask to be transferred.

Yorkshire Water

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