Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS 14 October 2015 Dear Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP, On behalf of the Directors of Workforce and Organisational Development within NHS I would like to make a number of points in response to the Trades Union Bill. In general, partnership working between employer organisations and trade unions works well in NHS Wales and we have established effective working relationships which support the development of effective and mutually beneficial solutions to a number of significant challenges which the service has addressed and continues to face. It is our view that the NHS’s workforce challenges are best addressed by an efficient, engaged and productive workforce, where there is regular consultation and ongoing dialogue with our staff and a key element of this approach is through social partnership with trade unions representing NHS staff. We feel that some of the proposals outlined in the Trade Union Bill could have a detrimental effect on this relationship and potentially lead to unnecessarily challenging industrial relations in future. In relation to some of the specific proposals, strike action in the NHS in Wales over the last decade has been minimal, despite significant organisational change and the introduction of significant changes to terms and conditions, so we do not believe that any additional measures to protect the public from strikes are necessarily required. When there has been industrial action, the impact has been managed through partnership discussions so as to ensure that essential services are maintained and TU members are able to exercise their right to withdraw their labour. Consequently, we do not believe that intimidation of non-striking workers is an issue within the NHS in Wales although, we agree that this behaviour is completely unacceptable and should be handled within the existing legal framework. We have our own agreed key principles framework for time off and facilities for trade union representatives in place and we believe that this meets the needs of the service and supports our approach to social partnership and so we do not feel that any further requirements to negotiate on an individual basis would be beneficial. With regard to the proposal to remove the public sector check off system, whilst recognising that the government will want to explore elements of cost avoidance, the service is often provided by payroll departments at a cost to the Trade Union. In
Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS 14 October 2015 Dear Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP, On behalf of the Directors of Workforce and Organisational Development within NHS I would like to make a number of points in response to the Trades Union Bill. In general, partnership working between employer organisations and trade unions works well in NHS Wales and we have established effective working relationships which support the development of effective and mutually beneficial solutions to a number of significant challenges which the service has addressed and continues to face. It is our view that the NHS’s workforce challenges are best addressed by an efficient, engaged and productive workforce, where there is regular consultation and ongoing dialogue with our staff and a key element of this approach is through social partnership with trade unions representing NHS staff. We feel that some of the proposals outlined in the Trade Union Bill could have a detrimental effect on this relationship and potentially lead to unnecessarily challenging industrial relations in future. In relation to some of the specific proposals, strike action in the NHS in Wales over the last decade has been minimal, despite significant organisational change and the introduction of significant changes to terms and conditions, so we do not believe that any additional measures to protect the public from strikes are necessarily required. When there has been industrial action, the impact has been managed through partnership discussions so as to ensure that essential services are maintained and TU members are able to exercise their right to withdraw their labour. Consequently, we do not believe that intimidation of non-striking workers is an issue within the NHS in Wales although, we agree that this behaviour is completely unacceptable and should be handled within the existing legal framework. We have our own agreed key principles framework for time off and facilities for trade union representatives in place and we believe that this meets the needs of the service and supports our approach to social partnership and so we do not feel that any further requirements to negotiate on an individual basis would be beneficial. With regard to the proposal to remove the public sector check off system, whilst recognising that the government will want to explore elements of cost avoidance, the service is often provided by payroll departments at a cost to the Trade Union. In