Thursday, 26 September 2013

Future Directions workers - striking against a race to the bottom

Yesterday 115 UNISON members in Rochdale commenced a 10 day all out strike in an escalation of their campaign to reverse cuts in pay following outsourcing of adult social care services to Future Directions a community interest company 100% owned by Calderstones NHS Foundation Trust.

UNISON has condemned the employer for a strategy of ‘expansion through exploitation’ and is highlighting a Health Service Journal report from 2011 which laid bare management’s intentions to create the Future Directions company precisely for attacking the pay and conditions of service of NHS workers: ‘Some trusts may find other ways of watering down NHS terms and conditions. Calderstones Partnership Foundation Trust said it had made “substantial progress” towards setting up a social enterprise subsidiary which will employ staff on non-NHS terms and conditions. The subsidiary will initially be used to win new business, but from 2013-14 the trust aims to transfer its existing business contracts to the cheaper entity’