Tygetshaugh Dispute - email your councillor
Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership is cutting Tygetshaugh Housing with Care and outsourcing vital services to private providers. This puts residents’ care and staff jobs at risk – and could be rolled out across other facilities.
If you live in Falkirk, click here to tell councillors to stop the cuts
UNISON Falkirk Letter to Councillors
Dear Councillor,
I am writing again on behalf of UNISON Falkirk Council Branch to update you on the situation at Tygetshaugh Housing with Care. We met with our members today, and they have indicated unanimously that they are prepared to move forward to a formal industrial action ballot. This is not a decision they take lightly, but it reflects the depth of their concern about the future of both their jobs and the quality of care delivered at Tygetshaugh.
We are currently engaged in a formal disputes process with Falkirk Council. However, given the position that the Council is bound by the decision of the Integration Joint Board, we have little confidence that this alone will reverse the cut. What must not be lost sight of, however, is that Falkirk Council is the legal employer of our members and retains a contractual obligation towards them. The Council cannot simply pass responsibility onto the IJB while leaving staff to face redundancy and residents to face an uncertain future.
We are aware that many of you have already received letters from our members and from members of the community who are deeply worried about what this decision means. Those voices reflect what we hear every day from staff and tenants alike – that this is a cuts-driven exercise which dismantles a valued council-run service and puts continuity of care at risk.
We urge you, as elected representatives, to act to prevent and reverse this IJB-mandated cut. We believe the consequences for staff and service users are too great, and that once the fabric of Housing with Care is dismantled at Tygetshaugh, the same approach will quickly spread to the other three complexes in Falkirk. This would mean further disruption for tenants, further risk of redundancies for staff, and the permanent loss of an integrated public service.
UNISON members, residents, families, and the wider community are all asking the same thing: that Falkirk Council and its elected members stand up for Housing with Care and stop this service being hollowed out.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Beekman
Branch Secretary
UNISON Falkirk Council Branch
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UNISON: Violence at Work Guidance
UNISON Scotland has produced a guidance document for members to advise on best practice on what should be done following a report of Violence at Work in the workplace.
If you have been subject to a violent incident at work your employer should be following their procedure.
This UNISON guide has been shared with Falkirk Council and is a reference for you to use to ensure debrief actions are adequate and steps are taken by your employer to support you following a Violence at Work incident.