Alternative Futures Group pay cuts - AFG and TUPE'd staff need to stand together

Since the first article on this blog about pay cuts by the Alternative Futures Group (AFG), we’ve been contacted by support workers who have been TUPE transferred after AFG took over NHS and local authority contracts. Terms and conditions amongst TUPE’d staff vary, but some TUPE’d staff have estimated that once a 25% cut in basic hourly rate and the removal of unsocial hours enhancements is taken into account, TUPE’d staff will suffer a pay cut of around 30-40%. This will leave many of these support workers with a huge decrease in income which could put many of them in danger of losing their homes or facing bankruptcy as they are unable to keep up with payment schemes they had agreed to before AFG took over their workplaces and threatened to slash their pay.

One anonymous TUPE’d support worker from Lancashire said:

They want to cut our wage by £7000 per year before tax (this is by reducing our hourly rate by 25% and not paying weekend rates , night rates or any unsociable hours), also they propose that we work 2.5 hrs a week more, that we give up over 2 weeks holiday entitlement a year and that any sick pay benefits we have are given up.

Some AFG support workers have attacked TUPE’d staff as being too well-paid or being responsible for pay cuts in general. This is misguided and dangerous. Staff on NHS terms and conditions have, historically, been better paid than those on private sector terms and conditions because they have stood up for themselves and fought. We should be working together with TUPE’d staff to raise our terms and conditions, not collaborating with management in a race to the bottom.

Many TUPE’d staff have shown a willingness to stand with us and fight against these attacks by AFG’s management together, it would be madness to spurn this offer.

Originally posted on Carers Talk.