Government Attack On Public Sector Trade Union Facility Time Continues

The latest freedom of information act request to the government concerning facility time for Trade Unions within the public sector has been released and shows the Nazi-style clampdown on trade unions and employees rights by the Tory-led coalition government continues.

But for those not in the public sector, the relevence of these figures to Union Repes and Union Safety Reps; cannot be underestyimated. It encrouages employers in all sectors to squeeze out any trade union facilities they currently provide, and along with the attacks on health and safety legislation; the writing is surely on the wall for USRs in all sectors of British industry.

With an overall pay-bill percentage of less than 1% and a new Government dictate that only a State Minister for the relevant public sector department can authorise any union representative being given full-time release; it is clear that the aim is to reduce Trade Union effectiveness in the civil service to as near absolute zero as possible!

Following a consultation in 2012 about reforming trade union facility time and facilities in the civil service, the government announced that there would be a requirement for departments to report facility time quarterly to the Cabinet Office so this data could be published.

Whilst many wont care about the way the civil service is being treated, they fail to realise that this is just the start, and that all employers will be encouraged by the Government and CBI to limit as much as possible, Trade Union representation across all UK industry.

There still remains the false view amongst the majority of the UK workforce that their employer can forbid them from joining a trade union on the penalty of being sacked. Whilst employers can refuse to recognise trade unions in their workplace, they cannot stop or penalise an employee who joins one.

The FOI request published refers to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and does not identify the person or organisation requesting the information, but does detail what the request made asked for:

"RE: Freedom of Information request

Thank you for your email of 6 February 2014 where you requested the following information:

1. Please provide details of any office accommodation your organisation provides to staff to carry out trade union business. Please include details of:

space measured in square feet
how much of this space is contained within entirely separate buildings (i.e. occupied solely by staff carrying out trade union business)
whether a professional valuation of the market rental value of the space has been sought either in-house or externally, and if so, what the valuation of the space was
any charges the council levy for office space given to trade unions.

2. Please advise any estimates for other costs met for those staff on trade union facility time apart from salaries - including travel expenses, office supplies, telephone expenses and energy bills."

Looking at the table above issued by the Cabinet Office, it is clear that the cost to the tax-payer of trade union representation within the public sector is absolute minimum – 0.19%

For the CBI and Tory MPs to claim that tax payers money is being wasted by extravagant trade union demands for facility time is an absolute joke and based, yet again, on total ignorance of MPs and the Government to the realities for employees within the public sector.

The full answer to the FOI request can be downloaded here

Source: Cabinet Office / DECC / Unionsafety

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