CWU pickets at Swindon’s Hawkesworth depot

CWU pickets at the Hawkesworth mail depot. Although the dispute is formally a pay dispute, the opinion of these pickets was that that the real issues behind the dispute were job cuts (the ’strings’ attached to the pay offer), and management bullying. As one of the pickets pointed out, a recent survey of staff had 29% complaining of having suffered management bullying.

Picketing posties say strike is a success

Picketing posties say strike is a success

By Emily Walker Evening Advertiser

ABOUT 1,000 mail workers crippled the town’s postal network when they joined colleagues up and down in the country in a 24-hour strike.

Forty sorting office and delivery workers formed a picket line outside the Dorcan mail centre, and staff at delivery offices across town downed tools from 5am yesterday.

Communication Workers’ Union branch secretary Chris Rye said: “We have had almost 100 per cent participation in the strike here at the mail centre and about 80 per cent in the delivery offices.

“We are really surprised how big the support has been.

“The figures are much higher than we expected. Seventy-seven per cent of our members voted in favour of the actions in the ballot, but 80 or 90 per cent have gone out.

“And even some non-members have gone out in support.”

Mr Rye said a 2.5 per cent pay deal offered by Royal Mail bosses had not been enough to call off industrial action, and further walkouts could be held if successful negotiations were not reached.

“They are giving us something like a £7 or £8 pay deal, but they are taking away about £40 a week from overtime and allowances.

“The early shift allowance used to be £11, but by bringing people in later they are losing that money.

“At places like Honda, early shift workers get something like £30 and they don’t start at four in the morning.

“This is not just about us, though. We are trying to improve the postal service in the public interest and in the interest of businesses.

“Royal Mail says it is modernising, but we don’t think businesses want later deliveries. We don’t think that’s modernisation.

“We don’t think shutting down mail centres is modernisation.”

Postmen on the picket line were asking managers still entering the depot not to cross and were getting lots of supportive beeps from passing motorists.

Early-shift processing manager David Franklin said: “We have had so much support. First thing this morning there were 30 or 40 of us out here.

“There will be people taking it in turns to be here throughout the 24 hours.

“I have only seen about three people go in.”

Tony Hayes was at the depot from 5am, the same time he usually starts his sorting office shift.

“We just want to get Royal Mail back to the negotiating table,” he said.

Despite the first national strike in 11 years, Royal Mail said it was confident post would still be delivered by a skeleton service.

Report slams official complacency on UK work cancer epidemic

CANCER PREVENTION COALITION NEWS RELEASE

 [25 June 2007]

Work-related cancers will claim thousands of lives each year for a further working generation as a result of the “shocking complacency” of the government’s health and safety watchdog, a new report is warning. ‘Burying the evidence’ says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has neither the resources nor the strategy to tackle the workplace carcinogen exposures killing at least 12,000 people each year.

The report, by Professors Andrew Watterson and Rory O’Neill of Stirling University’s Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group, says HSE’s action plan – unveiled at a London seminar on 25-26 June - omits a range of occupational cancers, grossly under-estimates the risks of others and excludes entirely some of the most high risk groups of workers.

“HSE’s recommendations for action range from complacent to non-existent,” says Professor Watterson. “Its evaluations on cancer causing substances including benzene, cadmium, diesel exhaust and wood dust are error-ridden, inadequate and outdated, whole categories of workers known to be at high risk are ignored, and HSE cannot quantify and continues to neglect the risk to women.”

Breast cancer, the major occupational and environmental cancer risk for women, “is entirely off HSE’s radar,” Professor Watterson says. “The net result of this shocking complacency will be needless exposures and avoidable deaths.”

The report puts the cost to the UK of occupational cancer deaths at between £29.5bn and £59bn a year. Preventing just 100 of these deaths a year would more than offset the entire annual HSE budget.

Report co-author Professor Rory O’Neill says: “HSE’s approach will do little or nothing to reduce either the volumes or the numbers of cancer-causing substances used in Britain’s workplaces. This guarantees a new working generation will face a preventable cancer risk.

“Asbestos still kills thousands every year and the epidemic has yet to peak. We are already seeing evidence of cancers in microelectronic workers, an industry just one working generation old, and it is anybody’s guess how work in the nanotech industry will impact on health.” Only a small proportion of industrial chemicals have been tested thoroughly for chronic health effects, he adds.

The report was prepared for the Cancer Prevention Coalition, an alliance of academics, trades unions and environmental and occupational cancer campaigners. Hilda Palmer of the Hazards Campaign, a member of the coalition, says: “Occupational cancer is not a disease of the boardroom – almost all the risk is borne by just one-fifth of the workforce. They are not told they are at risk, they are not provided health surveillance and they don’t get the early diagnosis that can be the difference between living and dying. They are not dying of ignorance; they are dying of neglect.”

‘Burying the evidence’ calls for “sunsetting” to phase out where possible many common workplace carcinogens, and a “Toxics Use Reduction” policy to help wean companies on to safer alternative substances and processes. These approaches have worked well elsewhere, and have been supported by both workplace and environmental health advocates and industry. The coalition says the UK government should recognise work-related cancers as a major public health priority.

Notes to editors

1. Burying the evidence: How the UK is prolonging the occupational cancer epidemic, by Professors Andrew Watterson and Rory O’Neill of Stirling University, can be viewed online at: www.hazards.org/cancer/hsecriticism

2. The Cancer Prevention Coalition is an alliance of safety campaign groups including the national Hazards Campaign www.hazardscampaign.org.uk, academics, unions and cancer and occupational disease support groups. It has produced an online Work Cancer Prevention Kit as part of a global “Occupational cancer/Zero cancer” campaign.

3. The Health and Safety Executive’s occupational cancer seminar is on 25-26 June 2007 at the Kensington Close Hotel, Wrights Lane, London W8 5SP

Warning: ambulances are bad for your health

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Monday 18th Jun 2007.

A PARAMEDIC has said the town’s dirty ambulances could be the cause of superbug infections such as MRSA.

Figures released by medical watchdog the Healthcare Commission showed that three out of the four NHS trusts running the town’s health services were failing to meet Government targets for cleanliness and patient care.

The Great Western Ambulance service failed to meet nine different standards including providing a safe and secure environment for patients, minimising their risk of contamination from medical devices and managing patients’ records effectively.

One Swindon paramedic said he was not surprised Swindon’s ambulance service had fared so badly.

“We don’t have time to clean vehicles. We transport people into hospitals and that is the weak link,” he said.

“We are giving them MRSA. For most patients the ambulance is their first port of call.

“As soon as we have cleared the hospital we are on to another job. We can only wipe down a bit of blood, but don’t have time to give anything a thorough clean.

“We really want downtime to make sure we can keep ambulances sterile and give patients proper care, but it just isn’t possible with the emphasis on targets.”

The Healthcare Commission said the ambulance trust failed to challenge discrimination, set up systems to value and develop staff and give workers adequate mandatory training.

The paramedic, concerned for the welfare of patients, said: “The training college in Chippenham has been closed down. The building is just standing empty, and we are not getting any training at all.

“They have recently had interviews for new emergency care assistants to drive ambulances. But when the applicants asked about where the training would be, they said they didn’t know.”

Director of corporate development Rachel Pearce said: “Staff at all levels have worked very hard to meet the standards set.

“In particular, we are pleased that we have achieved compliance with key areas of the hygiene code of infection control, decontamination and healthcare environment.

“This year we want to exceed our own standards on that front - and we will be introducing special cleaning and restocking teams for ambulances. This will enable front line staff to get on with the core job of providing urgent and emergency care.

“We were disappointed not to achieve 100 per cent compliance last year. However, we have a performance improvement plan in place to address this. It is monitored monthly by our board and we expect to address all standards of non-compliance in the next 12 months.”

Ms Pearce said the trust also wanted to improve staff development and aimed to target recruitment towards black and ethnic minority groups.

Swindon Primary Care Trust and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust also failed to meet several core standards for hygiene, infection control and controlling MRSA.

Only the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the Great Western Hospital, managed to meet all of its core standards.

Across the country, the figures released by the Healthcare Commission yesterday showed that more NHS trusts had failed to meet targets for hygiene than last year.

Neighbouring Wiltshire PCT was one of the worst scoring trusts in the country for hygiene.

Honda and WH Smith under attack from union

From the Evening Advertiser June 4th 2007

BRITAIN’S biggest union has criticised the treatment of agency workers at Swindon firms. Unite conducted a survey showing how much businesses rely on underpaid temporary staff, who have no job security.

The report showed that two of the town’s biggest employers gave temporary workers less pay and time off.

Both Honda and WH Smith came under fire from the newly formed union, made up of Amicus and the Transport And General Workers’ Union.

As reported in the Advertiser, Honda announced plans to take on an extra 700 staff in Swindon last September.

But, according to Unite, the firm has now decided that all new recruits must be hired through an agency on a temporary basis to start with.

Permanent staff get £9.62 an hour, but temporary workers are paid less than £8.

Honda’s agency staff are also entitled to a third less holiday entitlement. They can take 20 days a year instead of the usual 33 days offered to their colleagues.

Jim D’Avila, the Amicus regional organiser for Swindon, said: “Temporary workers are treated as second class citizens. We are campaigning to ensure agency staff get treated the same as their colleagues.

“Honda advertised that they were taking on workers earning up to £22,000. People will have made applications thinking that £22,000 sounds good, but six months later they only get £14,000.”

Mr D’Avila, pictured, said that new staff at Honda had to work as temps for six months first, then they could be put on a probationary contract with Honda for another six months.

“During that whole year they could be let go without any warning at all,” he said.

“What this does is make the staff turnover higher, which is not necessarily the best thing for Honda.”

Honda spokeswoman Julie Cameron said: “Car manufacturing is extremely competitive and, in order to manage the flexibility required in the sales fluctuations, we choose to recruit our production associates on a temporary to permanent’ basis.

“As with all new starters holidays and benefits are accrued related to service. This process has proved extremely successful.”

Unite said temps at WH Smith were paid £5.90 an hour, £2 an hour less than permanent workers.

Agency staff get paid the same rates for working overtime, while their permanent colleagues could be paid time and a half or double-time for extra hours.

WH Smith spokeswoman Sarah Heath said the union had got its numbers wrong.

“The figures quoted are not correct,” she said. “We do pay the same rates of overtime to temporary staff.

“Temporary staff are also paid a variety of different rates from £5.90 up to over the figure for permanent staff, depending on their skill and the shifts they work.”

But WH Smith could not confirm the number of temporary workers currently employed at the Greenbridge stationery firm, or how many were on the higher level of pay.