Smith boosts community support
officers with new powers
UNISON is welcoming moves to standardise and strengthen the powers available to police community support officers (PCSOs).However, the union believes their role should go even further."Giving PCSOs standard powers is a step in the right direction, but we don't think the list of powers to be introduced by 1 December goes far enough," said national officer Ben Priestley."We will be pressing that case with the home secretary when we meet her next week," he added.There are currently 16,000 community support officers in England and Wales, but their powers differ from force to force.The new regulations will ensure that PCSOs have consistent powers across the country to support neighbourhood policing and deal with low-level anti-social behaviour.For instance, they will be able to confiscate alcohol in public places, issue fixed penalty notices for littering, and seize drugs.PCSOs will also be able to draw on a further 20 powers at the discretion of their chief constable, including rights to detain those suspected of offences and search people suspected of carrying dangerous items.Home secretary Jacqui Smith announced the new powers today, in a joint statement with the Association of Chief Police Officers.Launching a staunch defence of the role of PCSOs since their introduction five years ago, Ms Smith said the officers were at the heart of neighbourhood policing and had made a major impact on local people.She also revealed that a project had been set up to examine ways of giving PCSOs across England and Wales a common uniform and equipment.The project will be led by the National Policing Improvement Agency. Its remit also includes working towards greater standardisation of training and career development, and ensuring that the PCSO role is clear and understood.Ben Priestley said UNISON appreciated the home secretary's support for PCSOs during a period in which they had been subjected to "unwarranted and grossly unfair attacks".He continued: "UNISON has been campaigning for a standard uniform for PCSOs - the right kit for the job - and we welcome this latest move."We have written to the police minister urging him to issue all PCSOs with stab vests. There are three remaining forces that don't issue stab vests - West Midlands, Staffordshire and Surrey - and it's time that they fell into line."Finally, we welcome the moves to standardise and improve training and career progression. As part of that career progression, we favour the introduction of a PCSO supervisor role, currently deployed in just two forces - Kent and South Yorkshire."
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Stop Wasting Tax Payers'Money
and Pay Women Their Dues
Almost 1500 female low paid UNISON members in Cumbria are today celebrating the Employment Appeal Tribunal's decision to uphold their pay discrimination claim and reject the Council's appeal. The women, who work as care assistants, home carers, kitchen assistants, cooks and night care assistants won their claim of pay discrimination at a Tribunal in March 2006, but Cumbria Council, appealed that decision. The appeal was heard in London, in May 2007 and the Judgment has been anxiously awaited since then.The Council argued that the Tribunal had misunderstood the evidence and treated the Council unfairly in relation to the defences that they had put forward. They also alleged that the Tribunal had been wrong to decide that the productivity based bonus schemes that they had been paying to male employees, were not justified.However, in its judgment, the Appeal Tribunal rejected these arguments and upheld the Tribunal's original decisions, meaning that the women are one step closer to receiving the money owing to them.Dave Prentis, General Secretary for UNISON, said:“I am delighted that the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled in favour of our members. The writing has been on the wall since the employment tribunal decision last year and the Council should face up to their responsibilities. Stop wasting time and more council taxpayers' money on costly legal arguments and give these women the money owing to them.“UNISON has fought long and hard to achieve equal pay and we have been successful in several ground-breaking cases on behalf of thousands of women members.“We have been willing to put our money where our mouth is and take the risky, high costs cases on behalf of our members. We have not asked them for a single penny towards the costs. By contrast, 'No win no fee' solicitors can charge anything up to 25 per cent of any award.”The Judgment today follows a favourable ruling in the summer when the Employment Tribunal in Newcastle upheld the union's method of calculating back pay. This had the effect of increasing the value of their payments, whereas the council's method would have led to reduced compensation for members.Sharon Mee, UNISON Regional Officer. Said:“This is great news for my members in Cumbria. They are all low paid women who have been denied fair and equal pay and this money means a lot to them. “It is noticeable that the “no win no fee” solicitors will benefit from this appeal decision without lifting a finger to win it.”Matters will now return to the Employment Tribunal where clarification is required on a few aspects of these women's claims and the methods for calculating the compensation are to be finalised.
and Pay Women Their Dues
Almost 1500 female low paid UNISON members in Cumbria are today celebrating the Employment Appeal Tribunal's decision to uphold their pay discrimination claim and reject the Council's appeal. The women, who work as care assistants, home carers, kitchen assistants, cooks and night care assistants won their claim of pay discrimination at a Tribunal in March 2006, but Cumbria Council, appealed that decision. The appeal was heard in London, in May 2007 and the Judgment has been anxiously awaited since then.The Council argued that the Tribunal had misunderstood the evidence and treated the Council unfairly in relation to the defences that they had put forward. They also alleged that the Tribunal had been wrong to decide that the productivity based bonus schemes that they had been paying to male employees, were not justified.However, in its judgment, the Appeal Tribunal rejected these arguments and upheld the Tribunal's original decisions, meaning that the women are one step closer to receiving the money owing to them.Dave Prentis, General Secretary for UNISON, said:“I am delighted that the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled in favour of our members. The writing has been on the wall since the employment tribunal decision last year and the Council should face up to their responsibilities. Stop wasting time and more council taxpayers' money on costly legal arguments and give these women the money owing to them.“UNISON has fought long and hard to achieve equal pay and we have been successful in several ground-breaking cases on behalf of thousands of women members.“We have been willing to put our money where our mouth is and take the risky, high costs cases on behalf of our members. We have not asked them for a single penny towards the costs. By contrast, 'No win no fee' solicitors can charge anything up to 25 per cent of any award.”The Judgment today follows a favourable ruling in the summer when the Employment Tribunal in Newcastle upheld the union's method of calculating back pay. This had the effect of increasing the value of their payments, whereas the council's method would have led to reduced compensation for members.Sharon Mee, UNISON Regional Officer. Said:“This is great news for my members in Cumbria. They are all low paid women who have been denied fair and equal pay and this money means a lot to them. “It is noticeable that the “no win no fee” solicitors will benefit from this appeal decision without lifting a finger to win it.”Matters will now return to the Employment Tribunal where clarification is required on a few aspects of these women's claims and the methods for calculating the compensation are to be finalised.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
GMB’s record win
The GMB general union has won £550,499 for a
member — the highest recorded compensation in
a claim of disability discrimination.
The GMB member, who suffers with learning
difficulties, received the sum from his successful
claim for disability discrimination against his
former employer Lambeth Serviceteam Limited,
now Veolia Environment Services Lambeth. The
record compensation comprises loss of earnings
until retirement for the member who was aged 34
at dismissal.
The member was one of four claimants who won
their claims of disability discrimination. Total compensation
achieved by the quartet of claimants was
over £1.3 million. WATCH THIS SPACE !
The GMB general union has won £550,499 for a
member — the highest recorded compensation in
a claim of disability discrimination.
The GMB member, who suffers with learning
difficulties, received the sum from his successful
claim for disability discrimination against his
former employer Lambeth Serviceteam Limited,
now Veolia Environment Services Lambeth. The
record compensation comprises loss of earnings
until retirement for the member who was aged 34
at dismissal.
The member was one of four claimants who won
their claims of disability discrimination. Total compensation
achieved by the quartet of claimants was
over £1.3 million. WATCH THIS SPACE !
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Banish the office bullies,
TUC tells employers
With recent research showing that few UK workplaces escape the scourge of the office or factory bully, the TUC has today (Wednesday) called on employers to do more to protect their staff from victimisation and harassment.
To coincide with National Ban Bullying at Work Day, the TUC has produced a guide to help union safety reps work with employers to create a new workplace culture where bullying, intimidation and harassment is a thing of the past.
The new guide cites recent research from the University of Manchester which suggests that one in ten workers was bullied in the last six months, one in four have fallen victim in the last five years, and 47 per cent of employees have witnessed bullying at work.
The TUC guide says that anyone can find themselves on the receiving end of an attack from a workplace bully, and bullies can be colleagues or managers. Managers are often bullied by their bosses too.
Worst of all, says the guide, are those workplaces where a culture has developed that condones the criticism of staff in front of colleagues, or that allows bullies to shout at colleagues, regularly make an individual the butt of jokes, or send victims abusive emails or texts at work.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'People on the receiving end of cutting remarks or verbal outbursts from the workplace bully are the ones paying a heavy price for employers' failure to deal with the problem. The stress and anxiety felt by the victims can make them physically ill, lose all their self-confidence and mean that they dread coming into work.
'But employers pay the price as well. Staff being bullied are likely to take more time off because the harassment is making them ill and the low morale they suffer as a result almost always affects their ability to do their job, making them much less productive.
'But bullying is not hard to tackle and employers who ignore the problem and fail to protect their staff are breaking the law. Every workplace should have a policy which makes clear that intimidating behaviour towards colleagues will not be tolerated and that those who persist in undermining their fellow members of staff will be dealt with severely.'
TUC tells employers
With recent research showing that few UK workplaces escape the scourge of the office or factory bully, the TUC has today (Wednesday) called on employers to do more to protect their staff from victimisation and harassment.
To coincide with National Ban Bullying at Work Day, the TUC has produced a guide to help union safety reps work with employers to create a new workplace culture where bullying, intimidation and harassment is a thing of the past.
The new guide cites recent research from the University of Manchester which suggests that one in ten workers was bullied in the last six months, one in four have fallen victim in the last five years, and 47 per cent of employees have witnessed bullying at work.
The TUC guide says that anyone can find themselves on the receiving end of an attack from a workplace bully, and bullies can be colleagues or managers. Managers are often bullied by their bosses too.
Worst of all, says the guide, are those workplaces where a culture has developed that condones the criticism of staff in front of colleagues, or that allows bullies to shout at colleagues, regularly make an individual the butt of jokes, or send victims abusive emails or texts at work.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'People on the receiving end of cutting remarks or verbal outbursts from the workplace bully are the ones paying a heavy price for employers' failure to deal with the problem. The stress and anxiety felt by the victims can make them physically ill, lose all their self-confidence and mean that they dread coming into work.
'But employers pay the price as well. Staff being bullied are likely to take more time off because the harassment is making them ill and the low morale they suffer as a result almost always affects their ability to do their job, making them much less productive.
'But bullying is not hard to tackle and employers who ignore the problem and fail to protect their staff are breaking the law. Every workplace should have a policy which makes clear that intimidating behaviour towards colleagues will not be tolerated and that those who persist in undermining their fellow members of staff will be dealt with severely.'
Prentis welcomes
'ambitious programme' from Brown
Gordon Brown's new legislative programme "deals with the key areas that people want their government to deliver", says UNISON. However, it fails to deliver any protection for public services.The 29-bill package, set out in today's Queen's speech, prioritises housing and education. The speech said it was intended to "respond to the rising aspirations" of Britons."Everyone wants better education for their kids, better housing, healthcare, children's services," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, welcoming the direction of an "ambitious programme". "What the speech lacked, however, was a clear indication that the privatisation programme will be halted," he said."The emphasis on commissioning roles in local government and health and the dangers that poses to the fabric of our public services remain in place." Praising plans to build 3 million new homes by 2020, Mr Prentis said affordable social housing was a key issue for UNISON members, and a massive expansion in house building was "sorely needed".But he warned that owning their own home would still be out of the reach of many tens of thousands of public service workers providing essential services."Building social housing would be the bold step forward that is needed to solve that problem," he suggested.Commenting on proposals for a new watchdog to oversee the NHS, Mr Prentis said UNISON supported regulation and higher standards in health and social care."But the biggest threats to the care of people in those services comes from reduced inspections and a cut in the number of inspectors," he said.And, he added: "We don't think the case has yet been made for raising the school leaving age to 18. We are, of course, all in favour of continuing education and training, but how do you keep kids in school who don't want to be there?"Financial incentives or fines are not the best way forward."
'ambitious programme' from Brown
Gordon Brown's new legislative programme "deals with the key areas that people want their government to deliver", says UNISON. However, it fails to deliver any protection for public services.The 29-bill package, set out in today's Queen's speech, prioritises housing and education. The speech said it was intended to "respond to the rising aspirations" of Britons."Everyone wants better education for their kids, better housing, healthcare, children's services," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, welcoming the direction of an "ambitious programme". "What the speech lacked, however, was a clear indication that the privatisation programme will be halted," he said."The emphasis on commissioning roles in local government and health and the dangers that poses to the fabric of our public services remain in place." Praising plans to build 3 million new homes by 2020, Mr Prentis said affordable social housing was a key issue for UNISON members, and a massive expansion in house building was "sorely needed".But he warned that owning their own home would still be out of the reach of many tens of thousands of public service workers providing essential services."Building social housing would be the bold step forward that is needed to solve that problem," he suggested.Commenting on proposals for a new watchdog to oversee the NHS, Mr Prentis said UNISON supported regulation and higher standards in health and social care."But the biggest threats to the care of people in those services comes from reduced inspections and a cut in the number of inspectors," he said.And, he added: "We don't think the case has yet been made for raising the school leaving age to 18. We are, of course, all in favour of continuing education and training, but how do you keep kids in school who don't want to be there?"Financial incentives or fines are not the best way forward."
Friday, November 02, 2007
OSWESTRY VICTORY !!!
Oswestry tenants have won by 70% the ballot to keep their homes with the Council and not to outsource them to a Housing Association. This has been another huge waste of Public money. The public should ask how much officer time and Public money was spent to try to persaude the tenants to go out of Council control against their will. As Landlords They should have known the feelings of their tenants and known that it was a lost cause.
Well Mr. Shevlin how much did it cost ?
Oswestry tenants have won by 70% the ballot to keep their homes with the Council and not to outsource them to a Housing Association. This has been another huge waste of Public money. The public should ask how much officer time and Public money was spent to try to persaude the tenants to go out of Council control against their will. As Landlords They should have known the feelings of their tenants and known that it was a lost cause.
Well Mr. Shevlin how much did it cost ?
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