Prentis warns government over pay

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis has a message for the government: “Don’t pick a fight with UNISON members.”Rejecting the 2% pay limit imposed in the comprehensive spending review, Mr Prentis warned of the dangers of holding down public-sector pay.“The 2% limit is just not on – it is a real pay cut for millions of hard working public-service workers. If you want first class public services, if you want the sick and elderly cared for, your children well-educated and protected and your streets clean and safe, cutting the pay of public-sector workers is the wrong way to go about it.“We are determined to secure decent pay rises for our members,” he said.UNISON's current pay claims for local government workers throughout the UK are for one-year deals, designed to make up lost ground, protect against future inflation and boost the minimum wage.With living costs rising fast, and below-inflation pay settlements in recent years, many public service workers are finding it incredibly hard to make ends meet. Morale is at rock bottom, Mr Prentis said.“It is wrong to put inflation at their door,” he stressed. “Instead, look no further than the multinationals bleeding our public services dry, the fuel price hikes and the massive profits made by big business."The gap between public sector pay packets and burgeoning living expenses must be bridged.”UNISON has submitted pay claims for local government workers in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK calling for rises of 5% and 6% respectively. Both have as a key element increases that would take low-paid members closer to a living wage.

Council workers ask for 6%

to ‘catch up and match up’

(14/01/08) Town hall unions including UNISON, GMB and TGWU-Unite have agreed a pay claim for this year that would give more than one million local government workers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales a payrise of 6% or 50p an hour – whichever is the greater.The claim would take the wages of the lowest paid workers up to £6.50 an hour – a step towards the £6.75 that poverty experts say is the minimum needed to live on.Unions said it was intended to be a ‘catch up and match up’ claim, to recoup losses from below-inflation pay awards since 2004 and to keep up with inflation over the coming year.Heather Wakefield, UNISON’s national secretary for local government, said: “Despite the headline figure, this is a modest claim.“No-one could argue that an increase of 50p an hour fuels inflation. Over the past three years local government workers’ pay has increased by less than the rate of inflation, so we are starting from a low base. We need to make sure that they catch up with the rest of the public sector and that they are cushioned against inflation over the coming year.She added: “The government’s 2% limit is just not on. It is half the rate of inflation and represents a real pay cut for loyal, hard-working public-sector workers, two-thirds of whom are women."They are struggling to make ends meet with the ever-increasing spiral of housing and fuel price rises.”UNISON is working with other public-sector unions, through the TUC, to campaign for a fair deal for all public sector workers.The 2004-7 pay agreements gave an increase of 11.4% over three years, during which inflation rose by 12.5% and average earnings by 13.4%. The 2007-2008 award was for 2.475% and 3% for the lowest paid – inflation was more than 4% over that periodThe claim covers all grades of workers in local government, including refuse collection, school meals, social workers, administrators, cleaners, teaching assistants, parks and leisure workers and librarians. UNISON in Local government

UNISON kicks off 2008

equal pay campaign

(10/1/08) UNISON has launched its campaign to close the gender pay gap by lodging a record 33,000 equal pay claims against public sector employers. The union, two thirds of whose members are women, has been battling for equal pay for years, and has won significant pay increases for thousands of low-paid women workers.Its litigation and bargaining strategy will be further fine-tuned by officials and leading activists from across the UK, meeting at a special seminar in London today. And it is warning employers to start facing up to their responsibilities."Equal pay is not just the wish of the trade unions," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. "It is the law of the land. Yet, 30 years on, the Equal Pay Act is still seen by many employers as a take-it-or-leave-it bit of legislation. "This cannot be allowed to continue. It must be implemented robustly across the UK."Mr Prentis said that funding, particularly in local government, remained critical to achieving equal and fair pay. "As a direct result of UNISON’s campaigning through the Labour Party, last September the government released £500 million to 46 local authorities to fund equal pay," he said. "But more is needed. In addition, the government must change the law, to cut the time it takes for legal action. At the moment, it takes years, is costly and, in the meantime, women remain underpaid.”The pay gap between men and women is around 17%, according to official figures. This means that women are losing out on a staggering £4,000 a year, based on an average salary of £23,600.

Tory 'Workfare' proposals will not

help people back into work

Responding to the Conservative Party's welfare reform proposals announced today (Tuesday), Midlands TUC Policy Officer Alan Weaver said:
'The Tories' Workfare proposals manage to combine injustice, expense and inefficiency in a single package. Experiences of Workfare schemes around the world have shown that they fail to help people into work. In Australia, Workfare has left unemployed people less likely to get a job. In New York, existing workers have lost their jobs to Workfare temps.
'Employers aren't impressed either - who will want to recruit someone who has been forced into their last job? The Tories will have to pay for the work people are forced to do, on top of support services like childcare. So there is no chance that the Tories will find the £3 billion savings they are looking for.
'Under the Tory proposals, people will not be paid the rate for the job they are doing and there will be no guarantee of a job at the end. The only beneficiaries will be dodgy employers, who will exploit unpaid Workfare temps to the detriment of existing staff.'

The importance of taking a break

(04/01/08) Holidays are important for people's wellbeing -- but for many families on low incomes, a holiday is simply beyond reach, according to new research.The research -- sponsored by UNISON Welfare, the Family Holiday Association, the Family Fund and the Youth Hostel Association (England and Wales) -- found that families cited the 'opportunity for fun and happy memories for children' and 'the chance to spend time together as a family' as the top benefits of their holiday.The researchers from the University of Nottingham identified a range of circumstances affecting low-income families -- money, health, disability, stress and neighbourhood problems -- which can be helped by a break from challenging circumstances and a fresh perspective.They concluded that holidays can open up new ways to live which can have a lasting impact and cited the positive effect on issues such social exclusion and child poverty.Every year, hundreds of UNISON members receive help with a holiday or get well break from UNISON's charity. The service, called wellbeing breaks, includes support for day trips and leisure outings."We know only too well about the impact on family life and general health of long hours, difficult shift patterns and inflexible working conditions," says general secretary Dave Prentis."So we recognise the value of holidays and the need for low-income households in particular to have more access to adequate leisure time and a break from the stresses of daily life." UNISON welfare UNISON's work-life balance campaign

TUC supports campaign to stop

violence against Iraqi women

The TUC is supporting the campaign launched on 3 January by the Iraqi Women's League (IWL) Co-ordinating Committee Abroad against violence against women in Iraq. We reproduce here their press release, and urge trade unionists to sign up to the online petition at
http://www.ahewar.org/camp/i.asp?id=111

TUC offers ten 'green' resolutions for 2008

With UK workplaces generating more carbon dioxide emissions than homes, the TUC has today (Wednesday) published new advice for staff to tackle climate change at work.
The TUC Green Workplaces project has found that a typical workplace produces ten times more carbon dioxide emissions than those produced by the homes and personal lives of its workforce. And while energy consumption at home has been reduced by five per cent in the last year, it continues to rise in UK workplaces.
Despite this trend, the Green Workplaces project has uncovered several examples of successful green initiatives across the UK, including recycling projects and schemes to reduce electricity usage. The TUC wants workplaces to be a major front against climate change in 2008 and has used examples of good practice to draft a guide for employees and union reps on how to green the workplace.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'When it comes to tackling climate change, people tend to look towards international agreements or what they can do at home. But more than half of the UK's carbon emissions are produced at work or through work-related transport. There's a lot more we can all do to reduce our workplace's carbon footprint.
'The TUC's advice should help everyone to act together and have a greener workplace. It's not about making people feel guilty, but about removing barriers to being green at work. Union environmental reps will be working with staff and managers to make UK workplaces greener in 2008.'
Ten resolutions to make your workplace greener in 2008:
1. Remember the three 'Rs'. Try to recycle as much as possible, but remember that reducing paper usage and re-using paper is even better.
2. Make sure that your workplace is the right temperature, ideally between 19 and 24 degrees centigrade. This will make for a greener, healthier working environment.
3. Flexible working options, such as home or remote working, can reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding the commute into work.
4. Consider video-conferencing as an alternative to travelling to meetings.
5. Ensure that all bulbs are low-energy.
6. Make sure furniture or equipment is not blocking any heating or windows.
7. Find out if your workplace is properly insulated and draught-proofed.
8. If you're the last to leave the office, make sure you turn everything off, such as lights, computer equipment, appliances, motors and machinery.
9. Talk to colleagues about working together to green your workplace. Collective action is more effective than individual efforts.
10. If you're unsure about how to reduce your carbon footprint at work, consult your union environmental rep. If there isn't one in your workplace, why not become one yourself! Contact Shropshire Unison Office on 01743 252952 Amelia Jones is the Branch Environmental officer.

TUC new year message

In his new year message to trade union members, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'2008 may be a rocky year.
'After a decade of steady economic growth and stability, prospects for the economy are distinctly uncertain. The full effects of the credit crunch triggered by irresponsible lending in the USA sub-prime mortgage market have yet to work their way through the economic system. Northern Rock has already been taken in its wake.
'But it is important that we do not talk ourselves into thinking the economic situation is worse than it is. The truth is that instability has not come from events in the real economy where people trade goods and services, but from the world of finance. Employment remains at record levels, and businesses say they are optimistic for the year ahead. Lower interest rates can only help. The greatest threat would be to confuse the difficulties now being suffered by banks with the economic fundamentals.
'But there are lessons to be learnt. For many years we have been told that over-regulation and red tape are the biggest barrier to economic growth. Yet the biggest threat to the world economy has come from a failure to regulate the US mortgage market, and its biggest victim here flows from a regulatory failure in UK banking system oversight. No-one should support outdated or over-bureaucratic regulation, but perhaps it's time to celebrate the role that appropriate regulation plays every day in maintaining economic stability, protecting consumers, workers and the environment and ensuring that we live in a civilised society with rules. Let's make 2008 the year we stop having lazy debates about red tape, and start talking about getting the balance right - more regulation where we need it, and less where we don't.
'My other big worry for the year ahead is the simmering resentment across the public sector at government pay policy. Public servants have already suffered a cut in their living standards this year. But the Government is planning a further three years of reduced living standards. The arguments for doing this do not stack up, and the risks are big. It does not just threaten the recruitment, retention and morale of public servants but will damage an industrial relations system that has minimised conflict in the public sector. Ministers say that real wage cuts in the public sector are needed to fight inflation, yet all the evidence shows that public sector pay follows inflation not causes it, and that bearing down on public sector pay has had no impact in the private sector. In any case experts agree that pay is not currently driving inflation. It is not too late for ministers to think again.
'But what about some hopes for the year ahead.
'If I had one wish it would be that 2008 was a year that we had a proper political debate about making Britain a fairer society. It is a big agenda.
'It means more help for those at the bottom. We need to see faster progress on the Government's pledge to end child poverty, and recognise that this carries a price tag. It means making workplaces fairer. This requires proper enforcement of the rights that vulnerable workers are meant to enjoy, but too often do not. It also means closing what is now the biggest source of abuse and exploitation - agency working. There is nothing wrong with supplying people with short-term availability to employers with short-term needs, but almost every media exposure of exploitation at work has featured agency working.
'At the other end of society it is time for a proper debate about inequality. We now have a growing group of the soar-away super-rich, who live lives cut off from the rest of us. Many take advantage of private equity and non-dom tax loopholes. This is not just bad for social cohesion, but distorts the economy.
'This is why I hope that in the year ahead we can have a proper debate about tax. We need a campaign for fair tax. If the super-rich and big companies are not paying their fair share it means that the rest of us - including small and medium sized businesses are paying too much, that public services are not getting the growth they need and that we do not have the resources to end child poverty. Simply closing the non-dom loophole would raise enough to halve child poverty. No-one particularly enjoys paying tax but it is the price tag for a civilised society, and it's about time that we had a proper debate about whether those who can afford it are paying their fair share.'

Union leaders speak up for public services

(18/12/07) UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis joined other trade union leaders and public-service workers today to start the fight-back against the government's 2% public-sector pay limit.
Dave Prentis joins TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and public service workers to launch the Speak Up for Public Services pay campaign"A 2% pay limit, for each of the next three years, will mean a pay cut for the UK's six million public-sector workers," Mr Prentis said."It represents a real cut in living standards and could cause long-term damage to industrial relations, recruitment, retention and morale."Launching the Speak Up for Public Services campaign at Westminster, the TUC and its 26 member unions called on ministers to accept in full the next round of recommendations from the various pay review bodies, if they wanted to avoid a repetition of the anger that provoked a wave of strike ballots across the public sector in 2007."The government must remember what a demoralised, under-resourced public sector it inherited from the Tories," Mr Prentis warned. "We cannot go back to those days."UNISON and other public-sector unions will be working together over the coming months to campaign for pay rises that reflect the true cost of living in the UK, he said.The TUC has published a new report, Six million pay cuts, to coincide with today's campaign launch.Debunking the myth that public-sector pay fuels inflation, the report points out that the government's arguments for the freeze do not add up. Holding back public pay will also widen the pay gap between men and women, it says.For more information about the Speak Up for Public Services campaign, read the full text of the statement signed by all 26 member unions of the TUC: Public servants deserve fair pay. Download the TUC report here: Six million pay cuts [PDF] More on UNISON's Positively Public campaign

Fight for free speech continues

(17/12/07) 150 mental health workers in Manchester who have been on strike in support of their branch chair returned to work today.However, UNISON has pledged to fight on in defence of Karen Reissmann, the award-winning psychiatric nurse sacked for speaking out against health cuts.The union will take up Ms Reissmann's case with an employment tribunal, after she lost an internal appeal against her dismissal.Manchester Mental Health Trust has refused to reinstate Ms Reissmann, despite a prolonged campaign backed by UNISON, which won widespread public support.Ms Reissmann chairs her local health branch and has been a vocal opponent of government health policies and local cuts.The trust claims she brought it into disrepute by talking to the media.UNISON believes she is being victimised in an attempt to silence her and other union activists.General secretary Dave Prentis said: “UNISON will not be silenced and we shall continue to campaign through all available channels to obtain Karen’s reinstatement.”

de deux with the far right

The ballerina Simone Clarke, has taken a leading
role in a nationalist organisation with links to the
British National party. Clarke was revealed to be a
member of the British National Party (BNP) during
a Guardian investigation into the far-right organisation
last year. She drew widespread criticism, with
anti-racist protesters staging a demonstration when
she took to the stage in English National Ballet’s
production of Giselle.
Now the ballerina, who is expected to retire soon,
has been elected to the executive board of Solidarity,
a so-called trade union which says it aims to
protect the rights of British workers. In a posting
on Solidarity’s website Clarke said: “Last year a
newspaper “exposed” my BNP membership. Some
politically motivated malcontents tried to have me
sacked, hence my interest in a British workers’
union.”
She was elected to Solidarity’s board last month
and, according to BNP leader Nick Griffin, has
given a speech at a BNP event in the Midlands in
recent weeks.
Solidarity’s general secretary is Pat Harrington,
a long-time far-right activist and former National
Front organiser. Critics say the organisation, which
is not affiliated to the TUC, is a front organisation
for the BNP. Solidarity denies the charge, claiming
it is an independent trade union.
When her membership of the BNP was exposed
Clarke claimed the organisation was the only party
willing to “take a stand” against immigration. “I’ve
never been clearer in my head that I’m moving in
the right direction and at the right time,” she told
the Mail on Sunday, adding that her conversion to
the far right was prompted by watching the news
and reading the BNP manifesto.
“I am not too proud to say that a lot of it went over my
head but some of the things they mentioned were
the things I think about all the time, mainly mass
immigration, crime and increased taxes. I paid my
£25 there and then.” On its website Solidarity says
it was formed “as a reaction against the betrayal
of the Unions affiliated to the TUC”. It adds it is a
“National Movement that actively recruits UK and
Irish Workers into it’s [sic] ranks”.
In its 2006 annual return to the union watchdog the
Certification Officer, its declared membership totalled
just 42 — all but two of them men. Its income
was £1,105.
Harrington became general secretary and treasurer
at the end of 2006 replacing Lee Barnes — the
BNP’s legal adviser — and the BNP’s treasurer John
Walker respectively.
Vice president Kevin Scott — a BNP regional organiser
— was replaced by Tim Hawke — said to be an
Ipswich BNP member — on the same date.

Unions vow to fight on

(07/12/07) UNISON and other trade unions are angry at the government's part in blocking EU legislation to protect vulnerable agency workers.Employment ministers from across Europe failed to thrash out a deal to implement the Agency Workers Directive when they met this week.The deal, which has been stalled for the past five years, would give agency workers the same employment rights as permanent staff.The issue is a key one for UNISON, which has been pressing the government through the TUC to break the European deadlock and agree a new deal, or to honour its Warwick commitments to introduce UK legislation.Addressing a packed fringe meeting at TUC Congress earlier this year, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: "It is a disgrace that in the fourth richest economy in the world, 10 years into a Labour government, vulnerable workers can be exploited and abused they way they are."Mr Prentis is also president of the TUC, which said the lack of progress on the Agency Working Directive was disappointing."There is real anger among unions today that the UK government played the pivotal role in blocking progress on this modest measure to improve workplace justice," said the TUC's Brendan Barber.The directive would have helped slow the growth of a two-tier workforce, and made it more difficult for employers to undercut wages and conditions, he said.However, he pledged, "unions will not give up the campaign to deliver justice for agency workers."

Strike deductions success

Employers must include annual leave and bank
holidays when calculating how much pay to deduct
for strike action, the High Court has ruled. UNISON,
the UK’s largest public sector union, brought the
test case, Cooper v Isle of Wight College, following
strike action to protect members’ pension rights in
March last year.
The decision means that the Isle of Wight College
should have deducted only 1/260th of the annual
salary of a striker for the one-day strike not 1/228th.
The ruling has implications for all employers making
deductions from employees’ wages for taking
strike action.
The union has consistently argued that the correct
method of deducting salaries during strike action
is to deduct the weekend and other non-working
days — but not annual leave or bank holidays — resulting
in a formula of 1/260th of the annual salary
for a day’s strike.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The
amount of money may seem small but the principle
of the case is much bigger. The strike action last
year was to defend pension rights and it involved
30,000 members in the further education sector.

Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007
Introduction
1. The Concessionary Bus Travel Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 27 November 2006. The Department's press release of 27 November 2006, announcing introduction of the Bill, can be found at the following link:http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=245891&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromSearch=True
2. The Bill received Royal Assent thus becoming an Act on 19 July 2007.
3. The full text of the Act and Explanatory Notes can be found on the Office of Public Sector Information website: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/
4. The final Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 is at:http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/aboutria/ria/riaconcessbustravelact07
5. The full text of the Commencement Order for the Act, including a short Explanatory Note, can be found on the Office of Public Sector Information website: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/. The title of the Order is 'The Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 (Commencement and Transitional Provisions) Order 2007' (Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 2799 (C. 109)).
What the Act does
6. The Concessionary Bus Travel Act provides that everyone aged 60 and over in England, and disabled people in England, will get free off peak travel on all local buses anywhere in England from April 2008. The existing statutory entitlement allows these groups to travel for free, but only on buses within their local authority area.
7. The Act will achieve social inclusion benefits for older and disabled people in allowing them greater freedom to travel, for free, by local bus. This is a key part of the Government's wider recognition of the importance of public transport for older and disabled people, and the role access to transport has to play in improving social inclusion and maintaining well being.
8. The provisions in the Act:
Guarantee free bus travel for those eligible from 9.30am until 11pm on weekdays and all day weekends and bank holidays, across England.
Provide a power to allow, via regulations in the future, for mutual recognition of national concessionary bus passes across the United Kingdom.
Allow flexibility for Ministers to change the mechanism for reimbursement of bus operators in the future and enable streamlining of the administration of concessionary travel.
Retain Ministers' ability to adjust the scope of the concession in the future via regulations.
Enable local authorities to continue to be able to offer benefits above the statutory entitlement to their residents, such as travel before 9:30am and concessions on other modes like trams, as well as alternative forms of travel scheme, like tokens for use on taxis or community transport.

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."

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.

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 !

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.'

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."

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 ?