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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Charity’s costly rebrand slated as staff strike

This news post is about 4 years old
 

Staff want NHS rates

Unison has hit out at Addaction’s costly rebrand after staff went on strike over pay.

The drug and alcohol charity changed its name to We Are With You in an exercise that cost around £140,000.

The name change comes into force this week amidst a five-day strike by staff in Wigan in protest over the failure to keep an alleged promise from the charity to increase former NHS workers’ pay in line with other health service workers.

More than 1,600 staff are employed by the organisation in England and Scotland.

NHS workers received a 3% increase this year, having had lower pay rises imposed by the government in recent years.

According to Unison said the increased pay rise would cost the charity £123,000, £17,000 less than was spent on the rebrand.

Paddy Cleary, north-west regional organiser at Unison, said: “The organisation may be changing its name to We Are With You, but for employees a more appropriate name is ‘We Won’t Pay You’.

“Staff are so demoralised by management’s refusal to pay them the NHS rate that they have no option but to take industrial action.

“To discover bosses are splashing out on a costly rebrand rather than paying them fairly is incredibly galling.

“Addaction can’t hide behind fancy rebranding. This issue isn’t going away. A change of name doesn’t change the fact that it must honour the promises made to staff.”

A spokesperson for Addaction told TFN: "We are proud of our service in Wigan. It is a warm, non-judgemental space which helps people to make healthier choices. Anyone can walk in and will be seen by a member of staff on the same day, with the latest Care Quality Commission report giving the service a rating of ‘Good’.

“We know only a minority of people who need support for drug, alcohol and mental health issues in the UK are actively engaging in treatment. We need to do everything in our power to change this. So, for the past 18 months we have been talking to our staff and the people who use our services across the UK. This research has shown that building a warmer, more personal brand will enable us to help more people overcome the barriers to accessing support. When tested, three times as many people surveyed said they would choose We Are With You compared to Addaction. We hope this will help more people to start a new chapter in their lives.

“The cost of the rebrand is a very small portion of our overall budget, with no local service being impacted by it.”

“We have listened to and understood our staff’s concerns and made a new financial offer which we think is fair and sustainable. We are clearly disappointed the majority of staff have rejected this and further action is going ahead. Separately, we are awarding all staff across the whole charity a 2% salary increase in the next financial year. This is true for all our services, from Cornwall to Wigan, to the north of Scotland.

“We are committed to finding a solution that is fair and sustainable for our staff, clients and the whole community and will continue to work with our staff in Wigan and Leigh to achieve this.”

 

Comments

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Steve
about 4 years ago
Hmm - all for the pay rise and think fully deserved. Unison's figures seem, erm dubious though. 3% pay rise would cost £123,000 for 1600 staff? Hard to be precise from info in article, but to round a bit, £120,000 would be 3% of a £4 million salary bill. £4 million across 1600 workers is £2.5K per annum each. Which if that is the average Addaction salary then a pay rise is certainly in order. Or do Unison mean it would cost £123,000 per month...in which case comparing it to a one off cost is somewhat misleading. All for decent pay rises, but not with dodgy claims.
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John
about 4 years ago
Steve, it’s not all the staff it’s around 28 staff at wigan and Leigh
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Paul
about 4 years ago
In answer to Steve's comment Unison are supporting staff in Wigan and Leigh who were transferred from NHS on AfC terms and conditions. The NHS pay rise in 2018 was a three year deal with 6.5% from April 2018 to April 2020. Wigan and Leigh have approximately 30 staff which were told by Addaction in writing in 2013 that Addaction would honour future NHS awards for staff TUPE over on NHS agenda for change (AfC) terms and conditions.The figures quoted relate to costing for this pay rise fo the 39 staff effected.
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