{"id":7955,"date":"2016-03-03T17:23:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T17:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7955"},"modified":"2016-03-04T12:34:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T12:34:14","slug":"save-the-pink-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7955","title":{"rendered":"Save the ‘Pink Book’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Youth workers have lobbied the Local Government Association over threats to tear up their \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 protecting pay, terms and conditions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which represents thousands of youth, community and play workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c led a demonstration at the LGA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters in central London aimed at fighting proposals by LGA employers to abolish the Joint Negotiating Committee for youth and community workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crucially this \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 recognises the professional qualifications of youth and community workers and ensures they are paid fairly for the job they are professionally trained to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unique and special<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are unique, we are special, communities need us, education departments and social services need us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Tracey Quinn \u00e2\u20ac\u201c chair of Unite youth and community operations committee.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLeave our professional pay and conditions alone. We are a professional workforce and we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to turn into family support workers or mini social workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Quinn adds that \u00e2\u20ac\u015byouth services have had terrible attacks around the country over the past four to five years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 but thinks the proposal to axe the JNC is about far more than the economic bottom line.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Professional identity<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just about the cuts but them getting rid of our professional identity. Without the pink book our professional status will disappear,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The union \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which distributed leaflets outlining \u00e2\u20ac\u0098ten reasons to fight for the JNC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has said serious questions need to be asked about the LGA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motives for tearing up the ‘pink book’.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That point echoed by Jed Sullivan, Unite JNC staff-side chair. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf our terms and conditions are taken away then the requirement for professionally qualified staff also gets taken away and that will absolutely have a knock on effect on the calibre of workers, working with some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach people in our communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Strong words<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are appalled that this is an officer led decision by the LGA. I am confident that as a result of this campaign elected members will perhaps give officers some strong words of advice.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nooh Lunat \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a youth worker in Lancashire \u00e2\u20ac\u201c said he was there to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdefend our profession. Our terms and conditions are being attacked, our qualification is being attacked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy colleagues are angry. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know a single youth worker who isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I started volunteering, I did the training and now all that seems as though it were for nothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt the end of the day it is young people who are going to lose out. Young people are seen as a weakness, an easy target for cuts.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stuart Mathers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who works for a youth charity in London \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has similar concerns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe have already seen services decimated with hundreds of youth clubs shutting across the country. Local councils, as they look to squeeze money out of their budgets, see youth services as a luxury, rather than something that actually saves them money for schooling, crime and so on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respecting staff<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe JNC is the one reminder to employers to the importance of respecting staff and having the right people to work with young people. You wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have an unqualified teacher, why would you want an unqualified youth worker,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The JNC has been central to the growth of youth services and the development of youth work since 1961. It includes extra annual leave entitlement in recognition of the stressful and unsocial hours associated with youth work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crucial service<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Around 75 per cent of local authority and voluntary sector employers still apply JNC terms and conditions.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0For Kevin Williams, a youth worker based in Barnsley, this is about maintaining what he calls \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba crucial service.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Placard in hand, he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u015byouth workers help young people with drug addiction, those who get associated with gangs and knife crime. Youth workers are the ones that are able to tackle these social issues when other services can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOn top of that, what the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 gives us is a national standard \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so we know that the youth workers in the south of the country have the same sort of experience and qualifications as those in the north and young people have the best service.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leading the lobbying, Unite national officer Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, said \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmy feeling is that we are making progress, we are getting our message across.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are continuing to lobby and fight on behalf of youth workers. The pressure is going to continue \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop while there is blood left in our bodies.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Youth workers have lobbied the Local Government Association over threats to tear up their \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pink book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 protecting pay, terms and conditions.   Unite \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which represents thousands of youth, community and play workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c led a demonstration at the LGA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters in central London aimed at fighting proposals by LGA employers to abolish the Joint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[84,241],"wps_subtitle":"Youth workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fight for future","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7955"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7975,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions\/7975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}