Unions urge youth workers to fight pay and condition changes

The call comes in the wake of controversial proposals by local government and voluntary sector employers to end the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) agreement for youth workers and youth and community support workers, which unions fear will undermine the terms and conditions and professional standing of youth workers.

Representatives of youth workers – including Unite, Unison, the National Union of Teachers, and the University and College Union – have called on youth workers and youth and community workers to support and join them in lobbying the employers at their next executive meeting in London on 3 March.

Employer representatives at the meeting will include the Local Government Association, the Welsh Government Association and the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services.??

A message posted on the In Defence of Youth Work campaign website by Tracey Quinn, chair of community, youth and playworkers for Unite, said the unions plan “to educate them [the employers] on the importance of maintaining JNC pay, terms and conditions”.?

?The JNC, which is also referred to as the “pink book”, was established in 1961 and sets out a 32-point pay scale for youth workers and youth and community support workers from £14,597 up to £39,173.

??In addition, it also endorses youth and community workers' qualifications, which are approved by the Education and Training Standards (ETS) committees for England and Wales.

Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, national officer at Unite, said abolishing the pink book would not be in the best interests of vulnerable young people or the professionals trained to protect them.

“Now we need youth and community workers to stand up and defend their profession,” he said. “By helping young people early, these services protect them from more costly interventions like mental health and NHS services, social services and prison.
 
“We will lobbying the employers to drive home the importance of protecting JNC pay, terms and conditions. We are urging youth and community workers to come along and make their voice heard.”