Blue light proposals – a threat to police staff jobs

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Conference
2016 Police & Justice Service Group Conference
Date
15 June 2016
Decision
Carried

Conference is concerned that the Government proposals on emergency service collaboration is a threat to the further erosion of Police Staff roles. The initiative seeks to collaborate all ‘blue lights’ through the sharing of facilities, control rooms and support services and poses a further threat to Police Staff jobs. The work has started in many Forces where Senior Fire Brigade Personnel are currently identifying roles that Police Staff are doing that can be moved to the Fire Brigade and vice a versa.

Home Office statistics show that police budgets have been decimated through six years of austerity led cuts resulting in the reduction of Police Staff jobs by more than 20 percent and the latest threat will most certainly result in the loss of more Police Staff jobs. Additionally, once a service is transferred out of Force or a local Authority, control is lost making it vulnerable to predatory private companies as a prime opportunity for privatisation.

UNISON must be progressive in forging relationships with sister trade unions working in an effort to minimise the impact on police staff jobs and the erosion of our hard fought terms and conditions.

Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:

1)seek to establish organising protocols with trade unions working in the fire sector and establish collaborative forums where trade unions are working together on common issues for the benefit of all;

2)work to establish relationships with sister trade unions on a national, regional and local level that will protect UNISON members working within the sector and prevent a two tier workforce;

3)oppose all attempts to privatise within the new working arrangements;

4)work with Labour Link to prevent further collaboration and seek to reverse the proposed arrangements.