Aberdeenshire UNISON
       
 
 

ADDITIONAL BRANCH RESPONSE TO JANITORIAL REVIEW

May 2010

This is an additional response, further to the submissions made following the original consultation.

Janitors believe the proposed changes benefits no one, not the school, staff, pupils or Janitors themselves. Work done by the Janitors to save the school money will no longer be done, so work will go out to Contractors which will cost more money and end up costing Aberdeenshire Council in the long run.

Contractual overtime
Those Janitors that still retain Contractual Overtime wish to know how the hours are going to be worked. Will all schools operate the same hour system? If janitors do not wish to retain the contractual overtime, will they be allowed to reduce the hours over an extended period of time to lessen the impact of loss of earnings? Can the lunch hour be reduced to incorporate the additional hours required to work? Janitors are predominantly on call during their lunch break and deal with situations.

At present staff rely on regular overtime to enable them to maintain their current lifestyle. The loss of this will have a massive detrimental effect on their ability to continue working in their posts.

The Janitors believe Aberdeenshire Council is taking advantage of the current employment situation to force staff to take a cut in pay because the job market is struggling.

On call
Staff have indicated that if they state that they do not wish to continue doing call, that they wish not to be contacted. Who will be managing the call outs?, and who will do the calling? At present supervisory Janitors are only on call for 2 6am starts per week. The rest of the time they start at 8.

UNISON believes much emphasis is being placed on the duties and recruitment of Caretakers, what happens if sufficient numbers cannot be recruited? At present in some locations it is very hard to fill existing janitorial posts. Many areas experience recruitment difficulties in many of the lower graded posts. Domestics, Cleaners, Carers posts are hard to fill and to retain these staff once appointed.

If the caretakers have other posts either within or outwith Aberdeenshire Council, will their hours be monitored for the working time directive including the 48 hour rule and the 11 hour rest break?

Staff feel that their work is being devalued taking the work of Janitors and trying to provide it cheaply by Caretakers. This is an insult to dedicated staff.The Janitors are concerned that the schools do not know about the impact of these proposals. Schools will lose service and the good will of the Janitors.

UNISON believes that this consultation is based on the premise that there is a pool of people waiting for low paid manual jobs to be created by the Council.What happens to the School, Community Activities etc. if this supposition cannot be fulfilled?

Janitors are disillusioned and are extremely unhappy about the review, the way it has been conducted and the view they feel Aberdeenshire Council has of them. These staff do not feel valued.

Inez Teece
Assistant Secretary

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