Thursday, June 14, 2007

CITY COUNCIL MAKES 150 CARE WORKERS REDUNDANT

LIVERPOOL City Council is to make 150 care workers redundant to help pay for Capital of Culture.

The cowardly council deliberately made the announcement late this afternoon to try and avoid more damaging headlines in today's newspapers for the third day running.

Letters were sent out to the 400 care workers, who are on the lowest wages of all council staff, from the £195,000-a-year Executive Director Tony Hunter (right).

As part of its carefully-timed spin operation, the council's statement claims there is less demand for the care workers.

"This is because all new cases are handled by the independent sector, which has more flexibility to handle calls at times when people who use the service need them," it claims.

"The city council's in-house staff are contracted to provide 10,000 hours of care per week, but are only providing 5,000 hours - which means 5,000 hours remain unused. "

But the real reason of course is very simple: getting rid of staff saves the council money.

Why does the city council need to save money?

Because it needs £29million to pay for Capital of Culture.

So here we are witnessing the disgraceful spectacle of the city's poorest paid workers, mainly women, being made the sacrificial lambs for 2008.

While the hangers-on and the VIP's swig their free booze and munch their canapes at yet another civic reception, the care workers are being thrown out on their ears.

It is disgusting and disgraceful - a cynical, dishonest, cost-cutting exercise, being dressed up as some kind of 'efficiency' drive.

We sincerely hope that the care workers and their elderly clients will take on the city council and force them to stop.

How much will the council raise by cutting the workforce in half and slashing the service provided by half?

And how many bottles of wine and canapes will they buy with it, instead?

Sunday, June 10, 2007

THE ROTTWEILLER ATTACKS THE UNIONS AT LIVERPOOL DIRECT

THE ROTTWEILLER McElhinney is trying to force Liverpool Direct staff to do whatever he wants.

The dirty doctor has written to the trade unions to try and get a clause in the LDL contract scrapped.

The clause prevents him from forcing council staff - ie, secondee's to Liverpool Direct - to work for any external business.

If the unions agree, it would mean the evil McElhinney could have Liverpool Direct staff answering calls on behalf of his own private interests, such as Corrupt Bastards Inc, or that infamous local company, Evil, thieving, lying Cabal or the legendary TakingthepissoutofLiverpool.com or anyone else, more reputable, who is prepared to pay through the nose.

The move to scrap the clause follows the blog's recent exposure that Liverpool Direct was handling calls about Bernard Matthews's bird flu crisis for DEFRA.

This caused huge ructions for the thieving McElhinney, with protests from trade unions and politicians that calls to care staff were going unanswered while Liverpool Direct staff answered calls about turkeys.

The evil McElhinney is blaming the unions for leaking the story to the blog (wrongly, ed) and is now trying to get them to agree to the clause being scrapped so he can make sure that, in future, he can take money from anyone he likes.

He wants to take the clause out of the contract that states he has to consult with staff and unions on any changes in contracts and then use the staff in anyway he see's fit.

No union in its right mind would give McElhinney carte blanche like this, of course. But stranger things have happened in Liverpool...

In his letter notifying the unions of an official consultation period for removing the clause, McElhinney's motives become transparent.

He first tries to blackmail the unions over jobs, clumsily reminding them that LDL was originally set up as an alternative to outsourcing (in other words, we can always outsource your jobs again lads, unless you agree to this, ed)

He claims that the council wanted LDL to win "third party work" (who exactly is supposed to have agreed to that then? ed)

He then goes on: "You will know that the success of LDL's support to Defra during the recent outbreak of Avian influenza was heralded by the city as a major achievement." (Who was the numbskull 'herald' in this case then, Dr? ed)

McElhinney has clumsily included the bird flu example to anger the unions (who were horrified at what he was doing, ed) and give them a slap in the face about how untouchable he is (along the lines of, 'I can do what I like lads, so get stuffed - like those turkeys', ed)

The evil McElhinney claims 80 new jobs have been created from this so-called 'third party work,' withouthout producing any evidence for his claims. Indeed so flimsy is this particular claim that he has to repeat it twice, (presumably so 'the thickos in the unions' as he calls them, get his point? ed).

Then comes the sting - unless the unions agree to scrap the clause, there will be "the potential risk of redundancy or redeployment."

Crude blackmail.

Of course, McElhinney is hoping the unions will cave in and allow him to continue running his own private enterprise, without any challenge or accountability.

He wants to use council employees - public servants - without being accountable to anyone else. Least of all the unions, or councillors.

No doubt his mates in the ABA, his boxing friends, his jogging pals, websites for members of his family - and any other blonde ladies like very-well-looked-after-employee Sarah Parr (right) who need special 'services' - could benefit again from this nasty, vicious, arrogant little megalomaniac being allowed to do whatever he likes, while he laughs all the way to the bank.

Any hope of the Lib Dems doing anything to defend the interests of the workforce is, of course, absolutely pointless.
Dr David McElhinney

Saturday, June 02, 2007

SIGN THE DOWNING STREET PETITION IN SUPPORT OF THE CARE WORKERS....(courtesy of Tori Blare)


We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to provide more public funding towards the care of the elderly and vulnerable in Liverpool City.


The Liverpool City Council are £29 million pounds overspent in their budget for Capital of Culture.


The Liberal Democrat controlled Administration have insisted that the Private care providers, sign a new contract for this provision of care which equates to a 30% cut across the services, having the direct effect on the staff and the vulnerable.


The same administration has decided to cease the existence of the generic council run home care service.


This again has a direct impact on the carers and the vulnerable.


We request that the Government ensures the full budgets are released for the vulnerable and elderly citizens of Liverpool and not in the form of high wages for the senior management teams of the caring profession.