With Sodexo staff voting 97% to go on strike, industrial action will be taken on the 5th and 6th of January. A great deal of misinformation is being spread by the Trust about the situation, so by way of clarification and correction we outline the background to this dispute below.
From 2004 a new framework for all staff pay, terms and conditions was introduced called Agenda for Change (AfC). The aim was for this framework to reflect as much as possible the skills and knowledge required to do jobs. The system was far from perfect but it was eventually implemented for all NHS staff. Initially AfC didn’t apply to staff employed by private firms contracted by NHS organisations to provide what is called Soft Facilities. This included cleaning and domestic services, catering, portering, linen and laundry services and switchboard staff.
The potential consequences of excluding these workers from AfC arrangements in terms of pay, conditions, skills and morale were recognised. So in October 2005 a national agreement was reached to incorporate private contractors staff into AfC arrangements (for Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust this meant workers employed by Sodexo, a huge multinational company). All Trust Chief Executives were notified about this, along with the details for implementation.
Devon County Council have quietly shelved plans for a waste incinerator in Barnstaple, North Devon. It seems that financial considerations were behind the decision by the Tory-controlled council. North Devon Socialist Party has been heavily involved in campaigning against the proposals since they were first outlined last December. With Greens, Communists and concerned local residents in Devon Residents Against Incinerators (DRAIN), we have stressed the potential health risks, negative impact on recycling and costs associated with the plans.
I attended Socialism 2009 this weekend, my second time going. Was a lot of fun. On the saturday I attended the talk on “Fighting for Democratic Unions” with the speaker Rob William’s and Linda Taaffe. Then in the evening I went to the Rally. On Sunday I went to a discussion on the defence of Trotsky BY Peter Taaffe and in the afternoon on a talk on what now for the Left in Germany, the weekend was capped off with a Rally.
