Thread by @jbanningww1

1. An important thread for all those who visit the #WW1 & #WW2 battlefields and cemeteries about the treatment of experienced @CWGC gardeners and staff. Read on….

2. So, this popped up on my timeline this morning.

https://twitter.com/UnitePolitics/status/1336015313096368136?s=20

3. It was lacking detail so I called a couple of gardeners I know in France/Belgium who filled me in. Basically, the CWGC have told 30 British staff currently employed on UK contracts that due to Brexit they’ll have to move to local (French/Belgian) contracts after January.

4. Or come back to the UK. Salaries will remain the same. Seems fair enough? But going on local contracts means @CWGC no longer pay their ex-pat and living allowances. This is over £15-20k a year for some. A whopping sum.

5. So, they either return to the UK to do a job they don’t even know about yet or stay in France/Belgium on a drastically reduced total package. What a choice.

6. One guy I spoke with says he can't afford to lose the allowances so will have to move back to the UK. But he doesn't know the UK, hasn't lived here for years, couldn't get a mortgage & would struggle with rent. He said CWGC have offered staff very little support in this.

7. Worth noting that the 30 UK staff average over 30 years working at the CWGC so it's a huge wealth of experience that'll be lost if they all decide to return to the UK. And the deadline to agree to move to a local contract or return to the UK?
Yesterday!
Amazing.

8. They are also worried about pensions. UK pensions will cease & they'll move to a French/Belgian one but inadequate details given. Offer is non-negotiable & answers had to be given by 7 December. That's a shoddy way to treat staff who’ve given 30 years to the organisation.

9. CWGC using Brexit as cover for these changes is clearly rubbish. UK civil servants are employed all around the world on UK based contracts and are not changing to local contracts after Jan 2021. Like many organisations, the Commission is using Brexit as an excuse.

10. And all of this on what would appear to be a reduction in front line staff/gardeners compared to admin at HQ. They spent huge sums money on ‘rebranding’ (BTW, the acting Director General never did answer my questions as to why that needed to be done and how much it cost).

11. Here is their announcement on the name change and rebranding:

https://twitter.com/CWGC/status/1285869720286253056?s=20

12. And the page on their website: cwgc.org/our-work/proje…. Don’t get me started on the revised website - rushed through, poorly tested and a huge step back from what was previously an easily usable site. I know I'm not alone in thinking this.

13. Why spend money on this but cut overall package to those working on maintaining cemeteries and memorials? I’ve been saying for years that cemetery & memorial maintenance is suffering. The @CWGC is now run like a business. But it isn't a business, it’s an organisation.

14. It receives the same annual sum from the MoD. What has changed is the focus of spending - frivolous schemes such as rebranding, new logo, naming a star after a casualty. And costs such as a walk in centre in Ypres that is mostly empty apart from either side of the Last Post.

15. And, of course, the new visitor centre at Beaurains. I’ve nothing against all of these IF the @CWGC’s core work continues to the same standards. But they're not. Against what would appear to be a cut in gardeners & now this poor treatment of long-serving staff.

16. And what do you think this’ll do to the staff? Think of how they they’ll feel about their organisation that has employed them for 30+ years, wherever they end up.

17. Apparently Unite, PCS and Prospect have all been asking for meaningful negotiations but this has not been forthcoming. @CWGC insisted on yesterday’s arbitrary deadline. All affected staff want is a discussion on a reasonable package to carry on with the work they’re doing.

18. What a mess. Am unnecessary, unedifying mess.