DESPITE the Coalition Govern-ment’s appalling decision toclose all vehicle licensing officesin Northern Ireland, DVA workershave signalled their refusal to bebeaten.This is evident in a range of re-

cent activities organised by Branch230 and their supporters which hasseen pressure building on theNorthern Ireland Executive to pro-vide work for staff in all eight localoffices.Following a meeting with the

Head of the Civil Service MalcolmMcKibbin, which was arranged bythe DVA Campaign Steering Com-mittee, it was decided to stage aprotest at Stormont. Around 150 DVA workers and

supporters attended the event. The

lively rally coincided with an an-nouncement by DOE Minister MarkH Durkin that he had secured workfor 50 staff based in Coleraine. At the rally, DVA worker Amanda

O’Donnell joined NIPSA OfficialRyan McKinney in calling on otherExecutive Ministers to “step up tothe mark” and “deliver on their com-mitments” to support staff who werefacing an uncertain future.More recently, DSD Minister Nel-

son McCausland announced thathis Department would provide tem-porary work for up to 100 staffbased in Coleraine. Responding to that announce-

ment, Mr McKinney told NIPSANews: “This is a positive develop-ment and staff will take heart fromit. What this does is prove that

campaigning gets results and wewill now redouble our efforts so thatpermanent work is secured for staffin all local offices. “The temporary work takes us up

to the end of 2014 but we wantwork for 2015, 2016 and beyondand we intend to keep the pressureup on Northern Ireland Ministers todeliver that.”

It is understood that as a result ofthese announcements work hasbeen secured for most Coleraine-based staff in the short term. How-ever, NIPSA representatives arealso pressing DOE management toprovide sufficient work for staffbased in the other seven local of-fices.

More pictures - page 13

NIPSANEWSJune/July 2014 Tel: 028 90661831 www.nipsa.org.ukTHE NEWSPAPER OF THE LEADING PUBLIC SERVICE TRADE UNION

‘WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!’

Visit http://www.nipsa.org.uk AND give a like to our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @nipsa

NIPSA members working in Local Govern-ment, Education, Libraries, NSL, Further Ed-ucation and the Youth Justice Agency inrejecting the Employers’ Side paltry 1% offeron pay have voted overwhelmingly to takepart in a national strike on July 10.And they will join colleagues from UNISON,

Unite and GMB on the picket lines during theone-day stoppage.Deputy General Secretary Alison Millar told

NIPSA News: “Over 63% of NIPSA membersvoted to reject the Employers’ Side offer of 1%and will be joining with members in other NJCtrade unions on strike on July 10. “It is clear that members have had enough

and are not prepared to stand for a further cutin pay. In real terms since 2010, NJC membershave seen a real-terms decrease in pay of morethan 20%. Members can no longer sustain thisfurther cut.”

She added: “NIPSA is calling for the NJC Em-ployers’ Side to return to the negotiating tableand get into real and meaningful negotiations toensure members receive a proper and mean-ingful pay increase.”Ms Millar pointed out if the July 10 action did

not resolve the issue, NIPSA would join withother NJC trade unions “in building for furtherdays of strike action”.

DVA workers still fighting to save jobs

NJC workers to strike on July 10

EARLIER this year, NIPSAmembers working at theNorthern Ireland Hospicewere advised their em-ployer was seeking a signif-icant change to theirpension provisions. A number of hospice staff arein the Northern Ireland LocalGovernment SuperannuationPension Scheme (NILGOSC).The Northern Ireland Hos-

pice does not currently recog-nise NIPSA nor any othertrade union for collective bar-gaining purposes. Undeterred by this, NIPSA

Deputy General Secretary Ali-son Millar sought a meetingwith senior managers to raiseserious reservations aboutthe proposals.The proposals effectively

meant that all but the mostsenior staff (i.e. those at payBand 7 and above) wouldhave been taken out of theNILGSOC pension schemeand instead offered a greatlyreduced Defined Contribu-tions scheme.

Ms Millar met with mem-bers worried by the move anumber of times, as well asseeking legal and financialadvice on the proposals. She also sought a meeting

with the Board of the North-ern Ireland Hospice.On May 8, NIPSA made a

presentation to the Boardflagging up a number of inac-curacies and mis-representa-tions.While there was little en-

gagement with NIPSA at thatmeeting, a detailed writtenpresentation containing fur-ther options was left for the

Board to consider.Subsequently in June,

NIPSA became aware thatthe original proposal hadbeen dropped and that an-other proposal was being ex-plored. According to the union, the

new pension proposal alsopresents a number of difficul-ties – not least as a salarysacrifice-type arrangement,would this be admissible toNILGOSC.A further meeting is being

sought with senior manage-ment at the Hospice on theissue.Ms Millar told NIPSA News:

“It is important that the pen-sion proposals are fully un-derstood and fleshed outbefore NIPSA is in a positionto provide meaningful advice.“It is, however, a much pre-

ferred option than that whichhad been tabled initially asthis which would have beencatastrophic for staff who aremembers of the NILGOSCpension scheme.”

NIPSA NEWSNIPSA Harkin House, 54 Wellington Park,

Belfast BT9 6DP, Tel: 028 90661831 Fax 028 90665847or email: alison.millar@nipsa.org.uk Editorial contact details: Bob Milleremail: bob.miller@nipsa.org.uk

Correspondence should be sent to the above address.

Unless otherwise stated, the views contained inNIPSA NEWS do not necessarily reflect the

policy of trade union NIPSA.

Page 2 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

TTIP – a threat to workers and public servicesEditorial

A TASKFORCE, madeup of unions, employ-ers and representativesfrom the Department,was recently set up toconsider recommenda-tions contained in theSalisbury Report – a re-view of industrial rela-tions in the FE sector.There had been initial

agreement betweenunions, employers andColleges NI that theTrade Union Side wouldbe led by Congress.However, this was tochange at the eleventhhour. As Assistant Secretary

Paddy Mackel explainedto NIPSA News: “Forsome inexplicable reasonthe employers at the lastminute decided that ICTUshould not be involved atall in discussions. “This was despite an

agreement brokered afortnight previously thatCongress would lead ourdelegation – at least inthe early meetings.

“Because of this lastminute U-turn, unionsboycotted the inauguralmeeting of the Taskforceuntil the matter could beresolved.”The unions made it

clear that although theyare content to engagewith employers on therecommendations, theyinsisted they will not be“bounced like that – on awhim from ManagementSide”.Mr Mackel added: “We

are united in our determi-nation to have a collec-tive approach in thesediscussions, under theumbrella of Congress.We are willing to fully en-gage but will not tolerateany underhand tacticswhich may be used to un-dermine that collectiveapproach. “We stand ready and

willing to sit down withmanagement to discussthe way forward and weawait their call.”

IN this issue of NIPSA News(pages 8/9) you will find an arti-cle about the TransatlanticTrade and Investment Partner-ship (TTIP).

The real goal of the TTIP isto remove regulatory “barri-ers” which restrict the poten-tial profits to be made bytransnational corporations onboth sides of the Atlantic.These “barriers” includelabour rights, food safetyrules, digital privacy laws butthe TTIP also has as its objec-tive the further opening up ofpublic services and govern-ment procurement contractsto competition from transna-tional corporations.

It provides for the right ofthese corporations to chal-lenge and litigate against gov-

ernments for loss of profitswhich they will claim arisesfrom public policy decisions.

The TTIP poses a significantthreat to workers and to pub-lic services and the campaignagainst this treaty has kickedoff with a wide range of organ-isations, including the Euro-pean Public Services Union(to which NIPSA is affiliated)and War in Want taking thelead.

Trade unions on both sidesof the Atlantic have also ex-pressed their concerns and in-formation about the TTIP isgradually surfacing despitethe absence of public knowl-edge about the negotiations.

The lack of any publicknowledge and consultation

about these negotiations be-tween the US Government andthe European Union highlightsthat major decisions whichwill affect ordinary citizensand workers are being taken,virtually in secret and belowthe radar, without any inputfrom citizens of the US or thecountries that constitute theEuropean Union. This is notdemocracy.

This method of decisionmaking is similar to the confi-dence trick being played onthe people of Northern Irelandwhereby a general endorse-ment of the Transforming YourCare health (TYC) “strategy”by the Northern Ireland As-sembly parties is being usedby our Minister of Health to

undermine the National HealthService through galloping pri-vate sector involvement in thedelivery of health and socialcare.

At a global level, treatiessuch as the TTIP facilitate thecommercialisation of publicservices and the dismantlingof public service provision. Atthe local level our politicianscontribute to the commerciali-sation of our health and socialcare system and to creatingopportunities for the privateprofit sector at the expense ofthe community.

NIPSA will play its part in ex-posing and opposing both theglobal TTIP and the local TYC.

Brian Campfield,General Secretary

FE industrial relations Taskforce review ‘stumbles at first hurdle’

MinimumWage fact

Tax rebate for uniformsMAKE sure youare earning theminimum wagewhich nowstands at £6.31an hour.

YOU may be able to get taxrelief if you - and not youremployer - spend money onany tools or specialistclothing you need to beable to do your job. You cango back several years toget the relief - the time

you've got depends onwhether you've previouslysent in a Self Assessmenttax return. Find out if you qualify bygoing to this link:http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/in-cometax/relief-tools.htm

NI Hospice U-turn on pension proposal

Letters to the editor should be sent to:bob.miller@nipsa.org.uk - rules apply

NIPSA members working inleisure centres across Belfasthave voted in favour of strike ac-tion and action short of strike ac-tion in a bid to prevent theoutsourcing of leisure services toa newly-created Leisure Trust. Members started taking industrial

action on Wednesday, June 25 bydeciding not to co-operate with anywork associated with the setting upof the Trust. These measures will bereviewed on an ongoing basis with aview to escalating to strike action.Meanwhile, NIPSA has challenged

the Council over assurances it hasgiven that staff transferring to thenew Trust will have their pay as wellas their terms and conditions pro-tected. In responses given to a number of

questions posed by City Counciltrade unions, the Council eventuallyadmitted that the new Trust will needto be flexible if it is to make the nec-essary savings. According to union sources, re-

sponses given by the employer are“riddled” with an acceptance that

TUPE protections are limited andthat the Trust will have the power tomake significant changes. In order to test how real the Coun-

cil’s commitment to protect staffterms and conditions is, the unionhas demanded it stipulates in anycontract with the Trust that existingterms and conditions are maintainedfor the duration of that contract.The Council has also admitted that

new employees will most likely beemployed on less beneficial pay,pensions and other terms and condi-tions of employment than those staffthat transfer.A NIPSA source said: “It is our

view that the new leisure operationwill achieve its financial targets byattacking workers’ terms and condi-tions of employment – and this factis finally dawning on all staff. NIPSAis working to enlist the support of theother trade unions in its campaign ofindustrial action to stop the attack onleisure services and on members’terms and conditions of employ-ment.”

Page 3 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

‘Yes, Minister!’ Fosterannouncement secure’s CCNI future NIPSA’s Public Services Defence Campaignhas received a welcome boost after DETIMinister Arlene Foster announced to the As-sembly on June 9 that she had decided toretain the Consumer Council Northern Ire-land as a non-departmental body.The future of the CCNI and of NIPSA mem-

bers who work there has hung in the balancefor more than a year. A public consultation exercise, allegedly on

the “future of consumer representation in North-ern Ireland”, closed in mid-January. NIPSA concerns remain over actions taken by

senior officials of the sponsoring Department ofEnterprise, Trade and Investment’s (DETI),which led to the Minister’s announcement of thepublic consultation exercise. However, Minister Foster’s announcement,

which was later confirmed in a press releasepublished on the DETI website, was a very wel-come development. It is understood DETI have yet to inform

NIPSA directly of the decision. The statement confirmed that the Consumer

Council would “continue its role as the bodywhich represents Northern Ireland consumersbut there is room for improvement… taking into

account the public consultation and issuesraised during the earlier review”. It was announced in the statement that the

CCNI Board would be cut in size but no furtherdetails have been made available. Clarification was also given that there would

be “greater collaboration between the consumerand advice sectors”. This will be underpinnedby an operating protocol, setting out each con-sumer representation body’s roles and respon-sibilities making it clearer to the public aboutwhere to go to seek advice.Welcoming the news, Branch 147 representa-

tive Graham Smith told NIPSA News: “Membersin the CCNI are delighted with the long-awaitedannouncement, which is due, in no small part,to NIPSA’s campaign to ensure the body wasnot only retained but strengthened.”A resolution supporting members in the CCNI

was carried unanimously at the union’s AnnualDelegate Conference in May.In moving the motion, NIPSA HQ Official Kim

Graham criticised DETI over its approach to thereview and public consultation exercise andvoiced the deep fears felt by members in theCCNI that the body would be abolished, and itsservices partially, if not wholly, privatised.

Following the Ministerial announcement, MsGraham said: “This is a positive outcome, notjust for our members in the CCNI but also for allNorthern Ireland’s consumers. It is a resound-ing success for NIPSA’s Public Services De-fence Campaign and highlights how influencingand working together with councils, MLAs andkey stakeholders can really make a difference. “NIPSA looks forward to a full, timely and

meaningful engagement with both DETI and theConsumer Council’s senior management teamto ensure that CCNI continues as a robust andincreasingly successful consumer championbody in Northern Ireland.”She added: “We are extremely grateful for

each and every member and group that sup-ported the CCNI by attending public consulta-tion events and submitting written responses toDETI, without which members in CCNI may befacing a very bleak future. “Together, we were not gagged, and that input

has influenced the right outcome for NorthernIreland.”Full DETI statement is available at:

www.northernireland.gov.uk/index/media-centre/news-departments/news-deti/news-deti-090614-foster-announces-outcome.htm

50,000 attend anti austerity demo

FIFTY thousand protesters hit thestreets of London, on June 21, ina “no more austerity” march,which demanded an alternativeto the “greed and selfishness” ofthe Con-Dem coalition.The rally, which also included a fes-tival, was called by The People'sAssembly Against Austerity, a broadcoalition of anti-government groupsthat embraces trade unions andother campaigners. “Living standards continue to drop,forcing millions into poverty, yet thepoliticians remain addicted to aus-terity,” a People’s Assemblyspokesperson said. Assembling on the doorstep of theBBC's offices in London, the

demonstrators marched to theHouses of Parliament demandingthat “the alternative to austerity” isno longer ignored. Len McCluskey,leader of Unite, Caroline Lucas,leader of the Green Party and Rus-sell Brand, the anti-establishmentcomedian, came to address therally. Owen Jones, a UK journalist, whowas at the march said that despitemodest economic growth, Britain isexperiencing the biggest fall in liv-ing standards since Queen Victoria.Among the issues people wereprotesting about are a “fight for aliving wage, fight for proper hous-ing, fight for public ownership of thebanks and for tax justice,” he said.

Opposition to leisure servicesoutsourcing gathers pace

WHATEVER else they can be accused of, thesupporters of cutting Northern Ireland’s cor-poration tax certainly don’t lack energy orimagination when they look for any excuseto re-raise the issue.The latest opportunity to do so has come in

the context of the independence debate in Scot-land and discussion of the scale of tax varyingpowers that a future Scottish government, irre-spective of how this vote goes, may have. While the spin from the usual suspects is

hardly surprising – KPMG tax chief EamonnDonaghy foremost among them, of course – it isimportant to look for analysis from those whohave the interests of society in general ratherthan the corporate balance sheet as their moti-vation. As Tax Justice campaigner Richard Murphy

has just written, a cut in corporation tax is onlycertain to deliver two things…He writes: “The first is a significant cut in the

tax rate for existing Northern Ireland companies,which is no doubt why KPMG in Belfast is sokeen on this.“Secondly, this change is guaranteed to make

life worse for most people in Northern Ireland asthey see increasing cuts in government spend-ing in the area [at a time when Government] isalready committed to reducing its level ofspending in the region… there is just one thingthat the reform is not guaranteed to deliver, andthat is jobs.”Mr Murphy continues: “Accountants, like

KPMG, are masters at the art of shifting profitsbut if low tax rates were really so good at creat-ing mass employment of the sort that NorthernIreland needs, then Jersey and Cayman wouldbe covered with new small, high-tech industries,and they are not…“Local media and political elites seem to think

this is a simple ‘win-win’, assuming that thecase for cutting corporation tax is water-tight

and unambiguous… and more critical voiceshave largely been ignored. “Such narrow debate is not the basis for good

policy-making. Instead, it can foster preciselythe kind of unhealthy ‘group-think’ that appearsto have engulfed Northern Ireland’s politicalelites on this whole issue of corporation tax.(You can check out Richard Murphy’s full com-ment at:http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2014/06/03/when-it-comes-to-corporation-tax-northern-ire-land-is-walking-into-a-disaster-all-of-its-own-making/)John McVey, NIPSA Policy and Research unit,

added: “One part of our Public Service DefenceCampaign is to challenge the ‘group-think’ oneconomic matters that Mr Murphy refers to. “We have to stop pandering to the corpora-

tions’ apologists and fight rather than indulgethe corporate anti-social behaviour of tax avoid-ance and tax evasion.”

Page 4 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

Corporate anti-social behaviour‘should be fought not indulged’

NIPSA members working inCCEA are taking industrial ac-tion over compensationarrangements for working addi-tional hours, which may havethe potential to interrupt examresults.The action began on midnight

June 12 and means that staff in af-fected grades will not be workingadditional hours both during theweek and at weekends. The central issue involves CCEA

seeking to change unilaterallycompensation for those staff whowork additional hours through theTime Off In Lieu (TOIL) arrange-ments – arrangements which havebeen in place for many years.Deputy General Secretary Alison

Millar told NIPSA News: “Thisissue has been the source of dis-agreement now for up to threeyears and involves how staff arerewarded for working additionalhours in the evenings and atweekends. “To ensure the exams process

works smoothly for pupils takingtheir GCSEs, AS and A levels, cer-tain staff are required to work inthe evenings and on Saturdays tomeet with teachers involved inexams. This is because manyteachers can’t get release fromschool during the normal workingday to attend meetings about theexaminations process.”Ms Millar pointed out that other

staff may also be asked to work

additional hours “from time to timeand often at short notice”.She added: “It is regrettable that

this issue and action may impacton thousands of students – butthis issue is not of NIPSA’s making– and could easily be resolved.”Before the start of industrial ac-

tion, NIPSA had met with the sen-ior management team includingthe Chief Executive but the unionclaimed there was “no real attemptto resolve the matter”.Subsequently and given the seri-

ousness of the issue, NIPSAcalled on the Labour RelationsAgency to find a resolution throughconciliation. However, CCEA onlybecame involved in seeking toconciliate a settlement after the

first weekend of the dispute. Kevin Kelly, who is NIPSA Offi-

cial for CCEA, insisted that while“limited progress” had been madeat the first conciliation meeting, theunion stood ready to engage infurther discussions to find a satis-factory conclusion. NIPSA has underlined that none

of its members will work TOIL untila resolution has been found. A union source added: “This

means that unfortunately there isevery likelihood this could impacton the timing of students’ resultswith the potential for issues arisingaround marking etc not being re-solved in a timely fashion.”

NIHE incremental progression approvedAFTER four years of grievances, the lodgingof tribunal cases, writing letters to MLAs,meetings with senior civil servants and Min-isters (including the Finance Minister), abreakthrough on the thorny issue of timelypayment of increments has at last bornefruit.

Welcoming the move, Deputy General Sec-retary Alison Millar told NIPSA News: “At lastafter many years of pressure civil servants,the Social Development Minister and FinanceMinister have seen sense and agreed aprocess to fast-track the payment of incre-ments in or close to when they become due.

“While NIPSA still believe that approvalshould not be necessary, our members in theHousing Executive welcome receiving theirincremental increase in June rather than 10,11 or 12 months after it became due.”

She said: “This is a huge relief to manymembers who welcome their incremental in-crease as a small – but not insignificant – in-crease for many low- paid NJC staff in theHousing Executive.”

A series of representations over the pastfour plus years, agreement has now beenreached for future years meaning that the in-crement will be cleared under the basis of

‘temporary conditional cover’. What this means is that the remit will not

require Ministerial approval initially. It will,however, be included for formal approvalwith the pay remit later in the year; and DFPhave accepted that legal advice will not berequired each year, providing there is nochange to the contracts of employment.

Ms Millar added: “NIPSA will continue toengage with both NIHE senior management,the DSD and, if necessary, to the DFP to clar-ify the situation and seek assurances that wewill not get into the same issue when thecost of living increase is agreed.”

Industrial actionstarts at CCEA

Page 5 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

Equal pay victory forex-NIPSA members

A SUCCESSFUL equal pay set-tlement, which will benefit1,100 former members ofNIPSA, proves the continuingbenefits of having been a mem-ber of the union, the union hasclaimed. Assistant General Secretary

Kieran Bannon described the set-tlement brokered with NICS man-agement as “good news”.One of the groups NIPSA con-

tinued to campaign for – arisingout of the NICS equal pay settle-ment in 2009 – were those whohad left service. At the time of the equal pay set-

tlement, a person was required tolodge an equal pay claim with anindustrial tribunal within sixmonths of leaving service. As a result of this the only con-

cession from NICS managementin 2009 was that although theequal pay settlement had an ef-fective date of February 1, 2009,they would apply the terms of thesettlement to those staff who leftsix months prior to that date (i.e.August 1, 2008), irrespective ofwhether they had lodged a claimat tribunal. All staff in the affected grades

that left service on or after August1, 2008 therefore received thesettlement terms negotiated byNIPSA.In 2012, there was a change in

the law when a group of formerworkers of Birmingham CityCouncil sought to pursue anequal pay claim outside the six-month time limit and in the civilcourt, not an industrial tribunal. This was challenged by Birm-

ingham City Council but their ap-peals to the High Court andSupreme Court were not upheld. The result of this was that in ad-

dition to being able to pursue anequal pay claim through an indus-trial tribunal under the six-monthtime limit, a person could alsopursue an equal pay claim in thenature of a breach of contract in acivil court under the normal six-year statute bar limitation.Before the Supreme Court deci-

sion on Birmingham City Coun-cil’s appeal, NIPSA sought toidentify former female members

who potentially could benefit fromthe Abdulla vs Birmingham CityCouncil ruling. (The equal payclaim was in respect of femalecivil servants who were paid lessthan their male comparators). Of those that it was possible to

identify, NIPSA lodged writs ontheir behalf in July 2012. Throughout the process of con-

sidering the implications of theAbdulla ruling, NIPSA soughtlegal advice through McCartan,Turkington, Breen (MTB). John McShane of MTB worked

closely with NIPSA Assistant Gen-eral Secretary Kieran Bannon inadvancing the claims on behalf offormer members.Subsequent to lodging writs on

behalf of former female membersin July 2012 and following theSupreme Court ruling in October2012, NIPSA sought further legaladvice. This was related to whether the

“piggy-back” arrangements thatapplied to male civil servants inthe original equal pay settlementin 2009 could apply in the circum-stances presented by the Abdullaruling. The consultations with John Mc-

Shane (MTB) and Counsel, BrianMcKee B.L., concluded that writsshould be served on behalf of for-

mer male NIPSA members. Hav-ing identified as many formermembers in the affected gradesas possible, NIPSA lodged thesefurther writs in December 2012.It was only after lodging the

writs that NICS management wasprepared to enter negotiationswith NIPSA. The talks were pro-tracted, concluding in an offer ofsettlement in January this year. In broad terms the settlement

included an element of an en-hanced rate of pay, arrears ofpension and a recalculation of fu-ture pension entitlement whereappropriate. In order to attract the settlement

terms, NICS management re-quired those for whom writs wereserved to sign a CompromiseAgreement. The process of pay-ment closely followed thearrangements put in place in 2010at the time of the original settle-ment.NIPSA conducted a series of

road shows to explain to theclaimants (former NIPSA mem-bers) the detail of the offer andwhat steps had to be taken to se-cure the payment and, where ap-propriate, revisions to pension. Speaking of the settlement As-

sistant General Secretary KieranBannon told NIPSA News: “Al-

though the equal pay settlementin 2009 was very significantNIPSA believe injustices re-mained for a number of members. “We have continued to cam-

paign on behalf of those memberssuch as leavers and the PSNI/for-mer PSNI and DOJ/former NIOmembers. “The campaign for the PSNI/for-

mer PSNI and DOJ/former NIOmembers continues and we awaitthe NI Executive’s decision on thepaper presented to it by the Fi-nance Minister.”He added: “We are delighted

that an opportunity presented it-self through the Abdulla case todo something for NICS leavers.The civil court statute bar limita-tion has allowed us to go back sixyears from the date writs werelodged to secure settlement termsover the periods July 2006 to 31July 2008 and December 2006 to31 July 2008 for former femaleand former male NIPSA membersrespectively.”Following the settlement, NICS

management briefed the Commit-tee for Finance and Personnel onthe matter. They indicated to the Assembly

Committee that they intended toextend the settlement terms ne-gotiated by NIPSA to those whostill had the potential to submit aclaim. This would cover those falling

into the period January 2008 to 1August 2008 (the original equalpay settlement cut-off date). This will cover about 700 people

– some of whom may be NIPSAmembers that it was not possibleto identify from the scan under-taken of the data held on NIPSArecords. These people will be contacted

directly by Corporate HR of theDepartment of Finance and Per-sonnel. Kieran Bannon commented: “In

total our negotiations securingsettlement terms for formerNIPSA members will have benefit-ted approximately a further 1,100people – that’s good news – that’sthe benefit of NIPSA member-ship.”

Organise to protect services, jobs, pay and pensionsYOU HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY...SUPPORT YOUR UNION AND YOUR COLLEAGUES

John McShane (MTB, left), worked with AssistantGeneral Secretary Kieran Bannon on behalf of former members of NIPSA

NIPSA members employedby the Business ServiceOrganisation (BSO) payrollShared Services Centreprotested (outside the BSOHeadquarters in FranklinStreet, Belfast, on Monday,June 9) over the unaccept-able stress they have beenforced to work under overthe last few months sincethe introduction the newpayroll system.Alison Millar, Deputy Gen-

eral Secretary, said: “NIPSApayroll members working inthe BSO have had enough. “Since October last year

when the new payroll systemwas introduced things havegot progressively worse. “Staff concerns have

largely not been ignored andthey have borne the brunt ofother staff frustration andanger when they have re-

ceived no pay, over and un-derpayment of wages. “It is not the fault of the

BSO staff concerned – it isthe IT system and the newmethods of working whichhave been introduced overthe last months that havemade matters worse.”Ms Millar went on to say:

“Our members are calling tobe balloted for industrial ac-tion and today is the start ofthem demonstrating theiranger. “Members have had

enough and are fed up withmanagement not listeningclearly to the staff who havemany years of payroll experi-ence behind them.”Tommy Brownlee, NIPSA

Official for BSO members,reported: “The work is pilingup and the stress levels areintolerable – members are

angry that they are beingmade the scapegoats andblamed for pay problems inthe Belfast and WesternTrust. “The permanent staff are

long service Trust employees– so the problems are not oftheir making.

“NIPSA is calling for thestructures and methods ofworking to be examined toensure that over the comingmonths the expertise of thestaff many of whom have de-livered payroll successfullyfor years can be used effec-tively.”

Page 6 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

THE state of Northern Ire-land’s health and social caresystem was debated at theregional conference of thePensioners’ Parliament inBelfast on May 29 and 30.

A special half-day sessionwas devoted to the subject.NIPSA researcher JohnMcVey (pictured right),wasinvited to speak on theunion’s position on theTransforming Your Care ini-tiative to delegates of thePensioners’ Parliament, onwhich retired NIPSA mem-bers play an active role.

He told NIPSA News: “Imade it clear, as does ourresearch, that while we arecontent to participate in a

genuine debate about whatconstitutes truly holistichealthcare in 2014, we arenot prepared to indulge theillusion that TYC or anyother ‘vision’ can work with-out being founded on theessentials of sufficient, ap-propriately paid/trained staffwithin a public service thathas its funding guaranteed.

“I also wished to highlightthat we also must opposethe subversion of the NHSby the stealth privatisationthat is taking place. Thistakes NHS delivery out ofthe public sector and handsit to private sectorproviders.”

Mr McVey said he pointed

out to delegates that prom-ises that TYC would be de-livered by a £83m shift offunding and £70m transitionfunding had not been deliv-ered.

“This raises the funda-mental question if thisamount of money wasneeded to deliver an appro-priate service – what is nowbeing delivered with a frac-tion of it? It is clear that theonly way to save the NHS isto fight its privatisation.” NIPSA research on TYC isavailable athttp://www.nipsa.org.uk/NIPSA-in-Action/Policy-and-Re-search/Transforming-Your-Care

Pensioners’ Parliament debates TYC

Payroll staff in demo over IT system

BSO payroll staff stage a demo in Belfast over their deepconcern that the IT system is not fit for purpose

PCSunitytalkswithUnite

THE PCS civil service union willcontinue having merger talks withthe Unite general union, but on amore cautious basis than the leader-ship had hoped, following its recentannual conference.

The two unions have been in infor-mal talks for a year and a Unite spe-cial executive council meetingrecently agreed to open formal talksto bring PCS into their ranks.

The PCS executive proposed to itsdelegate conference last month tocontinue talks on transferring its en-gagements to Unite and to plan aspecial conference to discuss themerger terms reached. If that confer-ence agreed the terms, they would

be put to a ballot of the member-ship.

But delegates narrowly rejectedthe plan to move swiftly to settingout merger terms, and agreed toproceed only on the basis of ensur-ing minimum conditions.

These include having more trans-parency in the talks and, in particu-lar, the retention of a political fundwhich is independent of the LabourParty. Both unions currently havepolitical funds, but while Unite’s isaffiliated to Labour the PCS’s is not.

While a slight brake has been ap-plied to the merger process, dele-gates threw out a separate proposalto end the talks.

It had earlier been considered thatPCS’s financial situation might havejeopardised merger progress. Theunion has suffered significant mem-bership decline in the last few yearsand its income has correspondinglyfallen.

However, Unite now says there are“no obvious financial issues thatwould obstruct a transfer”, althoughPCS would need to resolve its pen-sions issues with the Pensions Reg-ulator.

Unite had 1.32 million members atthe last official count and PCS263,000. A merger would bring to-gether nearly half a million publicsector workers.

NIPSA has been advisedby the Department ofAgriculture and Rural De-velopment (DARD) thatthere is to be a reductionin its budget over the2014/15 and 2015/16 fi-nancial years. This is part of the Govern-

ment’s wider public expen-diture measures and islikely to extend beyond2015/16 to 2020.The Department’s Top

Management Group hasagreed to seek to free up4% in 2014/15 and 8% in2015/16 equating to ap-proximately £8m and £16mrespectively. At a recentmeeting with senior offi-cials, NIPSA was advisedthat the Department isseeking to reduce its 2,925full-time staff equivalent to

2,700 (full-time equivalent)by March 2016. The Senior Civil Service

cadre in each of the Depart-ment’s business areas willbe responsible for manag-ing this reduction. However,the Top ManagementGroup will monitor theachievement of the targetand also be responsible forcommunications with staff. Obviously this is a signifi-

cant issue for members,particularly given the cur-rent demands on the De-partment over EUcompliance, CAP Reform,the Rural DevelopmentPlan, the relocation projectand a number of other proj-ects. NIPSA has, therefore,

raised a number of pointsincluding:

n The need for senior man-agement to identify busi-ness critical work areaswhere posts will be a prior-ity;n Other business prioritiesto be identified;n Close consultation withTrade Union Side (TUS) atall levels and for consulta-tion to take place beforeany restructuring, re-organi-sation of work, suppressionof posts, staff transfers etc.n Identification of blocks ofwork that will no longer beundertaken. TUS has in-sisted a cut in staffing lev-els must see anaccompanying reduction inworkloads;n Seeking to fill poststhrough internal mecha-nisms rather than by meansof external recruitment ex-

ercises; andn A requirement on the De-partment to properly assessand address training needsfor staff transferring to newfunctional areas.Department officials have

indicated that in the longerterm there may be a degreeof re-organisation and/or re-structuring required. This isan area where detailed andtimely consultation withTUS will be need. While the Department

refer to greater deliverythrough digital services,NIPSA cautioned manage-ment about an over-re-liance on IT facilities whichis not an adequate substi-tute for delivering servicesthrough experienced, pro-fessional, well-trained staff.In recent years NIPSA

and DARD managementhave developed a ‘Guide toIndustrial Relations’ and anassociated training pro-gramme is currently beingrolled out. The challengesahead about to be facedwill test the Department’scommitment to industrial re-lations. NIPSA has beenassured by the most seniorlevel of management thatthey seek to keep faith withexisting staff and will workclosely with NIPSA to de-liver on that commitment.DARD Branch represen-

tatives have been asked tomake early contact withmanagement in their localareas to seek informationon any plans on staffingand to liaise with theirNIPSA Seconded Officersand Headquarters Official.

Page 7 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

DARD budget cuts will have implications for staff

AS many members of the generalpublic will be unfamiliar withtheir rights should they findthemselves in police custody; wefeel it only right that we dedicatean article to this very importantissue.As one of Northern Ireland’s lead-

ing law firms, we are in position tohelp you through any criminal lawmatter and welcome all queries re-gardless of whether the matter re-lates to a minor traffic offence or amore serious potential offence.For now, here are some pointers

that we hope will be of assistanceshould you find yourself in policecustody.

Q1. Am I able to obtain a solicitorwhen in the police station?A1. Yes. If you have been arrestedand are in police custody you areautomatically entitled to representa-tion by a qualified solicitor. Thisrepresentation can be in person orby way of telephone consultation.This also extends to people whoare in the police station as, what isknown as, a voluntary attender. Q2. How much money will it costme for assistance from a solicitorwhen in the police station?A2. Regardless of your financial cir-cumstances and no matter how

major or minor the allegationsagainst you; you will be entitled toFREE Legal Aid if you have beenarrested and are in police custodyor attending as a voluntary atten-der. Therefore, we recommend youavail of a solicitor regardless of howtrivial you may feel the matter is.Q3. How do I make contact with asolicitor when I am in the police sta-tion and which solicitor should I askfor?A3. Generally the police will offeryou the opportunity to request a so-licitor. If not, advise the police thatyou would like them to get you asolicitor. You are entirely free to in-struct whichever solicitor you wouldlike to use and you do not have touse any “duty solicitor” if one is of-

fered to you. Given that we have avast experience with criminal lawand police station assistance, andwe would recommend that you askfor us: McCartan Turkington BreenSolicitors. Our contact number is028 90329801.Q4. Do I have to wait for a solicitorto attend the police station before Ican speak to him or her?A4. As outlined above, you can getadvice from a solicitor over the tele-phone and don’t have to wait tospeak to them in person.Q5. You have chosen a solicitorand you are waiting for him or herto attend the police station, whatshould you do and not do whenwaiting?A5. Under no circumstances should

you agree to proceed with an inter-view when you are waiting on yoursolicitor. You should wait for yoursolicitor to attend and do not dis-cuss any of the allegations that arebeing made against you with thepolice without the solicitor beingpresent. If any issue arises, youcan ask the police to contact yoursolicitor on the telephone.Q6. My solicitor has arrived in thepolice station, what happens now?A6. This differs from case to case.You will be provided facilities tohave confidential consultation/swith your solicitor. Your solicitor’sgoal will be to make sure you arebeing cared for and treated prop-erly and ultimately to have you re-leased from the police station asthe earliest opportunity.This article just provides some

general information should you findyourself in police custody. It wouldbe impossible to recite all advicesregarding your rights when in policecustody in this short article.We do recommend that should

you find yourself needing legal rep-resentation regarding any kind ofcriminal matter that you contact ouroffice and ask to speak to one ofour specialist criminal solicitors whowill have the experience and ex-pertise to assist you when required.

What are your rights to legal representationwhen you are in police custody?

By James FayChancery House, 88 Victoria Street, Belfast BT1 3GN

Tel: 028 9032 9801 www.mtb-law.co.uk

Page 8 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

THE latest NIPSA research pub-lication, Personnel ServicesNeed Integrity: Civilian staffneed support, was officiallylaunched on June 19. The booklet analyses the posi-

tion of PSNI civilian staff amid ahistory of recruitment controversiesand under the threat of privatisa-tion. It also reflects on how NIPSA’s

longstanding position on these is-sues has been confirmed in a se-ries of official reports from publicbodies (Audit Office, Criminal Jus-tice Inspectorate and, as recentlyas March of this year, the PublicAccounts Committee) which call fora new approach from the PSNI. Acknowledging at the launch that

a number of official reports hadvindicated the NIPSA analysis, De-partmental Chairperson RyanMcKinney said: “We cannot leave itthere because temporary solutionsremain part of the policing deliverymodel and there are still compa-nies who see policing as a way tomake a quick buck.” He continued: “The award of a

£180 million contract to ResourceNI is testament to that. Our focusmust now turn to revealing the re-ality of such methods. “It is for us a matter not only of

principle but of practical experi-ence that public services are bestdelivered by public servants. “In this case these public ser-

vants should be recruited by anddirected by the Chief Constableand accountable to the Police Om-budsman and Policing Board.”Mr McKinney praised the bravery

of members and reps and pointedout that “they can take a lot ofcredit for what the PAC recom-mended”. He added: “While we welcome

the increased accountability andscrutiny which the PAC has attrib-uted to the Policing Board when itcomes to contracts, we must nowinsist and ensure that this be-comes the norm. “NIPSA want to build on the im-

proved engagement which wehave seen over this past 12months in particular but… we mustbe afforded the right to critically en-gage both to defend the interestsof our members and also in the in-terests of the public.” In his contribution at the launch,

report author NIPSA Policy andResearch Officer John McVey un-derlined that was a pattern – simi-lar to that seen in PSNIoutsourcing – in which privatisationprocesses were being “sold” as

public sector “reform”. He said: “The trouble with many

of these so-called reforms is thatthey start from a position of opposi-tion to the public sector. Althoughthe drivers of market reform talkthe language of ‘choice’, the choicethey are determined to remove,where they can, is the one wherethe public sector continues to pro-vide the service.”He insisted that no one should

accept a standard any less thanwas being demanded by theHouse of Common’s own PublicAccounts Committee.The PAC had called for “greater

visibility to government, parliamentand the public about suppliers’ per-formance, costs, revenues andprofits [and] all government bodiesthat contract out functions andpublic services, and the contrac-tors themselves, having trans-parency, not commercial sensitivityas their default position”. In concluding, Mr McVey pointed

out that “real” reform started withthe basics – “investing in staff,founded on a belief in public serv-ice itself”. “This means services run for a

population who live in the societyin which they are provided – not forshareholders who may not even

live in the country in which theseservices operate and who do notpay the taxes that keep them run-ning.” The report is available as a PDF

download at www.nipsa.og.uk

WHEN talks between EU officials and the USGovernment began on a treaty called theTransatlantic Trade and Investment Partner-ship (TTIP), in July last year, it did not gener-ate many headlines. This was no accident.

The reason was a deliberate attempt to con-ceal both the scale and nature of the deal that isbeing brokered.

Despite its title, TTIP has little to do withtrade. Instead, in its reach, it shows a desire ona global scale to remove what its authors defineas “barriers” to the activity of profit-seeking in-ternational corporations.

Dr Tom Healy, the Director of the Nevin Eco-nomic Research Institute (NERI), has providedan overview of the issue on the following linkhttp://bit.ly/1lm0mNr

Similarly, some quotations extracted from anew War on Want booklet on the subject under-line how TTIP will de-regulate protection, priva-tise key services and undermine nationalgovernments.

According to War on Want, TTIP will:

De-regulate protection: The ‘barriers’ [the cor-porations face] are in reality some of our most

prized social standards and environmental regu-lations, such as labour rights, food safety rules(including restrictions on Genetically ModifiedOrganisms), regulations on the use of toxicchemicals, digital privacy laws and even newbanking safeguards introduced to prevent a re-peat of the 2008 financial crisis;

Privatise key services: TTIP also seeks to cre-ate new markets by opening up public servicesand government procurement contracts to com-petition from transnational corporations, threat-ening to introduce a further wave of

PSNI civilian staff praisedat research paper launch

Union researcher JohnMcVey reported privatisa-tion processes were being“sold” as public sector “re-form”.

TOXIC RETTIP ‘a threat to democr

Page 9 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

privatisations in key sectors, such as health andeducation.

Undermine national governments: TTIPseeks to grant foreign investors a new right tosue sovereign governments in front of ad hocarbitration tribunals for loss of profits resultingfrom public policy decisions. This ‘investor-State dispute settlement’ (ISDS) mechanism ef-fectively elevates transnational capital to astatus equivalent to the nation-state itself, andthreatens to undermine the most basic princi-ples of democracy in the EU and USA alike.

TTIP is therefore correctly understood not as anegotiation between two competing trading part-ners, but as an attempt by transnational corpo-rations to prise open and deregulate markets onboth sides of the Atlantic. War on Want’s booklet is available athttp://bit.ly/1wqMGnq A version in French, German, Greek, Spanish,

Italian and Portuguese is available at:http://rosalux-europa.info/news/TTIP/TTIP’s ambition highlights what has been a

key theme of our anti-privatisation agenda – thatprivatisation will dismantle the hard-fought dem-

ocratic protections that were created to protectsociety from the corporations’ poisonous searchfor higher profits. As NIPSA Policy and Research Officer John

McVey explained to NIPSA News: “Every tradeunionist needs to make themselves aware of thethreat that TTIP represents. “It is not only a direct attack on us as trade

unionists but also, in its flagrant disregard forexisting legal frameworks that provide any pro-tection from corporate unaccountability, is also aclear threat to the operation of democratic soci-ety as a whole.”

LATIONSWestern Trustsocial workerscontinue fightSOCIAL workers and social workassistants employed in the Pri-mary and Older People’s Pro-gramme (community-based) havestepped up their fight to protectthe service the provide.

It follows on from a one-daystrike staged by the workers onMay 16.

Alan Law told NIPSA News: “De-spite the May 16 action, the Trustcontinues to refuse to introduce acaseload weighting system to dealwith the allocation of cases for vul-nerable older people in our com-munity.

“As a result members are engag-ing on a programme of action thatwill further highlight the unsafepractices they being asked to carryout.

“NIPSA members are providing aprofessional service to our elderlyclients in the community, but thereality is that some incident couldoccur which would put elderlyclients at risk. This is not some-thing our members want to be re-sponsible for.”

He added: “Therefore, NIPSA iscalling on the Trust to enter intoimmediate talks with NIPSA on anappropriate caseload weightingsystem to ensure both the safetyof our vulnerable elderly clientsand the health and safety of ourmembers who are under immensepressure to deliver a service withinadequate resources.”

Hospital canteen transformedinto learning hub for the dayAN OPEN day to highlight learn-ing opportunities was held in thecanteen of the Tyrone & Fer-managh Hospital in Omagh onJune 17.

The event, which was stagedas part of Adult Learners’ Week(June 14 – 20), featured a num-ber of stands providing informa-tion and advice on topics asvaried as cancer awareness, ca-reer guidance, recycling andcrime prevention.

The open day was organisedby Branch Union Learning Rep-resentative Janice Walsh and itsobjective was to assist staff toprogress both personally andprofessionally in their roles.

It also helped to promoteNIPSA’s role in the workplaceand a significant number of ap-plication forms were distributed.

NIPSA joined a number ofother organisations, includingPSNI, Northern Ireland Fire andRescue Service, Omagh DistrictCouncil, Omagh Library, DEL Ca-reers Service, South West Re-gional College and the OpenUniversity in providing standsfor the event.

The branch hopes to hold fur-ther events in Altnagelvin andSouth West Acute Hospital.

A source told NIPSA News:“Feedback received from thosewho attended the event has beenvery positive and will assist Jan-ice when planning the next eventin September.”

NIPSA reps (above) attending the open day on learning opportunities are:Janice Walsh, John Havord and Micky O’Kane

atic society as a whole’

WORKERS’ rights have beenAmnesty’s cause since our begin-ning. One of the cases that launchedour movement was the plight oftrade unionist Toni Abatielos, whohad been jailed by the Greek Juntafor standing up for his members’rights. And our commitment carries on today

– whether it is holding Scott Ritter,Governor of Wisconsin, to account forstripping public sector workers of theirbargaining rights, or insisting that thegovernment of South Korea recognisesthe union that municipal workers havechosen to join. In Amnesty Internationalwe are proud to have made common

cause with unions to promote and pro-tect human rights, including by recentlyjoining forces in Northern Ireland to op-pose racism.Today I am asking NIPSA members

to join with us and take action by sign-ing our online petition to free MahdiAbu Dheeb, a schoolteacher and Presi-dent of the Bahrain Teachers’ Federa-tion. In April 2011, he was arrested forencouraging his members to go onstrike. Along with his colleague Jalila al-

Salman, Mahdi proposed a teachers'strike to support widespread protests atthe time, calling for governmental re-form.

Both Mahdi and Jalila were arrestedsoon after. Jalila was freed a couple ofyears ago, but Mahdi remains in prison.He is a prisoner of conscience.Mahdi was arrested at his uncle’s

house on April 6, 2011. He was takenfor interrogation by police to a secretlocation: his family didn’t know wherehe was for more than three weeks.Mahdi was then subjected to 64 days insolitary confinement. Mahdi claims thepolice beat him when he was being in-terrogated. Mahdi’s daughter, Maryam, recently

joined us via Skype at the launch ofAmnesty’s Northern Ireland TradeUnion network and told us her father

had sustained two broke suffering from severe ne pain when she saw him detention.Mahdi and Jalila were

military court in Septemb were found guilty, and M tenced to 10 years in pri was reduced to five year peal. Jalila was dealt a three

tence, later reduced to s was released in Novemb Mahdi is not in jail for c

He is imprisoned becaus his right to speak freely, his trade union rights.

Conference 2014 round-up

A NEW pernicious epidemic is stalk-ing the health care systems of theworld. It is striking rich countries andpoor alike, with understandably themost devastating impact on the poor-est. It saps vital resources, dislo-cates and fragments systems,obstructs the development of equi-table healthcare systems, and pre-vents government planning andresponding to health needs.The epidemic is not a medical prob-

lem, but a man-made disaster. It is therampant spread of neoliberal, pro-mar-ket 'reforms', devised and promoted bya narrow policy-making academic andpolitical elite in the wealthiest countries. It can only be eradicated by the

spread of information, political cam-paigning and critical thinking, with regu-lar injections of evidence and socialsolidarity.This epidemic is the focus of my new

book Health Policy Reform: GlobalHealth versus Private Profit, which of-fers a detailed analysis of the main‘menu’ of market-style reforms offered tohealth care systems, and a discussionon the ways these are being effectivelyimposed by the governments in richercountries - and by global bodies in the

poorer ones. It argues that these so-called ‘re-

forms’ are driven not by evidence, butby ideology. And behind the ideology isa massive material factor: the insatiablepressure from the private sector to re-capture a much larger share of the mas-sive $5 trillion-plus global health carespend, much of which only exists be-cause of public funding.Everywhere the role of the private

sector and the size of its potential mar-ket is always constrained by an ‘inversecare law’. Most health care is requiredby those least in a position to pay themarket price for it – whether this be theold, the very young, the poor or thosewith chronic sickness and disabilities.Nowhere in the world is there a healthcare system that delivers universal orcomprehensive health care servicespurely through the development of acompetitive health care market. Nor isthere any private health sector that canoperate without overt or covert subsi-dies. England has been an unfortunate lab-

oratory rat for some wild and costly ex-periments with competition. What hadbeen one of the most integrated andpublicly provided services in the world

has been progressively dismantled, withever more services sliced off to encour-age private providers. Governmentssince Margaret Thatcher have all – per-haps for different reasons – applied ahard-line neoliberal ideology to health.In doing so they exploited a political sys-tem that tended to deliver clear parlia-mentary majorities, to force throughpolicies despite popular opposition. This has continued even under David

Cameron’s opportunist coalition. Themassive and complex Health Act lackedany democratic mandate. Never put tothe electorate, it was passed onlythanks to the willingness of the LiberalDemocrats, eager to avoid a huge con-flict and early election in which theywould be largely wiped out.It doesn’t have to be this way - since

devolution, more progressive systemshave developed through integration ofservices in Wales and Scotland. Butlooking further afield, sadly England isnot unique. Similar ‘reforms’ are beingadapted in different ways to differentsystems across much of Europe. Theyare also being imposed upon the poor-est developing countries where they areeven less appropriate and more disas-

trous in their consequenc Global Health Versus P

shows how since 1980 g like the World Bank, new ers like the Gates Found at times the World Health (WHO) have played a ro these changes. These ag been supported by a bur try of right wing ‘think tan coterie of academics dra chance of lavish funding appears to be to the give search grant rather than dence.Setting the analysis in

the rise of neoliberalism secting economic, politic mental crises that worse my book distinguishes be cutting ‘market-driven’ re reduce the size, scope a services but leave system changed, and ‘market-sty which aim first and forem a growing share of health private providers and ulti insurers. Market-style reforms a

in that they consistently s cut costs nor to improve fact the systems most de vate competing providers est overhead costs and w while excluding millions f cess to health care. Global Health Versus P

subjects the ‘menu’ of m cies to a detailed critique most up to date material the World Bank (and its pwing, the International Fi

Healthcare systems across the world are facing a 'man-made disaster' – the imposition of market-style 'reforms' that are neither appropriate nor effective. Journalist and author John Lister was a special guestspeaker at NIPSA conference and he unpicked the facts behind the flimsy ideology behind health policy reform thatsees a growing privatisation of services.

The neoliberal epidemic strik

Amnesty issueappeal to NIPSA members: ‘Helpus free Mahdi’

Page 10 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

By Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International

en ribs and was eck and back

after his time in

tried before a ber 2011. They

Mahdi sen- son – which

rs after an ap- e-year sen- ix months. She

ber 2012. criminal activity.

se he exercised and demanded

Tens of thousands of Amnesty mem-bers and supporters have signed ouronline petition; please join us by addingyour name too. Bahrain is very sensitive to UK public

opinion, and we are working with theunions across the UK and internation-ally to have the highest impact. To-gether we can make a difference!Please sign our petition at

www.amnesty.org.uk/MahdiYou can find out more about our

campaigns for workers’ rights and allhuman rights, as well as ways to get in-volved by visiting www.amnesty.org.uk/NITradeUnions

ces. Private Profit

global agencies w powerful play- dation, and even h Organisation

le in promoting gencies have rgeoning indus-

nks’ and an elite awn to the . Their loyalty er of the re-

to the evi-

the context of and the inter-

cal and environ- n global health,

etween cost- eforms, which and scale of ms largely un- yle’ reforms,

most to open up h spending for

imately private

are remarkable serve neither to efficiency. In ependent on pri- s have the high- waste billions from proper ac-

Private Profit arket-style poli-

e, using the available from

privatisation inance Corpora-

tion) and the IMF. I discuss in detail thepolitical evolution of these and other or-ganisations shaping the reforms, includ-ing the WHO.A particular concern is the interna-

tional spread of ‘Public Private Partner-ships’ following in the footsteps of theUK’s trail-blazing Private Finance Initia-tive (PFI). Despite the fact that PFI isproving itself a major liability, bankrupt-ing trusts in a cash-strapped NHS, themodel is being exported across theworld in the face of many costly flaws,failures, and false starts. Many PPPs(P3s in Canada) are now under way indeveloped OECD countries - and also inLatin America, Asia, and South Africa. Intiny Lesotho a $120m PPP hospital isset to soak up a disproportionate shareof the health budget, but generate ahealthy profit stream for its SouthAfrican ‘partner’ the health care multina-tional Netcare.Global Health Versus Private Profit

also singles out what I have termed the“Missing Millennium DevelopmentGoals” – the massive public health is-sues which call for reform and for large-scale action, but which are completelyignored by current health ‘reforms’. Thereal challenges remain unaddressed -the development of adequate healthcare for the growing world-wide popula-tion of more dependent older people(summed up as “customers the privatesector doesn’t want”), the millions suffer-ing mental illness, and the ‘hidden giant’of the millions facing physical disability.Global Health Versus Private Profit ex-

plores and dissects market-style re-forms. Extensive evidence including 60pages of references shows how these

reforms don’t take as their starting pointthe real and evident problems facinghealth care systems - and nor do theysolve any of them. A concluding chapter explains why “It

doesn’t have to be this way”. The poli-cies are not inevitable consequences ofour current situation, but deliberatechoices of politicians working to a ne-oliberal agenda. These choices can berejected and defeated by mass politicalaction. There are alternatives. The chal-lenge is to develop a political leadershipwith the courage to embrace them andfight for them.I hope it will serve as a resource for

campaigners working for political andpopular action, to challenge the flimsyarguments and assertions that these ne-oliberal reforms are based on.Market-style reforms result in systems

more unequal, more costly, more frag-mented and less accountable – butwhich offer more profits to the privatesector. That’s why the real question iswhether we want to see global health –or private profit. Most people are clearwhich they would prefer. We are many, with the facts on our

side: the neoliberals are few. But goodideas must be turned into political actionto change the world. That’s why this is abook I hope will not sit gathering dust onlibrary shelves, but be brandished -even used as a weapon - by those fight-ing for change. A reinforced hardback edition may yet

be needed to ensure we win!Health Policy Reform: Global Healthversus Private Profit, by John Lister(£25) is available from www.libripublish-ing.co.uk or from good booksellers.

king UK healthcare

Page 11 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

“Looking at this appeal makes mewant to thank Amnesty for all thehard work you have been doing formy dad. You have been campaigningfor three years non stop, sometimesI gave up but you don’t. To all thepeople who sign this appeal, myfamily and I can’t be more thankful,and we really appreciate your sup-port. To me personally I want to meeteach and every one of you and thankyou individually."

Maryam Abu Dheeb – daughter ofMahdi Abu Dheeb, speaking toAmnesty International in May 2014

Veteran Jimmy’s callto action over cuts

A VETERAN trade unionist and foundermember of NIPSA has called on activists to“to become more active” and for “non-ac-tive members to become active” in fightingthe cuts agenda.

Jimmy Cassells, 85, made the commentsin a communication with the union after at-tending the recent Annual Delegate Confer-ence in Newcastle.

Life member Jimmy, who has a 65-yearlong connection with NIPSA, wrote: “As afounder and life member of NIPSA – ofwhich I feel very proud – I was delighted tobe present at the Annual Conference butsaddened to hear of the passing of many ofmy colleagues who had given outstandingservice to this union.”

Listening to the debates, he noted thatmost outlined the “anger and frustration”felt by members at the cuts in pay, pen-sions and working conditions forced onthose working in civil and public servicesby “an extreme Tory-led government and aPontius Pilate Labour Party”.

He continued: “Equally in Northern Ire-land, we have an Assembly of uselessMLAs who at times resemble an Alice inWonderland-style Mad Hatters’ Party than acompetent government acting for the peo-ple.”

Jimmy pointed out that the current situa-tion reminded him struggles more than halfa century ago “when we had our backs tothe wall and we had to fight for basic tradeunion rights”.

“We won and lost battles but eventuallywon the war that progressed our union toits present strength today. Today, however,we – and all trade unionists – are backwhere we were in the biggest fight for manyyears.”

He warned that reactionary forces in thepress, media, business and government are“in Maggie Thatcher-style determined to lit-erally destroy us”.

Jimmy concluded: “From my experience,I believe every single public job is at risk.So activists, become more active; non-ac-tive members become active; non-membersjoin the battle before it’s too late. UNITEDWE CAN GO FORWARD AND WIN!”

Keeping abreast of conference business is NIPSA veteran, JimmyCassells.

Picture: Kevin Cooper

Page 12 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

United Against Racism marchTHOUSANDS of people, includ-ing hundreds of NIPSA mem-bers, have taken part in ananti-racism march in Belfast.Organisers said it was designed

to "reassure ethnic and religiousminorities in Northern Ireland". Representatives of the trade

unions and Muslim communitywere among those who spoke at arally ahead of a march from Writ-ers' Square to Belfast City Hall, onSaturday, June 7 It was organised in response to

an upsurge in hate crime and con-troversial remarks about Islam by apastor and First Minister PeterRobinson.Pastor James McConnell made a

public apology on Friday, June 6,after calling Islam "heathen" and"satanic". The June 7 march was led by

Belfast's Lord Mayor, Nichola Mal-lon, Dr Donald Watts, president ofthe Irish Council of Churches andDr Mazhar M Khan, a member ofNorthern Ireland's Muslim commu-nity.The Northern Ireland Committee

of the Irish Congress of TradeUnions (NIC-ICTU), Amnesty Inter-national and the Northern IrelandCouncil for Ethnic Minorities(NICEM) organised the event. Patrick Yu of the Northern Ireland

Council for Ethnic Minorities said:"The message today is quite sim-

ple - say no to racism."Amnesty International's Patrick

Corrigan said the event was "anopportunity for people to stand withtheir neighbours of all ethnic ori-gins and religious faith groups". "It's also a chance to send a

message to politicians that the lackof political action on this issue is nolonger acceptable," he added. Kasia Garbal, an ICTU migrant

workers' project officer who is origi-nally from Poland, said recent hatecrimes had "made me wonder whyI'm here". "I've been here for 10 years and

this is my home, but the last fewweeks have been really difficult,"she said.

"It's moving for me that so manypeople of all nationalities, racesand different beliefs came out hereto protest."Earlier that week, Pastor Mc-

Connell apologised for his com-ments about Islam. On Friday,June 6, Pastor McConnell wasquestioned for almost two hoursabout his remarks by police.Northern Ireland First Minister

Peter Robinson was heavily criti-cised when he backed Mr Mc-Connell, although he said hisremarks had been misinterpreted. On Tuesday, June 3, Mr Robin-

son visited the Belfast Islamic Cen-tre and made a public apology forhis comments.

Pictures: Kevin Cooper, Photoline

Joining a tradeunion – yourrights at work

Trade union membership: Your employment rightsYou have the right to:n choose to join or not join a unionn decide to leave or remain a member ofa unionn belong to the union you choose, even ifit’s not the one your employer negotiateswith on pay, terms and conditionsn belong to more than one unionYour employer isn’t allowed to:n offer you a benefit to leave a tradeunionn threaten to treat you unfairly if you don’tleave a union

n Refusing to employ you for trade unionmembership reasonsAn employer or employment agencyisn’t allowed to insist that you:n join or leave a trade unionn leave one union for anotherDismissal for trade union membershipreasonsn Your employer isn’t allowed to dismissyou or choose you for redundancy be-cause you:n are or want to be a union membern aren’t or don’t want to be a union mem-bern took part or wanted to take part in unionactivities

Other unfavourable treatmentYour employer mustn’t treat you un-favourably: (for example refusing youpromotion or training opportunities) ifyou:n join a unionn take part in its meetingsn leave a unionWhat to do if you have a problemYou may be able to use a grievance pro-cedure or go to an employment tribunal ifyou think your employer has treated youunfairly because of your trade union mem-bership.n Contact NIPSA at 028 9066 1831 if youhave any queries.

Page 13 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

WHILE staff working inthe vast majority ofschools in the educationsector have now re-ceived – or are about toreceive – their annualcontractual incrementfrom April 1, 2014, mem-bers in voluntary gram-mar and integratedschools are still waiting.Commenting on the ongoing delay,

Assistant Secretary Paddy Mackelsaid: “While it is the case that theapproval process imposed by DFPhas contributed to the delays in ob-taining the go-ahead to pay staff inthe different categories of workers inthe education sector, this doesn’t ex-plain the full story here. “Over the years some employers

have seen fit to ignore NJC pay andterms and conditions, as well as NIL-GOSC pension arrangements. “While many do indeed fully imple-

ment those agreed terms,some have quite disgrace-fully decided not to do so.This has resulted in a situ-ation where our memberscan’t be sure what termsand conditions apply, whatpay scales apply (agreedor otherwise) or whetherthey can contribute to the

NILGOSC pension scheme.”And Mr Mackel insisted this situa-

tion had “gone on far too long”.He added: “Once the current pay

delays have been resolved NIPSA,along with the other unions, fully in-tend to tackle this unfair and unequaltreatment of our members in the vol-untary grammar and integrated sec-tor. “Our members are not looking

‘elite’ wages or pension entitlements– just the same as their colleaguesin other schools. They deservenothing less.”

Voluntary grammarand integrated schoolsstaff unfairly treated

Our membersare not looking‘elite’ wages or

pension entitlements –

just the same astheir colleagues in

other schools

‘‘

OVER the last few weeks, a seriesof meetings have taken place withtenants and tenants’ representa-tives in the North West.

Most of those present at themeetings stated their wish to staywith the Housing Executive astheir landlord and voiced their op-position to any transfer to aHousing Association.

A number of attendees had per-sonal experience of Housing As-sociations. Most of them claimedthey had not received the sameservice from Housing Associa-tions that they had received fromthe Housing Executive.

A NIPSA source told NIPSA

News: “That is not to say that ten-ants did not have issues with theHousing Executive – of course,they did. However, the majority ofthose attending the meetingshave been positive about the en-gagement they have had with theHousing Executive as their land-lord.”

One tenant, speaking at a re-cent meeting in Currynierian,said: “Since the Minister firstmade his announcement over 18months ago, no-one from his De-partment has come into our es-tate to discuss these proposalswith us – or ask us what we want.

“What we want is more homes

in the area for our families, at anaffordable rent and in reasonablecondition.”

The tenant admitted to themeeting that a few homes in theirarea needed improvement butpointed out that didn’t mean thework could not be carried out bythe Housing Executive.

The NIPSA source added: “Itwas clear tenants did not want tobe caught up in the politics of theissues – they just wanted to havedecent homes at affordable rentand they did not believe thiswould be the case under anyHousing Association model.”

A number of further meetings

with tenants and tenants’ repre-sentatives are scheduled to takeplace over the next few months inL/Derry, Belfast andCraigavon/Lurgan/Portadown.

It is also envisaged that othermeetings will take place to en-gage with tenants with a view tobuilding a wide network of repre-sentatives across Northern Ire-land.

Deputy General Secretary Ali-son Millar told NIPSA News: “Thefight for Housing Executive to beretained as an overarching sociallandlord and strategic body goeson – and that campaign is build-ing momentum.”

Tenants say no to transfer

NHS staff in protestover 0% pay riseHealth service members take to thestreets on June 5calling for a fair pay deal.

DVA demoat StormontStaff from the DVAwho face losing theirjobs protest outsidethe Assembly

Page 14 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

DOWNTRODDEN workers on zero-hourscontracts, agency employed, with a lack ofstability and totally uncertain futures, havebeen a staple of this coalition governmentfrom day one.

When Thatcher first decided to privatisethe railways and utilities back in the ’80swe’ve seen a race by many employers to paybottom-rate wages, but demand ever moreflexibility from staff. On the front line wehave seen those results.

Where I live on the north Wales coast, alocal holiday company employs cleaners toclean chalets on minimum wage and on zero-hours contracts.

Each cleaner is given six minutes to cleana chalet. This has resulted in major com-plaints from holidaymakers from findingbathrooms in disgusting states of uncleanli-ness to people finding drugs under the beds.I asked one of the cleaners whether theyliked their job.

“No, it’s a means to an end. They pay uspeanuts, change our working hours rotaevery week and give us six minutes to sup-posedly ‘clean’ a chalet. None of us can bebothered. It gets a quick flick over and ahoover but nothing more.

“I’ve no loyalty to the company. They knowwe’re easy to replace. They employ cleaners

under 21 so they don’t have to pay the adultminimum wage either to cut costs.

“Everything is about cutting corners, pay-ing the lowest wages and so they get all theydeserve as thousands of people complainevery year.”

What if you were paid a decent wage, Iasked. A living wage that took you off taxcredits and more time to do the job?

“That would change everything. I’d take alot more care in my job, knowing I was val-ued by the company. I could give the chalets

a thorough clean, so standards would go up.The company would get more bookings andthe admin over complaints would go down.”

So employers and employees would be in awin-win situation?

“Definitely! More staff would stay too, sothey wouldn’t have to keep training up morenew staff to do the job.”

It sounds easy. Value your employees, paya living wage and your company reaps thebenefits. But we are living in a Britain whereworkplace rights and legal aid to fight tri-

THERE is a consensus emerging that theworst is over for the Northern Ireland econ-omy and that things can only get better. Weare now told that the UK economy is in re-covery, unemployment is down and output isgrowing faster than any other G7 country.This view is put forward as a justification for

the five years of austerity that have been and forthe five more that are to come. Although the UK government would like to

present this recovery as an open and shut case,the reality is very different. This current upturn ineconomic performance happened very quickly,so quickly that you could be forgiven for thinkingit came out of nowhere. That is because the recovery did not arise

after years of careful economic reconstruction,investment and productivity growth, it is the eco-nomic equivalent of a sugar rush.This recovery has been led by increased

household consumption with a governmentsponsored housing bubble thrown in for goodmeasure. A recovery led almost entirely byhousehold consumption isn’t necessarily a bad

thing, but it is when real wages have been in de-cline for over three years. The reality is that this increase in consumer

spending is being driven by house price inflationfor the affluent and increased debt for the rest.In April last year the Nevin Economic Re-

search Institute, in our Spring Quarterly Eco-nomic Observer, outlined the cost of youthunemployment in Northern Ireland both now andin the future and proposed a Youth GuaranteeScheme to tackle it. This year in the Spring Quarterly we focused

on how people in employment have fared sincethe recession, and in particular how falling realwages have exacerbated the entrenched prob-lem of low pay in Northern Ireland. Low pay is officially defined as people receiv-

ing a wage that is two-thirds or less of the me-dian wage. The median wage is the wage of thereceived by the worker in the very middle of thelabour market and in Northern Ireland, that per-

son earned £10.19. So a person in Northern Ire-land is officially defined as low-paid if they re-ceive a wage of £6.79 or less. In 2013 some 115,000 workers or 17% were

officially defined as low paid and this includesthe nearly 60,000 workers who earned minimumwage or less. The median wage is just a statistical measure,

it doesn’t mean that anyone earning above£6.79 is comfortable. For this reason re-searchers in the Greater London Authority andthe University of Loughborough came up withidea of a Living Wage. This would be a wage rate calculated on the

basis that those paid it could earn enough for abasic standard of living. Many people believethis is how the minimum wage is calculated, butit isn’t. The minimum wage is a wage floor,meant to be the lowest acceptable price oflabour and never mean to be an adequate rateof pay for anyone. Unfortunately in Northern Ireland we have tol-

erated low pay for so long that 25% or justunder 170,000 workers do not earn enough for

A Living Wage mak By Paul MacFlynn, NERI

What would life be like if Employees on pitiful wagesand with poor conditionshave little incentive to ‘do agood job’ – why is this sohard for bosses to under-stand? asks BERNADETTEHORTON

Page 15 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

bunals have been stripped away by this gov-ernment in less than four years.

Commuters are paying thousands ofpounds to stand up in dirty trains whosestaff have been cut to the bone, standardsare low and customer service a relic of his-tory.

Since privatisation our utility bills havesoared and soared until we are in the statewhere people are suffering from fuel povertyand choosing between heating or eating dur-ing cold weather.

It is no wonder that customers complain ofpoor customer service in shops, cafes andbars where workers are treated as numbers.

Amazon’s work practices where a braceleton workers’ wrists inform management ofhow quickly a worker is performing and howlong they take for a toilet break is surely outof some futuristic parody of 1984.

Sadly it is not. By reducing workers tostressful working conditions and low pay,the company certainly does not get the bestit can from its workforce.

Minimum pay is often coupled with mini-mum training and no ongoing staff develop-ment.

“Get ’em in, show ’em the bare minimum oftraining to get by and get ’em productive inas short a time frame as possible” is themantra in many workplaces today.

In shops or restaurants you will have expe-rienced the tired repetitive refrain of “Have anice day,” barely audible and muttered as theweary employee “processes” the next cus-tomer order, had your coffee slopped downhurriedly as the manic barista rushes toserve the next person in the queue.

Employees, undervalued, underpaid, withno hope of personal development result inlost profits and complaints for high streetchains. Wouldn’t it be different if staff werevalued and paid decently?

A supermarket employee told me of Hal-loween and Christmas celebrations in store.

Staff were asked to voluntarily come intowork in fancy dress costume for the twoevents, paid for out of their own pockets.

Staff who did this were held up and singledout at a staff meeting as being the epitome ofthe store’s philosophy in good customerservice and team relations.

Staff who had not participated were madeto feel that their non-participation wasn’twhat the company wanted, and the employeeI spoke to said supervisors made her feelvery uncomfortable as she simply could notafford to hire a costume.

Young workers are being made to feelthese are normal working conditions and re-lations, when they are not.

BBC3 recently broadcast a programme en-titled Invasion of the Jobsnatchers, whereyoung unemployed jobseekers were para-chuted into Christchurch in Dorset for workexperience.

If they “matched up” to the job over theeight weeks they could be offered jobs there.

It was more benefit porn-type TV and someof the “jobs” on offer included a full-timeSaturday job only or seasonal employment.

But one jobseeker, Carl Owen, was givenwork experience as a butcher. He then wenton to be given an apprenticeship in the inde-pendent shop as a butcher.

What came across was the owner’s gen-uine interest in Carl, not only showing himthe job and training him but socialising out-side work with him and caring for Carl’s well-being.

Carl is now settled in Christchurch in a de-cent job on decent pay offering excellentcustomer service. Not so hard is it?

Even teachers and the police and firefight-ers are having their salaries reduced and re-graded while being asked to do increasingamounts of work under stressful conditionsfor longer.

Entry-level teachers are on approximately£21k, police on £19k and firefighters on £21k.

In the case of firefighters, who are havingtheir retirement age changed, would anyonewant a 66-year-old firefighter carting you outof a burning building?

The job is arduous, dangerous and re-quires ongoing physical training for little re-ward.

Isn’t it time we valued our firefighters andpolice?

Our teachers are under intense pressureand public scrutiny and get no support fromMichael Gove — just a war of words on“weeding out bad teachers.”

But it is no coincidence that when teacherswere valued, respected and better paid, edu-cational standards were much higher.

Ed Miliband has promised that those car-ing for the sick and elderly in our communi-ties must no longer be held to the “15-minutecare rule” for each visit. That is admirableand a step in the right direction. But let’svalue the care given. Let’s go further andtackle the minimum wage, the poor workingand stressful conditions these carers en-dure.

The horrors of the elderly dying of thirst inhospitals, sick people being put to bed at5pm as that is the 15-minute slot the carerhas for them as he or she has another 20other patients to get to, the social workersweighed down with too many caseloads andso they miss the abused child.

The accelerated race to pay the bottom linefor the most output has got us nowhere.

Society is hugely worse off thanks to pri-vatisation, lack of workplace rights, lowwages and undervalued employees. This issomething that needs reversing now. I aim tokeep campaigning and shouting out to bringthis change. There is another way and never in our his-tory has it been so very much needed.Bernadette Horton blogs atmumvausterity.blogspot.co.ukSource: Morning Star

a basic standard of living. Of course this is not spread evenly, low pay

discriminates against women, young people andthose working in particular industries. People inthe 18-21 year old age group, do not qualify forthe standard minimum wage, but even at that10% of workers earn at or below that lower rateof £4.98.Nearly 67% of 18-21 year olds and 28% of 22-

29 year olds are defined as low paid. A stagger-ing 82% of 18-21 years olds earn below theLiving Wage along with 39% of the 22-29 agegroup.Similarly 29% of women earn below the Living

Wage compared to only 22% of men, a lot ofwhich is due to the gap between full-time andpart-time workers. Some 32% of part-time work-ers are defined as low paid compared to only11% of full-time workers. Similarly for the Living Wage, 16% of full-time

workers earn below this rate compared to 43%of part-timers. The Living Wage is an hourlyrate, so hours worked should not be a factor.Within industries in Northern Ireland there are

low-pay black spots. Within the health sector,44% of social care workers and 51% of residen-tial care workers earn below the Living Wage. A total of 59% of retail workers, 65% of hotel

workers and an astonishing 79% of restaurantand food workers also earn below the LivingWage.These statistics are presented in full in the

NERI report and they highlight the depth of theproblem facing Northern Ireland and lead us topolicy options that need to be considered. Firstly, the minimum wage needs to be en-

forced. It is an unfortunate reality that employersstill attempt to pay workers below what is al-ready a poverty wage. Quite often these work-ers are the most vulnerable in our society andreal penalties and proper enforcement are cru-cial.While the minimum wage did succeed in its

modest aim of outlawing extreme low pay, wecan see from the nearly 17% of workers earningbelow two-thirds of the median, it has not eradi-cated all low pay. That is why attention needs tobe given to the Living Wage.

At the moment it is a voluntary rate, but seri-ous consideration needs to be given to making itthe statutory minimum wage. Employers andothers forecast mass unemployment if such apolicy is implemented, but it should be notedthat all these Dooms day scenarios were put upwhen the minimum wage was introduced andnone came to pass.A Living Wage by itself won’t be enough, sec-

toral agreements between unions and employ-ers should ensure that good employers who payfair wages are not undercut by competitors.Overall there needs to be constant pressure onwages to ensure that the fruits of any economicrecovery are rightly gifted to those that workedto build it.

Paul MacFlynn is an economist with theNevin Economic Research Institute

es economic sense

workers were valued?

As required by the Trade Unionsand Labour Relations (NI) Order1995 the following is a summaryof the Northern Ireland PublicService Alliance financial affairsfor the year ended 31 December2013. Full details of the 2013 accounts

have already been provided tobranches. Any member requiring afurther copy of the 2013 accountsshould contact the Finance Sectionin Harkin House.Total subscription income from

members for 2013 was £4,401,529other income totalled £578,072thus total income for the year was£4,979,601. Total expenditure in-cluding transfers came to£4,258,974.Summary of Salary and Benefits

Provided to the General Secretary,President and Members of theGeneral CouncilThe following salary and benefits

were provided:-nThis figure for Pension contribu-tion is based on a funding rate de-

termined by a qualified actuary onthe basis of triennial calculationsusing the projected unit method.The most recent calculation was at31 December 2009. In accordancewith an agreement with GMB,SIPTU and UNITE the trade unionsfor Headquarters staff, the pensionscheme for NIPSA employees pro-vides benefits comparable to thoseof the Northern Ireland Civil Service(NICS). The funding rate is 40.8% (for all

employees, including the GeneralSecretary). As in the case of theNICS, employers and employees(including the General Secretary)are required to pay a contribution of1.5% towards the cost of Widowsor Widowers pensions thus the netfunding rate payable by NIPSA is39.3%.The President and all members of

the General Council are reimbursedout-of-pocket expenses incurred asa result of NIPSA business. Noother payments are made by virtue

of their membership of the GeneralCouncil.Independent auditors report to

the members of NIPSA for the yearended 31st December 2013We have audited the financial

statements of the Northern IrelandPublic Service Alliance (NIPSA) forthe year ended 31st December2013 which comprises the Incomeand Expenditure Account, theStatement of Recognised Gainsand Losses, the Balance Sheet andthe relevant notes. This report ismade solely to NIPSA members, asa body. Our audit work has beenundertaken so that we might stateto the NIPSA members those mat-ters we are required to state toNIPSA in an auditor’s report and forno other purpose. To the fullest ex-tent permitted by law, we do not ac-cept or assume responsibility toanyone other than NIPSA and theNIPSA members as a body, for ouraudit work, for this report, or for theopinion’s we have formed. TheGeneral Council are responsible for

the maintenance and integrity ofthe corporate and financial informa-tion included on NIPSA’s website.Legislation in the United Kingdomgoverning the preparation and dis-semination of financial statementsmay differ from legislation in otherjurisdictions.

Respective responsibilities of General Council and auditor

The General Council is responsi-ble for preparing the financial state-ments in accordance withapplicable law and United King-

dom Accounting Standards (UnitedKingdom Generally Accepted Ac-counting Practice) issued by theAccounting Standards Board andpublished by the Institute of Char-tered Accountants in Ireland.Our responsibility, as independ-

ent auditors, is to audit the financialstatements in accordance with rele-vant legal and regulatory require-ments and International Standardson Auditing (UK and Ireland).Those standards require us to com-

ply with the Audit Practices Board’s(APB’s) Ethical Standards for Audi-tors.We report to you our opinion as

to whether the financial statementsgive a true and fair view, in accor-dance with United Kingdom Gener-ally Accepted Accounting Practice.In addition we report to you if, in

our opinion, proper accountingrecords have not been kept and ifwe have not received all the infor-mation and explanations we requirefor our audit.We read the Report of the Gen-

eral Council and consider the impli-cations for our report if we becomeaware of any apparent misstate-ment.

Basis of opinion

We conducted our audit in accor-dance with International Standardson Auditing (UK and Ireland) issuedby the Auditing Practice Board. An audit involves obtaining evi-

dence about the amounts and dis-

closures in the financial statementssufficient to give reasonable assur-ance that the financial statementsare free from material misstate-ment, whether caused by fraud orerror. This includes an assessmentof: whether the accounting policiesare appropriate to the Union’s cir-cumstances and have been consis-tently applied and adequatelydisclosed; the reasonableness ofsignificant accounting estimatesmade by the Council; and the over-all presentation of the financialstatements.We planned and performed our

audit so as to obtain all the informa-tion and explanations which weconsidered necessary in order toprovide us with sufficient evidenceto give reasonable assurance thatthe financial statements are freefrom material misstatement,whether caused by fraud or other ir-regularity or error. In forming ouropinion we also evaluated the over-all adequacy of the presentation ofinformation in the financial state-ments.

OpinionIn our opinion the financial state-ments:n give a true and fair view of thestate of the NIPSA’s affairs at 31stDecember 2013 and of its operat-ing surplus of income and expendi-ture for the year then ended; n have been properly prepared inaccordance with the United King-dom Generally Accepted Account-ing Practice.

Mr Seamus Dawson (Senior Statutory Auditor)For and on behalf of SLMD Limited Chartered Accountants and Statu-tory Auditors Date: 12th May 2014SLMD LimitedChartered Accountants andStatutory Auditors T/a Bridge, Chartered AccountantsSuite 7, Ormeau House91-97 Ormeau RoadBelfast, BT7 1SH

Statutory Statement to MembersA member who is concerned thatsome irregularity may be occurring,or has occurred, in the conduct ofthe financial affairs of the unionmay take steps with a view to in-vestigating further, obtaining clarifi-cation and, if necessary, securingregularisation of that conduct. The member may raise any such

concern with such one or more ofthe following as it seems appropri-ate to raise it with: the officials ofthe union, the trustees of the prop-erty of the union, the auditor or au-ditors of the union, the CertificationOfficer for Northern Ireland (who isan independent officer appointedby the Department for Employmentand Learning) and the police. Where a member believes that

the financial affairs of the unionhave been or are being conductedin breach of the law or in breach ofrules of the union and contemplatesbringing civil proceedings againstthe union or responsible officials ortrustees, he should consider obtain-ing independent legal advice.

Page 16 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

NORTHERN IRELAND PUBLIC SERVICE ALLIANCETRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS (NI) ORDER 1995:

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

Name Position Details Amount PA

Mr Brian Campfield General Secretary Basic Salary £62,536.96

nPension Contributions £24,577.03Employers NationalInsurance Contributions £6,405.28

June 2014 has been scheduledfor the publication of an ac-claimed new novel, ‘The BlueRoom’, by Michael McKeown,who is well known to manyNIPSA members as a long-stand-ing trade union activist currentlyseconded full-time to the TradeUnion Side of the Central WhitleyCouncil (NI) Secretariat andbased at NIPSA Headquarters.Michael, who has previously writ-

ten award-winning short fiction,began writing the book a few yearsago whilst completing an MA inEnglish (Creative Writing) atQueen’s University, Belfast.‘The Blue Room’ has already

been described by various com-mentators as “excellent”, “a capti-vating, contemporary thriller froman exciting new Belfast author”,“brilliant story-telling… exciting andthought provoking” and “grippingstuff”. Set mainly in Belfast at an un-

specified point in the not-too-distantfuture, the back cover ‘blurb’ for thebook sets the scene with a scenariowhere the collapse of the devolvedpolitical institutions has triggered areturn to some of the darkest hor-rors of the recent past, including ahunger strike and the emergence ofa gang that roams the streetsarmed with butchers’ knives insearch of random victims. Even the advent of an uneasy

peace fails to dispel the dark shad-

ows of sectarianism and an ever-present threat of violence; the novelevokes a brutalised society, strug-gling to get to grips with a rapidlyshifting political landscape in whichindividuals, groups, and ideologiesjostle for position in the newlyevolving power structure. Meanwhile, young people battling

with the more personal pressuresof love, sex and work try to em-brace a vision of a more cosmopoli-tan Belfast. Loyalist and republican drinking

dens now compete with gentrifiedpubs with names like A Rainbow InCurved Air, the Rumour Machineand the Velvet Revolution; realbars, such as the Crown and theBotanic Inn, feature along with thefictional while familiar landmarkssuch as the Ulster Museum,Botanic Gardens, Queen’s Stu-dents’ Union, Malone House andNewcastle’s Slieve Donard Hotelare among the settings for thechapters. There are 24 chapters in total,

structured around six themed partswith four chapters in each. This isno conventional novel, however: itis ambitious and panoramic in itsscope. There are frequent unexpected

and unpredictable twists and turnswithin the narrative. They includeseveral chapters written in the firstperson by different characters,flashback episodes, a chapter so

hallucinatory in style that it resem-bles a drug trip, a couple presentedin the style of vivid reportage, oneconsisting of a surreal poem thatonly makes sense in the context ofthe chapter following it and someextraordinary chapters focusing onthe femme fatale who is at theheart of much of the story, with allof it culminating in a finale of un-usual imagination and originality. The dark nature of much of the

content is leavened somewhat bysome visceral satire and black hu-mour that is reminiscent at times of‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘The Sopranos’.Michael McKeown told NIPSA

News: “I see ‘The Blue Room’ as aliterary novel first and foremost butI have no problem with it beingmarketed as a noir thriller. “There’s definitely a vogue for

that genre here at the moment, not

just in literature but in other areaslike films and even TV drama, likethat series ‘The Fall’ with Gillian An-derson and Jamie Dornan. “I’d like to think the themes go a

lot wider than that, though. I’m par-ticularly interested in how the pastimpacts on the present and in themyriad of choices and possibilitiesforever available to individuals –especially younger individuals – ateven the bleakest of times.” He added that he liked the Argen-

tinian writer Tomas Eloy Martinez’sdescription of novels as “acts offreedom” and would like ‘The BlueRoom’ to be regarded as one.‘The Blue Room’ by MichaelMcKeown, published by DavidJames Publishing is expected tobe available on Amazon world-wide (or order at any bookshop)during June 2014.

AGAINST Austerity is a blister-ing, accessible and invigorat-ing polemic against thecurrent political consensus.Deploying his renowned powerof razor-sharp polemic RichardSeymour charts the role ofausterity in radically reducingliving standards, fracturing es-tablished political structures,and creating simmering socialalienation and explosions ofdiscontent.

But Against Austerity goesfurther – making a bold theo-retical intervention on thequestion of challenging aus-terity and creating radical al-ternatives. Beginning with ananalysis of current class for-mation and dominant ideology,Seymour issues a call to arms,mapping a new strategy to

unite the left.Along the way, he tackles the

vexed question of achievingsocial change, in particular is-sues of reform and social rev-olution. In an agecharacterised by the paucityand inadequacy of mainstreamanalysis, Against Austeritypoints a way forward to revivethe left and create a new spiritof collective resistance.

Available at Guardian Book-shop £10.39.

Page 17 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

The pathwayto collectiveresitance

BOOKS

NIPSA veteran’s noir thriller publishedTHE BLUE ROOM:

A novel by Michael McKeown

Spying scandalIN MAY 2013, GlennGreenwald set out forHong Kong to meet ananonymous sourcewho claimed to haveastonishing evidenceof pervasive govern-ment spying and in-sisted oncommunicating onlythrough heavily en-crypted channels.

That source turnedout to be the 29-year-old NSA contractorEdward Snowden, andhis revelations aboutthe agency’s wide-spread, systemic over-reach proved to besome of the most ex-plosive and conse-quential news inrecent history, trigger-ing a fierce debateover national securityand information pri-vacy. As the argu-ments rage on and thegovernment considersvarious proposals forreform, it is clear thatwe have yet to see the

full impact of Snow-den’s disclosures.

Now for the firsttime, Greenwald fitsall the pieces together,recounting his high-in-tensity ten-day trip toHong Kong, examin-ing the broader impli-cations of thesurveillance detailedin his reporting forThe Guardian, and re-vealing fresh informa-tion on the NSA’sunprecedented abuseof power with never-before-seen docu-ments entrusted tohim by Snowden him-self.

Going beyond NSAspecifics, Greenwaldalso takes on the es-tablishment media, ex-coriating their habitualavoidance of adver-sarial reporting on thegovernment and theirfailure to serve the in-terests of the people.Finally, he asks what itmeans both for indi-

viduals and for a na-tion’s political healthwhen a governmentpries so invasivelyinto the private livesof its citizens—andconsiders what safe-guards and forms ofoversight are neces-sary to protect democ-racy in the digital age.Coming at a landmarkmoment in Americanhistory, No Place toHide is a fearless, inci-sive, and essentialcontribution to our un-derstanding of theU.S. surveillancestate.

Published by Metro-politan Books - £15

European and world affairsPage 18 NIPSA NEWS News www.nipsa.org.uk

MORRIS eased the pickup truckto the side of the road. The wide,busy thoroughfares of 1950s Wi-chita, Kansas, were just fivemiles southwest, but here on thelargely undeveloped outskirts ofthe city, near the Koch family’s160-acre property, the landscapeconsisted of little more than anexpanse of flat, sun-bleachedfields, etched here and there bydusty rural byways. The retiredMarine, rangy and middle-aged,climbed out of the truck holdingtwo sets of scuffed leather box-ing gloves.“OK, boys,” he barked, “get out-

side and duke it out.” David andBill, the teenaged Koch twins, wereat each other’s throats once again.Impossible to tell who or what hadstarted it. But it seldom took much.The roots of the strife typicallytraced to some kind of competition– a game of hoops, a round ofwater polo in the family pool, a footrace. They were pathologically com-

petitive, and David, a gifted athlete,often won. Everything seemed tocome easier for him. Bill was just19 minutes younger than his frater-nal twin, but this solidified his roleas the baby of the family. With ahair-trigger temper, he threw thetantrums to match.David was more even-keeled

than Bill, but he knew how to pushhis brother’s buttons. Once theygot into it, neither backed down.Arguments between the twins, whoshared a small room, their bedswithin pinching range of eachother, transcended routine siblingrivalry.Morris always kept their boxing

gloves close at hand to keep thebrothers from seriously injuringeach other when their tiffs esca-lated into full-scale brawls, as theyoften did. The brothers’ industrialistfather had officially hired the formersoldier to look after the groundsand livestock on the family’s com-pound. But his responsibilities alsoincluded chauffeuring the twins and

their friends to movies and schoolevents, and refereeing the fightsthat broke out unpredictably onthese outings.Holding their boxing gloves, Mor-

ris summoned the feuding twinsfrom the truck. They knew the drill.He laced up one brother, then theother. The boys, both lean and tall,squared off, and when Morrisstepped clear, they traded a bar-rage of punches.A few minutes later, once they’d

worked it out of their systems, Mor-ris reclaimed the gloves and thebrothers piled breathlessly into thecab of the truck. He slipped backbehind the wheel, started the en-gine, and pulled on to the road.Another day, another battle.Pugilism was an enduring theme

in the lives of the Koch family. Thepatriarch, Fred Koch – a collegeboxer known for his fierce determi-nation in the ring – spent the betterpart of his professional life warringagainst the dark forces of commu-nism and the collective might of thenation’s major oil companies,which tried to run him out of the re-fining business. As adults, Fred’s four sons

paired off in a brutal legal cam-paign against one another over thebusiness empire he bequeathed tothem, a battle with plotlines thatwould seem far-fetched in a day-time soap opera. “It would makeDallas and Dynasty look like aplaypen,” Bill once said.The roles the brothers would play

in the saga were established fromboyhood. Fred and Mary Koch’soldest son, Frederick, a lover oftheatre and literature, left Wichitafor boarding school in the North-east and barely looked back. Hewas uninterested in the family busi-ness and a disappointment to histough, bootstrapping father. An intensely private man who as-

siduously avoided the public eye,Frederick became a prolific arts pa-tron and collector, with a passionfor restoring historic propertiesstretching from France’s Côte

d’Azur to New York’s Upper EastSide.Their father saw glimpses of him-

self in his rebellious second son,Charles, whom Fred Koch mouldedfrom an early age into his succes-sor. After eight years in Bostonstudying chemical and nuclear en-gineering at MIT and working for aconsulting firm, Charles returned toWichita to learn the intricacies ofhis family’s oil refining, engineer-ing, and ranching businesses.David and Bill followed Charles

(and their father before him) to MITand eventually they, too, joined thefamily business. But that’s wheretheir paths diverged. David be-came Charles’s loyal wingman,while Bill, still nursing childhood re-sentments, grew at first into a gad-fly and then, in his brothers’ eyes,a hostile presence within the com-pany. The public would know Billbest for his flamboyant escapades:as a collector of fine wines whoembarked on a litigious crusadeagainst counterfeit vino, as a play-boy with a history of messy roman-tic entanglements, and as ayachtsman who won the America’sCup in 1992 – an experience helikened, unforgettably, to the sen-sation of “10,000 orgasms”.Charles and David, meanwhile,

built their father’s Midwestern em-pire – with about $250m in yearlysales and 650 employees in thelate 1960s – into a corporate behe-moth that Fred Koch wouldscarcely recognise, a companywith $115bn in annual revenues,more than 100,000 employees,and a presence in 60 countries.Under Charles’s leadership, KochIndustries grew into the secondlargest private corporation in theUnited States (only Cargill, theMinneapolis-based agribusinessgiant, is bigger). Koch made itsmoney the old-fashioned way – oil,chemicals, cattle, timber – and inits dizzying rise, Charles and Davidamassed fortunes estimated at$41bn apiece, tying them for sixthplace among the wealthiest men

on the planet. (Bill ranks 329th onForbes’s list of the world’s billion-aires.)They preferred to operate quietly

– to run, as David once put it, “thebiggest company you’ve neverheard of”. But Koch Industries’products touch the lives of allAmericans – from the gas in theirtanks to the steak on their forksand the fertiliser that helps theircrops grow, and from the plaster-board, windowpanes, and carpetsin their homes and offices to thepaper towels and disposable cupsthey keep in the pantry. The com-pany ranks among the world’slargest commodities traders, oper-ates three ranches that sprawl over425,000 acres, and processessome 750,000 barrels of crude oildaily. A day doesn’t pass whenAmericans don’t encounter a Kochproduct, though they often proba-bly don’t know it. Koch Industries isomnipresent, but the Kochs man-aged to remain so under the radarthat many Americans confuse thepronunciation of their surname withthat of a former New York Citymayor, Ed Koch, rather than pro-nouncing it like the soft drink Coke.David has lived the quintessen-

tial billionaire’s life. He tradedprovincial Wichita for New YorkCity, where his name is etched intothe façades of some of Manhat-tan’s most important cultural land-marks, including the Lincoln Centertheatre that’s home to the NewYork City Ballet. When not in hisocean-front mansion in Southamp-ton, his Palm Beach villa, or Aspenski lodge, David and his family re-side in a storied Park Avenue high-rise, former home to John DRockefeller Jr, among other heirsto vast industrial fortunes.Charles, by contrast, remained in

his hometown, a city with an unas-suming, head-down and entrepre-neurial character that matched hisown. He lives in a modern, boxymansion of stone and glass on thesame compound where he grew up– just the multibillionaire next doorin his east Wichita neighbourhood,where strip malls and chain restau-rants have overtaken the oncewide-open terrain.Schooled by his conservative fa-

ther in the evils of government,Charles gravitated to libertarian-ism, a philosophy that advocates

The men who triedto buy the USACharles and David Koch are among America’s richest men - and have put theirmoney to nefarious use, many believe. From funding the Tea Party to lobbyingagainst measures to curb climate change, they are the scourge of progressive,liberal opinion. So how did they happen? Daniel Schulman reveals the roots ofAmerica’s right-wing pin-ups

Page 19 NIPSA NEWSNewswww.nipsa.org.uk

the maximum of personal and cor-porate freedom and the most mini-mal government, if only to tend tothe defence of these liberties. Hegrew to believe zealously in thepower of markets to guide humanbehaviour, and to loathe the gov-ernment regulations and subsidiesthat distorted markets – and be-haviour itself – by trying to imposefalse order. Blending the ideas ofthe libertarian movement’s intellec-tual forefathers, Charles devised aunique management philosophythat placed a relentless emphasison the bottom line, where even thelowliest pipefitter was meant to en-vision himself as an entrepreneur.This system, which Charles calledMarket-Based Management,helped him to build a conglomeratethat generates massive profits, butwhich has often found itself in reg-ulators’ crosshairs after blood wasspilled or waterways were contami-nated.Charles has done more than just

construct one of the world’s largestindustrial empires. With David, hehas spent decades trying to re-make the American political land-scape and mainstream theirlibertarian views. Together, thebrothers pumped hundreds of mil-lions of dollars into this endeavour.Unlike other major political donors,they offered more than just money;a strategic vision. They funded ac-ademics, think-tanks, and politicalorganisers to coalesce public sup-port around their causes. The TeaParty movement that rose up afterthe election of President BarackObama germinated, in part, fromthe intellectual seeds that theKochs had planted over the years.Though the brothers downplayedany connection to this cadre ofirate citizen activists, they helpedto provide the key financing and or-ganisational support that allowedthe Tea Party to blossom into a for-midable political force within theRepublican Party – one that paral-ysed Congress and eventually ig-nited a GOP civil war.Politicians, as Charles sees it,

are merely vessels for the ideasyou fill them with – or as one of his

political advisers once put it, stageactors working off a script pro-duced by the nation’s intellectualclass. So while creating and fi-nancing the intellectual infrastruc-ture to promote their ideology, heand David have backed a constel-lation of conservative candidates todo battle in the political arena –politicians such as Wisconsin’sScott Walker, who upon assumingthe governor’s office in 2011,staged a fractious showdown withthe public employee unions of hisstate; or South Carolina’s JimDeMint, one of the ringleaders of aRepublican revolt against raisingthe debt ceiling that brought thenation to the brink of default.Charles and David brought theirpolitical resources to bear as neverbefore during the 2012 election,which Charles called “the mother ofall wars”. Yet they emerged from the cru-

cible of the campaign havinggained little more than a reputationas cartoonish robber barons, all-powerful political puppeteers whowith one hand choreographed themoves of Republican politiciansand with the other commanded theTea Party army. As with all carica-tures, this one bore only a faint re-semblance to reality.For all the unwanted attention

that the Kochs received during the2012 campaign – including the“other Koch brothers”, as themedia sometimes dubbed Freder-ick and Bill – America camethrough that political battle knowinglittle about who they really are. Likeother great dynasties, the Kochshave a mythology of their own thatpolishes the rough edges of historyinto a more pristine version of thetruth. And the family’s legacy (cor-porate, philanthropic, political, cul-tural) is far more expansive thanmost people realise – and will befelt long into the future.This is an edited extract from‘Sons of Wichita: How the KochBrothers Became America’sMost Powerful and Private Dy-nasty’, by Daniel Schulman(Grand Central Publishing,£17.95)

David and Charles Koch...a powerful US dynasty

THE HSCB reported that Trusts’delivery plans had not been for-mally requested and that theTrusts were currently working ontheir commissioning plans.NIPSA expressed concern abouthow a planning of services canprogress without the budgetbeing finalised. The union also further enquired

on the timetable for progression.The HSCB confirmed that theyhave prepared a draft commission-ing plan based on available fund-ing. This is subject to confirmation of

the financial position from theDHSSPS and Minister. It was con-firmed that the HSC had submitteda bid for £160m and it was con-firmed that the TYC monies interms of transitional funding wouldbe £21m for the year 2013/14. The timetable for clarity on these

matters was the end of June andthe trade unions asked to view thecommissioning plan as soon as itwas readily available.NIPSA raised the implementation

of TYC and the level of scrutiny. HSCB responded to confirm that

mechanisms were in place to moni-tor delivery of the strategic reform,through the outcomes framework.In addition all investment for reformhas associated metrics for imple-mentation, these are also moni-tored. The Trade Union Side sought

clarity on a number of managementconsultants’ reports and the HSCBconfirmed that clinical engagementhas been undertaken as part of thedevelopment of the reform plans. Specifically the HSCB expressed

the view that they would be keen toreceive an understanding from theBMA as to how the HSCB could bemade aware of reform ideas fromclinicians and any challenges en-countered by them in progressingthese in provider organisations. Other substantive issues covered

were the implications on the work-force and workforce planning andthe rolling out of TYC locally withTrusts and other HSC organisa-tions.

Residential HomesFollowing the Ministerial decision

to keep residential homes open,the HSCB confirmed they were car-rying out a review of permanent ad-missions against four criteria. Astandard assessment frameworkwould be carried out for each indi-vidual. They confirm that homes may

have to diversify and that Trustswould seek to revise the admis-

sions policy in an exercise that hadto be completed by the autumn andthe local commissioning groups willliaise with a range of stakeholders. While proposals would emerge

from Trusts in terms of their admis-sions policy and whether they hadadopted a localised approach or aneed to retain residential beds, itwas ultimately for the local com-missioning groups and HSCB toendorse or challenge Trust propos-als. They hoped that the next stage

of the consultation process wouldbe successful as Stage 1 had re-ceived 1,200 responses.

Mental HealthIt was confirmed that the addic-

tion consultation process had beencompleted with no substantialchange in terms of provision.

Older PeopleIt was confirmed that re-ablement

was continuing and that in relationto domiciliary care, a regional ap-proach would be adopted to look atthe independent and statutory pro-vision. The HSCB shared a draftterms of reference which will be cir-culated formally but NIPSA specifi-cally asked the HSCB to revisit thevalue for money exercise that wascarried out by the National AuditOffice on domiciliary care as thiswould need to be consideredagainst any new review.

Children’s ServicesThe HSCB confirmed that the

focus was on early interventionprogrammes and the implementa-tion of statutory services. TheHSCB confirmed that it was in-volved an early intervention trans-formation programme whichformed part of the delivering socialchange initiative funded byOFMDFM. The Board confirmedthat it continued to be involved inthe programme assuming thatfunding was made available. Thisprogramme would look at statutorychild care provision and again itwas confirmed there were a num-ber of workstreams on a cross-de-partmental basis.

Day Care ServicesThere was nothing substantive to

report.Further meetings have beenscheduled for September andDecember 2014 and NIPSA willcontinue to provide memberswith an update accordingly.

NIPSA recently attended the Transforming Your Care (TYC)Trade Union Side Engagement Forum. Assistant SecretaryKevin McCabe provides the following update…

TYC UPDATE

www.nipsa.org.ukPage 20 NIPSA NEWS News

NIPSA Deputy General SecretaryAlison Millar sets out its critiqueof Transforming Your Care andcalls on MLAs to end the rela-tionship between the HealthService and private sectorproviders.Transforming your Care (TYC) ar-

rived in 2011 proclaiming a health-care vision that would “put thepatient first” and promising moneyto make the shift to “transformed”care easier. Since then, with regu-larly reported crises and forecast“transitional” monies undelivered,this rhetoric is looking increasinglyhollow. Indeed when the gap be-tween the spin and reality of TYC isexposed, the public fall-out is dra-matic.This was shown in May 2013 with

the threatened closure of statutory(public sector) residential carehomes for the elderly. What this de-bacle most clearly revealed wasthat, where feasible, TYC makesthe withdrawal of public sector pro-vision the default position with thepolicy stating “there would need tobe clear and specific reasons forthe statutory sector to remain in thisfield”This means that under TYC ad-

missions to such homes are limitedand, as soon as possible, thehomes’ deliberately reduced popu-lation is defined as “unsustainable”.For PR reasons, the public sectorhomes may not close immediatelybut they will not “outlive” the lastresidents in them for long. Simulta-neously both admissions to privatesector homes and funding of thissector (£53 million in 2012-2013alone) are on the rise. Where need

exists, therefore, TYC wants it to bemet by privatisation.Such an approach is not limited

to this sector. In domiciliary care,the private sector is also an in-creasingly dominant player, benefit-ting from the revenue streamscreated by TYC’s fragmentation ofservice. As a consequence, we seerevised criteria diminishing the im-portance of social care needs andpatient dignity undermined by theenforcement of punitively time-lim-ited homecare visits.This leaves Northern Ireland as

the UK region with the highestnumber of home care visits lastingless than 30 minutes. Worse still,the health trusts suggest this timecould be reduced to eight minutes.In addition, while TYC idealises“care in the home”, the “personali-sation” agenda is not about “em-powerment”. It is a phasedwithdrawal from universal provision– the antithesis of holistic health-care. It also introduces the ethicalminefield of “cash for care” into al-ready difficult family circumstances.

Private sector

In the last three years, the Belfasttrust has paid out £130 million tothe private sector as it and all othertrusts admit to using this sector tomeet ministerial waiting time tar-gets. The worse the situation in theNHS gets, the more companies thatthrive on the NHS not meeting itstargets profit. This creates a situa-tion where consultants on NHScontracts who also work for suchcompanies can cancel their NHSappointments (thus lengtheningwaiting lists) while making them-selves available to do this work pri-vately.So health policy surrenders sup-

ply to those who profit from the limi-tation of supply. Is it any wonder asurgeon is six times more likely tocancel an appointment if they areworking for us directly, rather thandoing this work ‘for the NHS’ in aprivate capacity? What part of con-flict of interest does the Health Min-ister not get?We predicted what would happen

elsewhere in the system if A&Esclosed completely or restricted theiropening hours, what the conse-quences of a 20 per cent cut inhospital beds over the last fiveyears would be, and have consis-tently highlighted the destructive ef-fect staff shortages are having.While any major policy change

takes time to work, it is clear thatfar from TYC’s core changes adver-tising its merits, they are indict-ments of it. This is because, behindits visionary rhetoric, it is rooted incuts and privatisation. The “majorincident” at the RVH and the neces-sity of three “escalation” plansbeing put in place at A&E depart-

ments in the first nine weeks of2014 point to the strategic failure ofcurrent health policy.This is also a political failure, rais-

ing huge questions about the lackof accountability and scrutiny atStormont that has allowed mattersto drift to this crisis point. We ac-cept a need for “transformed” mod-ernised care but it must be built ona progressive foundation.It requires truly representative

and democratic participation in theplanning and decision-makingprocesses within health and socialcare. It must not depart from theNHS’ founding principles and mustend tax-payers’ debilitating subsidyof the private sector, the demandsof which are indulged – PFI debt,NHS patients sent to private clinicsto be treated by ‘NHS’ staff etc. –before our healthcare needs aremet.In 2013, a majority in the Assem-

bly voted against privatisation ofthe Health Service so MLAs havetwo choices: let them now honourtheir motion or come clean and tellvoters in all of their future mani-festos that they wish to privatise theNHS.The Northern Ireland Public Serv-

ice Alliance represents around14,000 administrative, care andsupport staff working in the healthand social care. The union’s policy and research re-port on TYC is available at:http://www.nipsa.org.uk/NIPSA-in-Action/Policy-and-Research/Trans-forming-Your-CareThis article appeared in Agenda NIediton in April.

Keep your hands of our healthservice, businesses are told

NIPSA has called on members to share theirexperiences of both accessing or working inemergency healthcare.

It follows the Northern Ireland HumanRights Commission’s decision to launch ahuman rights inquiry into A&E serviceshere.

The NIHRC wants “to hear from anyonewho has recently experienced emergencyhealthcare, and in particular from those whohave sought care from an Accident andEmergency Unit.” The body also wants tohear from those who staff “this vital serv-ice”.

NIPSA General Secretary Brian Campfield,in a circular to branch secretaries, wrote:

“We encourage patients, family members,healthcare staff and representatives in thesector to share their experiences with us.

“Evidence can also be submitted via theNIHRC website (nihrc.org/inquiry). Key tothe Inquiry will be public hearings to takeplace in the autumn at various locationsacross Northern Ireland.

“The Commission will be calling Govern-ment representatives, public officials, staff,trade unions, patients and their family mem-bers to give evidence before the Inquiry.”

It is understood the Panel of Inquiry willinclude Commissioner Marion Reynolds,who will be assisted by Prof Paul Hunt, theformer UN Special Rapporteur on the Right

to Health. NIHRC Interim Chair John Corey said:

“The inquiry will consider the total experi-ence of emergency health care from ahuman rights perspective. This includes theindividual’s rights to respect for dignity, ac-cess to information, and their involvementin decision-making.”

The Commission will publish its final re-port and recommendations to the NorthernIreland Executive in April 2015.

The Commission has opened a dedicatedconfidential Freephone line on 0800 0286066.

‘Share your A&E stories with NIHRC inquiry’

Organise to protect services, jobs, pay and pensionsYOU HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY...SUPPORT YOUR UNION AND YOUR COLLEAGUES