and tells of its huge impact on his life UNISON ACTIVE! · Richard Arthur, Peter Carroll, Andrew Carver, Alan Hughes, Peter Lazenby, ... Margaret Thomas, UNISON’s head of local

WINTER 2010 | ISSUE 7 | £3WWW.UNISON-YORKS.ORG.UK

P10 LIVING WITH MYSELFAndrew Carver ‘comes out’ as autisticand tells of its huge impact on his life

P32 THE CON-DEMS’ BIG LIEMinisters say there’s no alternative,but it’s a con, says Paul Routledge

THE MAGAZINE FOR MEMBERS IN YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE

ACTIVE!UNISON

CUT TOTHE BONEKey services will operate witha skeleton staff – so much forCameron’s ‘Big Society’ p4&22

P20 THE PEACEMONGER’S WARLindis Percy has been arrested, fined,jailed and assaulted for her beliefs

General SecretaryDave Prentis

Regional SecretaryCliff Williams

Regional ConvenorWendy Nichols

UNISON Yorkshire & HumbersideCommerce House, Wade Lane, Leeds LS2 8NJ T: 0845 355 0845 or freephone

textphone 08000 967 968 W: www.unison-yorks.org.uk

Lines are open 6am-midnightMonday-Friday and 9am-4pm Saturdays

EditorBarrie Clement

Consulting EditorMary Maguire

Chief PhotographerJim Varney

ContributorsRichard Arthur, Peter Carroll, AndrewCarver, Alan Hughes, Peter Lazenby,Mary Maguire, Linda Millband, WendyNichols, Dave Prentis, Paul Routledgeand Sian Thomas

Cover ImageAsadour Guzelian

Published on behalf of UNISON byCentury One Publishing Ltd.Alban Row, 27-31 Verulam RoadSt. Albans, Herts AL3 4DGT: 01727 893 894 F: 01727 893 895 E: enquiries@centuryonepublishing

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© UNISON 2010

WINTER 2010 UNISON ACTIVE! 03

WELCOME

Osborne hasswung the axe,aided and

abetted by Cleggzilla.It was sharp and it cutdeep into the heart ofour communities, ourjobs and our localservices. Driven byideology, this brutalcoalition will blight thelives of millions andburden the poorestunfairly with payingthe price of thebankers’ folly andgreed.

Women face thedouble whammy of joband service cuts. Localgovernment has takena massive hit. Tens ofthousands of jobs havealready gone and manymore put at risk ascouncil bosses

scramble to pre-emptdecisions and savecash. This latestround of cuts, nearly30 per cent over fouryears, will devastateour society.

Yorkshire andHumberside will beamong the worstaffected areas wheremore than 20 per centof the workforce isemployed in thepublic sector. Theknock-on impact onthe private sector willdestroy more jobs andlives. It is cruel andirresponsible to claimthat the private sectorwill be able to createenough jobs to goround. It won’t andwe risk putting therecovery in jeopardy.

As a united union,we have to shout outat every opportunityto explain that there isan alternative to thismiserable, no-hope, noideas future that thecoalition has paintedfor us. Let’s have awindfall tax onbankers’ bonuses,let’s have a RobinHood tax and let’stackle the rich taxcheats and the non-doms.

Our priority must beto fight these cuts andto protect jobs andservices.

We will fight with,and for, those whorely on those services.We will stand in theway of this coalition’snightmare vision.

OurUnion

TACKLE TAX CHEATS!

DAVEPRENTISGENERALSECRETARY

We’re telling it like it isThe sheer extent of thedamage caused by thecoalition government’s savagepublic spending cuts is nowclear for all to see.

Members throughout ourregion and beyond have been

mobilised to protest at the scale of the cutswhich are the most severe in livingmemory.

Leading economists across the worldhave lined up to condemn the policy,

warning that the cuts risk plungingthe country back intorecession.

The government has peddledthe lie that such unprecedentedcuts are unavoidable.

But the reality is that thepeople least able to afford it arebeing forced to pick up the bill forthe bankers’ greed. Respected

independent bodies such as the Institutefor Fiscal Studies are clear that it is thepoorest in society who will be most badlyaffected by public sector cuts. Familieswith children will be the biggest losers asthe government takes the axe to thewelfare state, and women willoverwhelmingly be the most badlyaffected people in society.

The grotesque injustice of makingordinary families pay twice as much asmulti-millionaire bankers to deal with thenational debt is outraging the public. Theprivate sector caused the economic crisis,not hard working public sector workers,and UNISON is making sure that thetruth is heard loud and clear. Membershave responded magnificently to ourrallies and demonstrations throughoutthe region and we will continue to fightthis injustice by whatever means areavailable to us.

WINTER 2010 | ISSUE 7 | £3

WWW.UNISON-YORKS.ORG.UK

P10 LIVING WITH MYSELFAndrew Carver ‘comes out’ as autisticand tells of its huge impact on his life

P32 THE CON-DEMS’ BIG LIEMinisters say there’s no alternative,but it’s a con, says Paul Routledge

THE MAGAZINE FOR MEMBERS IN YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE

ACTIVE!UNISON

CUT TOTHE BONEKey services will operate witha skeleton staff – so much forCameron’s ‘Big Society’ p4&22

P20 THE PEACEMONGER’S WARLindis Percy has been arrested, fined,jailed and assaulted for her beliefs

WENDYNICHOLSREGIONALCONVENOR

W.Nichols

04 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

NEWS

Frontline workers paying for reckless super-richUNISON membersacross the regionhave woken up tothe shock ofredundancy noticesfrom their localgovernment andNHS employers.

Front-lineworkers deliveringessential servicesare being targetedby the coalitiongovernment in themost savage attackon the public sectorin living memory.

Thousands oftrade unionistsdescended onSheffield last monthto protest at a grossinjustice which willplunge the economyinto recession anddestroy the social

fabric ofcommunitiesthroughout Britain.

Mass meetings ofmembers in localgovernment acrossYorkshire andHumberside willdetermine what theythink about the cuts -and what they areprepared to do interms of industrialaction.

Regional secretaryCliff Williams said:“It is very clear ourmembers and thegeneral public aredeeply angry aboutthis ideologicalattack on ordinaryworking people.

“Our campaignwill focus on the factthat essential public

sector serviceproviders arepicking up the billfor the recklessgreed of super-richbankers.

“As leadingeconomists acrossthe globe have linedup to explain, thesecuts will devastatethe private sector asmuch as the publicsector.

“While thebankers hand eachother multi-millionpound bonuses outof the taxpayers’bail-out, the mostvulnerable peopleare being punishedfor their greed.”

Margaret Thomas,UNISON’s head oflocal government in

Recruitment hasshown a steadyincrease in the regionas public serviceworkers fear theimpact of pay cutsand redundancy.

UNISONmembership inYorkshire andHumberside, whichstands at around132,000, has grownby 3.2 per cent in thefirst nine months of2010.

That is just abovethe 3 per cent target,but Dave Mitchell,regional managerfinance andresources, warns thatmembership isbound to be hit bythe cutbacks. “Wewill have to run veryhard to stand still,”he said.

Dave revealed thataround 2,500 newmembers had signedup on-line, so thatemployees clearlyrealised the benefitsof trade unionism.

He urged activiststo redouble theirefforts to recruitmembers face-to-face. “Inevitably thecuts have given theunion a much morehigh profile. I thinkwe should use mediaopportunities –together withdemonstrations,marches and rallies -as a recruitmenttool.”

the region, accusedthe LiberalDemocrat leaderand deputy primeminister Nick“Cleggzilla” Cleggof breathtakinghypocrisy.

She said: “In hisgeneral electioncampaign, Cleggand his partyargued against thesesavage and pointlessTory cuts and nowthey are its biggestsupporters.

“The PrimeMinister seeks topush our economyoff the edge of thecliff. There are morethan fourunemployed peoplechasing everyvacant post acrossthe country.

“This will see thedole queues rise torecord levels andcondemn a wholegeneration of peopleto poverty andinsecurity.

“UNISON andour fellow tradeunionists will notstand by and allowthis outrage to becommitted. We willfight against it inevery waypossible.”

� Key services axed –page 22

We’re not just going to sit back and take it – UNISON’s deputy regionalconvenor John Campbell addresses last month’s TUC rally in Sheffield

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Stef’s young life-savers are taught to keep cool in a crisis

They are the littleblack and whitearmy of volunteersseen at most publicgatherings tendingto the sick andinjured.

But where dothese St JohnAmbulance life-

savers learn theskills needed to dotheir vital work?

Bradford localgovernment branchconvenor StefnieKrzyszczyk hasbeen teaching first-aid to young St JohnAmbulance trainees

for 11 years.She saw a

newspaper advert inKeighley asking forvolunteers and tookher five-year-olddaughter, Gaby, tojoin the “Badgers”and began teachingherself.

Now Gaby, 17, isstill going everyWednesday nightwith her mum toprepare the nextgeneration of St JohnAmbulance workers.

Steph said: “Weprepare them from avery young age to

Taxpayers foot £385,000 bill for war on refuse workersLeeds council spentmore than £2.6m in itsattempts last year tobreak the successful11-week strike by thecity's refuse workers.

Despite savingmore than £2m inwages and fuel costs,the council ended upwith a deficit of£385,000, a bill footedby council tax payers.

The 600 membersof UNISON and GMBwalked out onSeptember 7 last yearover plans by thecouncil to axe wages

by up to £6,000 - athird of their pay. The strikers wonwidespread publicsupport.

The council, run atthe time by a coalitionof Conservatives andLiberal Democrats,lavished funds on itsattempts to underminethe action and breakthe strikers' morale.

Dozens ofcontractorswerehired ina futileattempt to

maintain services.Household rubbishpiled up in the streets.

The strike endedwhen refuse workersaccepted anagreement in whichthe pay cuts wereabandoned in returnfor changes inworking practices.

Figures nowreleased show that thecouncil saved £1.968min wages, and £250,000

in fuel costs.But the

councilspent

£2.349m on contractorsto break the strike. Italso paid out £254,000on communications,including anti-strikepropaganda sent toevery household inthe city, which has apopulation of 700,000.

The ConDemcoalition lost control of the council in localelections in May.Labour, backed by theGreens, are now incontrol. Observersbelieve a publicbacklash against thecouncil's treatment of

the refuse workersplayed a part in theelection result.

� A Leeds refuseworker who took hisown life was said tohave been sufferingfinancial problems.Alan Cakebread, aUNISON memberwho was 50 and livedin the south Leedscommunity ofBeeston, was founddead on April 17. MrCakebread, a marriedman, took part in the11-week strike.

prioritiseemergencies.Someone who isgushing blood maynot be in as muchdanger as someonewho has collapsed.

“We train theyoung people howto make the rightjudgement in acrisis.

“I think everyoneshould learn firstaid. We want peopleof all ages, andespecially youngpeople, to take partin this life-savingorganisation.”

� If you would like moreinformation about how to getinvolved with St JohnAmbulance in Yorkshire andHumberside, contact Stef on01274 432291.

I’ve got the answer Miss!

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NEWS

SEND YOUR LETTERS AND STORY IDEAS TO THE EDITORThe Editor, UNISON ACTIVE, Commerce House, Wade Lane, Leeds LS2 8NJ OR EMAIL: [email protected]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: WELL DONE JULIE!

I wish to express my utmost gratitude and thanks to UNISON for its support over a recent issue at work. Myunion representative Julie Donnelly at Harrogate District Hospital has been a tower of strength. Her supporthas been outstanding. At a time when a set of circumstances in my life were causing me distress, Julieattended to every detail of my inquiry in a highly professional manner. I knew I could contact her at any timeand her support was always there. I have been a midwife for 12 years and I had often consideredchanging to the Royal College of Midwives. However the support I received has not only securedmy membership with you, it has also encouraged some of my colleagues to join UNISON.Tina Bucktrout, Cawood, Selby

Let’s wage pay war

The movement mustcampaign for asubstantial increasein the nationalminimum wage anda fair rate of pay forapprentices, SueHighton (picturedfirst left) tolddelegates at the TUCconference inManchester.

Sue, an NECmember and formerUNISON president,said the minimumwage was vital tolow-paid workersand one of thegenuineachievements of thelast Labourgovernment.

“It is a vitallyimportant line ofdefence against in-work poverty. And itprovides us with aplatform from whichwe can push forfurther advancestowards a properliving wage for all.”

Sue, secretary ofSheffield communityhealth branch,warned howeverthat the movementneeded to ensurethat the nationalminimum wagedelivered in harsheconomic conditionsas well as in thebetter times. Unionsneeded to be

resolute in theirresponse to theemployers’organisations whichcontinued to call forrates to be frozen.

A fair rate for thejob for apprenticesalso had to be apriority.

“We want to see anincrease in thenumber ofapprenticeshipsavailable in thepublic services. And in the interestsof fairness andsimplicity, apprenticerates across the UKshould rise to thesame level as existingyouth rates.”

Company directorsget “gold-plated”pensions, not publicsector workers,regional convenor

Wendy Nichols(pictured second left)told the Labour Partyconference.

The party had wonmany significantvictories overpensions, but now ithad a new battle towin over thepropaganda spreadby the Tories and theLiberal Democrats toundermine publicservice workers.

“We’re all familiarwith the luridheadlines in thenewspapers aboutgold-platedpensions. Nevermuch detail, nevermany facts, justassertions.

“Just the lazyassumption thatbecause it’s public, itmust be inefficient, itmust beunaffordable.”

She told delegatesthat the scheme shebelonged to in NorthYorkshire had 12,000members – morethan three quartersof whom got lessthan £5000 a year.Less than three percent got £20,000 ayear.

“But that’s thekind of ‘gold-platedpension’ thatCameron and VinceCable tell us we can’tafford.

“Of course, thereare some gold-platedpensions out there.The average for thedirectors of the UK’stop companies is£200,000. There’s abit of a gap isn’tthere? £4000 a weekfor some. £20 a weekfor our people.

“When you seeand hear peopletalking about gold-plated public sectorpensions, they haveto be challenged.

It just isn’t true.”

Gold-plated nonsenseGetting our message over at the TUC

UNISON is here to get you compensation

for everything your accident has cost you.

The legal service is FREE and you will

always keep 100% of the compensation.You can claim for any accident – at work,

on the road or on holiday. Your family is

also covered.

UNISON’s lawyers, Thompsons Solicitors,

have been working with UNISONmembers

over many years. This experience helps

you to get the maximum compensationyou are entitled to in the shortestpossible time.In 2009, 97% of UNISONmembers

surveyed would recommend Thompsons.

So if you or a member of your family have

had an accident call UNISONdirect on0845 355 0845 (Textphone 0800 0 967 968)

Accident?An apology won’t pay the bills.

Conditions apply. Accidents outside of the UK are covered where we can pursue the case through

the courts in England/Wales. Family members are covered for accidents outside of the workplace.


OBITUARY

GUENTERAND HISBROTHERAND MOTHERTRAVELLEDNORTHTHROUGH POLANDIN A CATTLE TRUCK

�

�

UNISON has lost acommitted andlong-servingactivist inYorkshire with the

death of Guenter Schober.Guenter was born in the

Sudetenland inCzechoslovakia in 1928. WhenNazi Germany invaded in1939 Guenter, aged 11, fledwith his mother and youngerbrother to Prague. His fatherand elder brother escaped toBritain. When the Nazisinvaded the rest ofCzechoslovakia Guenter, hisbrother Helli, then 6, and theirmother Hedwig were helpedto escape by the Red Cross,travelling north throughPoland in a cattle truckeventually reaching Britain.

SKILLED ENGINEERDuring the war Guenter’sfather Adolf worked in atextile factory makingparachutes. His elder brotherPaul became a tank driverwith the Free Czech Army,eventually returning toEastern Europe to fightalongside the Red Army toliberate his country from theNazis. He remained thereafter the war.

Guenter’s family settled inLiversedge, between Leedsand Huddersfield. Guentertrained to become a skilledengineer, working at firms inLeeds such as Hawker

Siddeley, DoncastersMonkbridge, and WestYorkshire Foundries, at a timewhen Leeds was a centre ofengineering excellence.

SHOP STEWARDHe met and married Eunice,and the couple had twodaughters, and lived atWoodhouse in Leeds. Withthe virtual destruction of theengineering industry underMargaret Thatcher in the1980s, he was maderedundant, as were hundredsof thousands more. Guenterbecame a porter at LeedsGeneral Infirmary, where hejoined the National Union ofPublic Employees, later tomerge with the Confederationof Health Service Employees(COHSE) and the Nationaland Local GovernmentOfficers’ Association(NALGO) to form UNISON.

As an engineer Guenterhad been a shop steward inthe AmalgamatedEngineering Union, and hecontinued his union activismwith NUPE and UNISON as ashop steward and as adelegate to Leeds tradescouncil, when trades councilswielded considerable politicalinfluence.

Politically, Guenter wasclose to the Communist Partyof Great Britain. He appliedthree times for Britishcitizenship and three times he

was refused. No reason wasever given.

After retirement in 1992Guenter delighted in passingon his decades ofaccumulated wisdom to anew generation of tradesunion activists who soughthis advice. They included hisdaughter Nadia, a UNISONactivist working for WestYorkshire probation service.

DIED PEACEFULLYGuenter and his familycelebrated his 82nd birthdayon September 3 with a rooftoppicnic at the nursing homeinto which he had moved dueto deteriorating health, andwhere he died peacefully onSeptember 23. He died withthe nationality with which hehad been born – as a citizen ofCzechoslovakia, despitehaving lived in Britain formore than 70 years, andhaving worked in thecountry’s private and publicsectors for half a century.

Guenter’s funeral tookplace on October 1, and wasconducted most movingly byhis young grandchildren.Representatives of the tradesunion movement, and ofLeeds trades union council,attended.

He leaves daughters Nadiaand Karen, and fivegrandchildren and is alsosurvived by his youngerbrother, Helli.

GUENTER SCHOBER: ACTIVE TO THE LAST

Peter Lazenby tells the fascinating story of UNISONactivist Guenter Schober who has died aged 82. Despitehalf a century working in the public and private sectorsin the UK, Guenter, who fled from the Nazis aged 11,was denied British citizenship on three occasions

Not since Cain andAbel, had thenewspapers beengifted such a story.Like a Shakespearean

drama, it was a tale of twobrothers, two loving brothers,who craved the same job. Itwas a story so great, theheadlines wrote themselves.

BITTER TEARSRed Ed was the obvious linefor the right wingers, as soonas it was known that unionmembers had the temerity tovote. The Sun was in itselement: “David sees Red Edmist” and “I’m ready to ed off”.Anonymous “sources” talkedof “betrayal” (Express), whilethe Indy spoke of “back-stabbing” and the Mirrorreckoned that the “bitter rift overIraq” had spilled into the open.

The Mail told us of the“tears, anger and betrayal”, the“absolute fury” and “bittertears” of David’s violinist wife.No doubt she didn’t want toplay second fiddle. Whereas,the Guardian and Telegraphanalysed how Ed would feelhaving usurped David’s shoe-in, in a “What have I done tomy brother?” analysis.

A complex voting systemsnookered even the finestmedia minds. Many seasonedhacks couldn’t contain theirglee as the BBC’s irritatingNick Robinson called it forDavid after the first round.

It took the Yorkshire press torestore a sense of gravitas tothe reportage. The Yorkshire

Post pointed out that Ed wasthe third Labour leader withYorkshire connections(Gaitskell, Wilson). The Starproudly proclaimed theelection increases “SouthYorkshire’s politicalstanding”.

The Yorks Free Pressreassured us that “the Milibandswent from back-stabbing andvoting against each other tohugging and kissing”. Ah -all’s well, that ends well.

MEDIA CIRCUSBut dear reader, no news isgood news. The dark clouds ofmassive spending and job cutsare upon us. Every localnewspaper, every local radiostation, every regional TVchannel has its daily cuts report.

Telephone number bonusesfor bankers were reported (FTet al) and telephone numbercuts for council employees (alllocal media). Councilssuddenly discovered a fashionfor sacking their entireworkforces and re-engagingthem on worse terms.

Yorkshire was no exception.The Sheffield Telegraphreported on its councilsending redundancy notices toits workforce and ITV Northrevealed Hull City doing thesame. At Kirklees (ITV) aUNISON anti-cuts protesttook place in the shadow ofHarold Wilson’s statue.

The failure of councilcontractor Connaught andensuing protest caught theimagination of the entire

media circus. The sedateMalton Advertiser wasvaguely excited by a Europe-wide protest against the cuts.

The collective strength ofthe TUC annual gatheringsparked that old chestnut – thegeneral strike. A firm standon opposing public servicecuts, led by UNISON, was thesignal for the media to go intohysterical over-drive (all). ATimes leader depicted DavePrentis as a raptor.

The York Press askedhopefully: “Could there be asecond winter of discontent?”The Hull Daily Mail andothers published pictures ofworkers’ defiantly wearing “Iam frontline” badges.

Over in Leeds, privatecompanies were refusing totake on new staff (YEP) andthe coalition government wasslightly bovvered.

But on the horizon - theMail, Sun, Express andTelegraph - started to baretheir piranha-like teeth overbenefit cuts to middleEngland. We live in hope. �

Newspapers salivated over Labour’s ‘Battle of the Brothers’ and the massive cutsto public services, says UNISON’s head of press and broadcasting Mary Maguire

‘RED ED’ AND THE CUTS

THE BBC’SIRRITATINGNICKROBINSONCALLED ITFOR DAVIDMILIBANDAFTER THEFIRSTROUND

�

�

Mary Maguire - ‘David Miliband’sviolinist wife didn’t want to playsecond fiddle’


MEDIA REVIEW


FEATURE AUTISM

UNISON member and local government worker Andrew Carver has a degree inmathematics. He is also autistic. For many years he tried to conceal his conditionfrom his colleagues. But now, after long deliberation, he has decided to “comeout” and reveal how autism affects his relationships at home and at work

Iwas brought up in aworking class family, thesecond of four children.From a young age, I wasalways the loner with

few schoolyard friends. Iplayed by myself, mostly.Interacting with otherchildren just seemed toodifficult. I pursued eagerlyanything that took myinterest. At six I memorisedthe timetables of all servicebuses in Bradford, and couldrecite them at will. Teachers

saw me as “average”,someone who lacked interestin schoolwork – because I wasbored and seemed detached. Iwas the one in the class whowould give the wrong answerbecause I could notunderstand the question. Ithen felt stupid. I always feltstupid. Then, at thirteen I hadmathematics with MrChapman. We had a privatechat, and he talked to me in away that no adult had talkedto me before. He connected

with me, and made me feel likeI was a person. I later passedten ‘O’ levels, 3 ‘A’ levels andachieved a university degree inmathematics. I am nowmarried with two teenagechildren.

Throughout my childhood Iknew I was different, but Inever knew why. At universityI found the answer, and foundout about myself. I am autistic.When you think of autism, youmay think of the child whorocks and bangs his head on

Above: Andrew‘connected’ witha maths teacher

TEACHERS SAW ANDREW AS ‘AVERAGE’.... HE WENT ON TO GAIN A MATHS DEGREE...

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the wall and does not makeeye contact. You may think ofthe “Rain Man” savant whodoes complex calculations inhis head but otherwise getseasily agitated. What you maynot realise is that 1 in 100people have autism. We arepeople you will encounterevery day – perhaps at workor in the supermarket – butyou will not know it. Thereare many things you mightthink about us, but often theyare not true.

REAL BARRIEROfficials tell us we have anAutistic Spectrum Disorder. Irefuse to accept that I amdisordered. It is a condition Ihave had since birth; adisability recognised underthe Disability DiscriminationAct. Yet less than 1 in 10 of uswill be in paid employment.Finding work when changesin routine may be upsetting oreven succeeding at theinterview stage is a realbarrier. I am one of the luckyones, working in localgovernment.

I have mild autism whichfor me makes it lesspronounced. It is still there,just beneath the surface, andwhich I always feel. Somedays I go in and out of beingautistic. I may becomeagitated at changes in routine,sometimes have problemswith communication andperception, and may havedifficulty understanding whatother people think and feel;which together with my ownsocial difficulties “disable” meeach and every week. Havinga higher intelligence thanCarol Vorderman, I can

ANDREW HAS MILD AUTISM.... HE CAN WRONGLY SEEM COLD AND HEARTLESS...

DURING MYCHILDHOODI KNEWI WASDIFFERENT,BUT I NEVERKNEW WHY

�

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rationalise my own autistictraits and foresee potentialsituations where I will getagitated, which I either avoidor develop my own copingstrategies. Until you really getto know me, you would notknow I am autistic at all.

BODY LANGUAGEIn conversations I mayappear self-absorbed oregotistical. I do not alwaysrespond positively whensomeone says something;instead appearing cold andindifferent. My typical blankpersona can make people talkto me in simpler language asthe conversation continues, asthey think I am failing tocomprehend them, eventhough I may comprehendthem perfectly. I have a habitof talking on and on aboutone subject with little regardto the rest of the conversation.You may find this annoying.

I have difficulty in fullyunderstanding the meaningof your body language – suchas your facial expressions orgestures, or even the tone ofyour voice. After explainingsomething I feel an urge torepeat myself – which Icannot always stop. My wifefinds this irritating, telling meshe understood the “firsttime”. I have difficultyfiguring out what otherpeople already know andwhat I need to tell them, andyou may think I am beingarrogant or scornful. You willsee me as childish when Iseem to over-react in somesituations, such as when I feelyou are not listening to me, orwhen things are not “goingright”. You will see my

frustration at this, over whichI have no control. This will bedriven by some degree ofanger. I will often talk tomyself, sometimes out loud –even at work; yet I do notalways know it.

Sometimes I can find it hardto make sense of things goingon around me. Reading subtlesocial signals can beimpossible. This makes it hardto do things that you take forgranted like understandingother people and taking partin groups. I only really feelcomfortable when I am part ofa small group. My wife knowsnever to hint at anything. Inever “get” hints.

TOO INSENSITIVEI do not have the sameemotions you do, or moreprecisely do not show them inways you expect. I usuallyseem too insensitive and youmay see me as cold andheartless – even though deepinside I will feel as you wouldfeel. You will wrongly see meas being callous because at

“Autism can normally bediagnosed in children at aroundthe age of two. In many cases,professional health workers mayspot the signs of autism duringnormal childhood health checksand this may result in the childbeing formally diagnosed. If you think your child may haveautism, ask your GP to refer themto a consultant or diagnostic teamwith a good understanding of thecondition.” – NHS.The National Autistic Societyoffers advice on diagnosis.

AutismChildren�

FEATURE AUTISM12 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

times I seem deliberately notto understand you orsympathise with you. I do notalways notice when my wifeis upset or has something onher mind, or needs someoneto talk to. When I do notice, Ican still seem to ignore herand her feelings, despite mybest efforts to the contrary. Ithen get so mad with myselfafterwards. I am often madwith myself.

REAL DIFFICULTYI have my comfort zones. Ilike to be in familiarsituations, where I know whatis going on around me, andwhere I can predict the likelychain of events. I like thingsto be as simple as possible. Ican get agitated at modernelectronic technology, such asDVD recorders and mobilephones. My wife has to recordfor me any TV programme Iwant to view at a later date. Ido not own a mobile phone.

I have real difficultyputting my trust in you, oranyone else. When I dodecide to trust someone I givemy total trust. For me, it hasto be all or nothing; I can’tonly half-trust someone. It isno surprise I then sometimesget hurt and you may wonderwhy I never seem to learnfrom the experience.

YOUR ATTENTIONIf you knew me, you wouldprobably notice that I seem towant your attention – my wayof demanding re-assurance.This is how my own autismaffects me. You may wronglysee this is as insecurity. What Ialways want is to be acceptedand valued as a person.

Having autism does not meanI am sub-human or a non-person or a bad person.Understanding autism is fine,but no substitute tounderstanding me, the person.

The next time you think ofautistic children, rememberthey grow up. The next timeyou get furious with someonebecause they just “don’t get”something simple, eventhough they can do somethings that are complicated,remember us. The next timeyou see someone flappingtheir hands in front of theirface and making odd noises,remember us. Autisticchildren grow up into autisticadults. We do not alwaysappear the same as autisticchildren, though we may havemuch in common with them.

We did not decide to haveautism, but you can decidewhether to accept us, see

above this, and see us as aperson first. Autistic adultsexist and live in this society,but not necessarily connect toit normally, every day. We areout there, trying to live.Remember us. �

Above: At homewith wife Heidi and children Darren and Louise

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ANDREW LIKES FAMILIAR SITUATIONS.... HE HAS DIFFICULTY TRUSTING PEOPLE...

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The National Autistic Society (NAS)offers tips on how to present yourcase so that your doctor can seewhy you might have autism and whyhaving a diagnosis could be helpful.

AutismAdults�

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FEATURE OUR JOBS14 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

Darren Jones hasn’tgot the mostpleasant of jobs.

It can involvebeing abused by

drunks and contact withblood and other bodily fluids.He has to handle hypodermicsand ‘sharps’ - needles used bydrug addicts.

He has to have a knowledgeof chemicals and how tohandle them, includingdealing with spillages. There’sa potential for violence andthere’s verbal abuse.

So what is Darren’s job?Paramedic? Nurse?

No, he’s a cleaner at a busstation in West Yorkshire. Histake-home pay for putting upwith all the above, and more,

is £750 a month. After payingout £325 for lodgings itdoesn’t leave a lot.

SAFETY REPDarren, 43, is a UNISONactivist. He’s a shop steward,a health and safety rep, and asa gay man he’s involved inthe union’s regional Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual andTransgender group.

He’s employed by Metro -West Yorkshire PassengerTransport Executive - at thebus station in Castleford.

Darren is one of a team,two full-time and one part-time, responsible forCastleford bus station. He’sfull-time and has been atCastleford for five years.

Before that he cleaned atWakefield bus station, movingthere from the confectioneryfirm Nestle.

“I really enjoyed that, butthese posts came up and Iwanted a bit more of achallenge,” he said. Castlefordbus station is used by manythousands of passengers aweek and cleaning up afterthem isn’t as simple a job as itsounds.

Training and qualificationsare demanded nowadaysthrough the British Institute ofCleaning Science. There aretwo levels which have to bepassed, and performancestandards have to be met on aday to day basis. There is alsoresponsibility for safety issues.

Shop steward Darren Jones sees life in the raw as part of his job as a cleaner atCastleford bus station. Peter Lazenby finds out what Darren does for £750 a month

AT THE SHARP ENDAbove: Darren

wanted more of a challenge

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WE GETCHEMICALSPILLSANDBODILYFLUIDSON OURCLOTHES

Safety representatives areappointed by UNISON not theemployer. Sometimes they willalso be stewards.

Each branch also has a healthand safety officer who will act asa link between safetyrepresentatives and the rest ofthe branch, and co-ordinate theactivities of all safetyrepresentatives.

The health and safety rep willalso give information andsupport, and co-ordinate branch-wide campaigns.

All UNISON members are entitledto have a safety committeewithin their place ofemployment.

SafetyFirst

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That’s the official side.Added to that is the fact thatbus stations do not attractonly passengers.

“We get homeless peoplecoming in,” said Darren.“They use the facilities, thetoilets, and sometimes hangaround at night. There aredrug addicts. We have hadsyringes left in the toilets. Wehave to clean them up – we’resupplied with sharps kits.”

VERBAL ABUSESome of the problems thecleaners face have beencreated by cuts. “They tooksecurity away in 2005,” saidDarren.

“They felt there was noneed for them. Unfortunatelythe security people hadn’tbeen reporting incidents.They’d been a bit lax, somanagement thought wedidn’t have any, but thatwasn’t the case.

“As I say we have all kindsof people coming in. We havepeople coming in drinking.Some can be quite abusive,especially when they’reintoxicated. We have to cleanup after them too.” Darren hasnever been assaulted, but theverbal abuse is intimidatingenough.

There are other problemstoo. The cleaning staff have noshowers and no adequatelockers for their work gear.They have to change in astorage area.

“It’s unacceptable,” saidDarren. “We get chemicalspills and bodily fluids on ourclothes. It soaks into theclothing and we just have tocarry on for the rest of the day.

“We have to take our workclothes home and clean themourselves. We have to takethem home like that, sitting

next to passengers on the bus.It’s not very nice.”

WORK CLOTHESDarren became a health andsafety rep a few months back.“UNISON was encouragingpeople to become workplacehealth and safety reps, andtwo or three of us cameforward. It is something thatinterested me,” he said.

The union is pressing WestYorkshire PTE to take actionover what he says is a veryunhealthy, unsanitarysituation.

“We have raised this withMetro,” he said. “We haveasked for some facilities tostore our work clothes at thebus station, or for a laundryservice.

“It’s not just contaminatedequipment. It’s contaminatedpersonal clothing as well.There are no showers. There’sa hand basin but it’s notadequate for a full wash andfluids do soak through to theskin.

“The health and safety repslast month submitted a reportthat we compiled jointly toput to the health and safetycommittee, and hopefully atthe next meeting we will bediscussing how to solve theissues.”

One of the few bonuses ofthe job is free travel on busesand trains in West Yorkshire.“That’s one good thing – I willgive them that,” said Darren.

SOCIAL NETWORKSDarren has a keen interest incomputers, and uses theUNISON website to pursuehis work on health and safetyissues.

“I like to get onto theinternet, social networks. I gothrough the UNISON website

for health and safetyinformation.”

As part of his work as amember of the Yorkshire andHumberside Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgendergroup, he recently wrote anarticle for his union branch’smonthly magazine Hotlineabout the work of the group.

“I’m trying to encourageour members to take aninterest in setting up our ownbranch self-organised group,and ensuring everyone istreated fairly and protectedagainst discrimination,” hesaid. He is active in the GayPride movement, helpingorganise events and run stalls.

People like Darren makeUNISON what it is. It isthanks to his efforts, andmany more like him, that ourworkplaces will becomehealthier, safer and morecivilised places to be. �

�

FEATURE LABOUR LAW16 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

As David Cameronimplements hissavage programmeof cuts in thepublic sector, the

predictable news emergesthat he is planning to makeBritain’s strike laws - alreadyamongst the toughest inEurope - even tougher.

There is apparently noplace in his “big society” forunions and their members.

Proposals include raisingthe support required forindustrial action in a ballot

from a simple majority ofthose voting to 40 per cent ofthe affected workers. Otherplans include weakeningregulations prohibiting thesupply of agency workers tobreak strikes, reducing theperiod of protection fromdismissal for taking industrialaction to eight weeks andeven making unions liable forthe consequences of strikeaction.

These plans do not sithappily alongside thecoalition’s commitments on

civil liberties. We were toldthat a commission would beestablished “to investigate thecreation of a British Bill ofRights that incorporates andbuilds on all our obligationsunder the EuropeanConvention on HumanRights, ensures that thoserights continue to beenshrined in British law, andprotects and extends Britishliberties”. This was part of theprice extracted by the LiberalDemocrats for their marriageof convenience.

The simple point is that“our obligations under theEuropean Convention onHuman Rights…” includeunion rights and freedomsunder Article 11 of theEuropean Convention - thefreedom of association.

LANDMARK CASEIn the past the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights inStrasbourg has been reluctantto give effect to Article 11. Ithas left member states todecide upon the means ofachieving an effective “rightto be heard” (but no more) forunions.

That all changed in 2008with the landmark case ofDemir and Baykara v Turkey.That case turned on thedecision of a Turkishmunicipality to renege on acollective agreement. Whenthe Turkish courts ruled thatno union of civil servants hadauthority to enter intocollective agreements, theunion complained to theStrasbourg court saying thattheir rights under Article 11had been infringed.

The court agreed, but whatis important are the reasonsfor its conclusion.

It started by reviewing a

EUROPE TO THERESCUE

Above: Rulings outside Europeaffect judgments in Strasbourg

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David Cameron might find it impossible to emulate Mrs Thatcherand push through plans for extremist anti-union legislation.Richard Arthur explains why Europe may come to our aid

Richard Arthur

a number of occasions. Eachtime, it has found them to bein breach of ILO ConventionNo. 87.

STRIKE ACTIONThe European Social Charteris supervised by theEuropean Committee ofSocial Rights. In 2002, thecommittee said Britain didnot guarantee the right tostrike in accordance withArticle 6 of the charter, thatthe permitted scope andprocedural requirements forindustrial action wererestrictive, that theconsequences for unionswhen action was found to beunlawful were serious andthat workers had inadequateprotection from dismissal.Similar findings were madeby the committee in relationto the UK in 2000, 2004 and2006. The committee’s 2006report was then adopted bythe Committee on Economicand Social Rights in its“Report on the UK’simplementation of theInternational Covenant onEconomic and Social Rights”in June 2008.

The Demir and Baykaracase was about collectivebargaining. But the principlesin it have been embeddedand developed in a numberof subsequent Strasbourgcases in relation to industrialaction.

EXISITING LAWSThere will be opportunities toseek declarations thatchanges Mr Camerontries to introduceareincompatiblewith Article11 of theEuropean


whole host of internationallabour law instruments - ILOConvention Nos. 87 and 98 onthe Freedom of Associationand Protection of the Right toOrganise and the Right toOrganise and CollectiveBargaining, the InternationalCovenant on Civil andPolitical Rights, the EuropeanSocial Charter and the EUCharter, saying that thepractice in states party to theEuropean Convention wasalso relevant.

The court then said that itsprevious case law should be“reconsidered” so as to “takeaccount of the perceptibleevolution in such matters, inboth international anddomestic legal systems”. Itwas now compulsory for thecourt “to take into account theelements of international lawother than the EuropeanConvention, the interpretationof such elements bycompetent organs, and thepractice of European states”in defining the meaning ofrights under the convention.

UNION RIGHTSThere is a mass of decisionsand commentaries on unionrights, and particularly theright to strike, from thesupervisory bodiesoverseeing ILO ConventionNos. 87 and 98. The ILO’sCommittee of Experts hasalready condemned legalrequirements such asthreshold percentages forsupport in a ballot, the fact ofindustrial action amountingto a breach of the contract ofemployment and thereforegrounds for dismissal andcivil liability for theconsequences of industrialaction. It has considered theUK’s industrial action laws on

Convention. There are otheropportunities to challengethe existing laws on collectivebargaining and industrialaction. Typically, the idealmechanism will be to file aclaim in the Strasbourg courtand a complaint at the ILOsimultaneously. That way, bythe time the Strasbourg courtdetermines the matter, it willhave the benefit of the ILO’sconclusions, which it is nowcompelled to take intoaccount. This is what theRMT has done with itscurrent challenge to the pre-ballot notificationrequirements and the ban onsecondary action.

VERY DIFFERENTThe reaction from the Britishcourts has not beenencouraging, starting withthe court of appeal findingthat the UK industrial actionlaws comply with Article 11of the European Conventionin the Metrobus case. But Istrongly believe that theposition will be very differentwhen the Strasbourg courtcomes to decide the RMT’sapplication.

Mr Cameron talks of“continuing to enshrineConvention rights in Britishlaw”. The Strasbourg courthas now declared with newvigour that union rights -

including the right tocollective bargainingand the right to strike -are convention rights.Like other Conventionrights, they should alsobe regarded as

“enshrined in British law”.Practice what you preach,

Mr Cameron. �

� Richard Arthur is head of tradeunion law at Thompsons Solicitors

THERE ISNO PLACEIN DAVID CAMERON’S‘BIGSOCIETY’FOR UNIONSAND THEIRMEMBERS

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FEATURE BEST PRACTICE

There’s a lot to be saidfor good old-fashioned pen andpaper, but sometimesthe computer wins

hands down.Take the questionnaires and

forms generated by grievanceand disciplinary cases.Documents have to be copiedendlessly so that all therelevant people – from themember concerned to theregional office – are in theloop. It generates hugemounds of paper.

The overwhelming majorityof UNISON branches still relyon this process. It means extrawork for officials and staff –and with the best will in theworld – it means documentssometimes go missing.

UNISON’s Yorkshireambulance branch prefers touse the union’s computersystem. Inevitably with 3,000members the branch generatesa heavy caseload, but it makes

sure the details of each caseare placed in an electronic“case folder”.

HIGH STANDARDThe branch has set up acounty-wide casework teamwhich has instant access to theinformation and handlesnearly all grievance anddisciplinary cases. The groupof 12 shop stewards is trainedto a high standard to dealwith the problems.

Cases are usually handledon a geographical basis sothat a member is put in touchwith someone who knows thepatch. If it requires specialistknowledge – say acomplicated technical caseinvolving a mechanic - then aperson with the relevantknowledge and experiencewill normally be involved.

Problems peculiar towomen are dealt with byfemale reps. Membership ofthe branch is 47 per cent

female and around 40 percent of shop stewards andbranch committee membersare women.

CASEWORK TEAMThe branch is not just madeup of ambulance crews. Itcovers call-takers,dispatchers, maintenanceworkers, wages staff and soon.

It is made up of 75 shopstewards and convenorscovering all the mainspecialisms. Of those, around40 are accredited under theEmployment Relations Act, 36are health and safety reps and18 learner reps.

At the start of eachgrievance or disciplinary case,a form is emailed to theindividual concerned. She orhe fills it in and emails it backto a central point fordistribution to the caseworkteam. That way, nothing getslost.

Above: BrynWebster (left) andhis colleagues

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UNISON’s Yorkshire ambulance branch has hit upon a simple method of ensuringgrievance and disciplinary cases are efficiently handled. Barrie Clement reports

PRINTEDFORMSMEANEXTRAWORK ANDSOMETIMESTHEY GOMISSING

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LOGGED ON AND CLUED UP

The computer system isproperly backed up if thereare problems and alldocuments are confidential.Only about one or two percent of the cases – invariablythe most difficult to resolve -are passed up the chain ofcommand to regional officialRay Gray. Straightforwardqueries or questions whichsimply mean looking upunion policy, are usuallypassed to the member’s shopsteward.

LEGAL OPINIONThere was an issue recently inwhich a member wanted tocarry over annual leavebecause of sickness. It neededto be resolved through thegrievance procedure.

The electronic form wasfilled out and informationfrom all the meetings wasinputted into the system. Thecase remained unresolvedafter the grievance procedure

was exhausted and all theinformation was then emailedto the regional office forauthorisation and forwardedto Thompsons Solicitors for alegal opinion.

INSTANT UPDATEBryn Webster, 42-year-oldsecretary of the branch andchair of UNISON’s nationalambulance sector, concedesthat there are drawbacks to the system - especially whendocuments need to be signed –but says that processes whichhave taken days in the pastwith the use of paperwork, can now be completed in hours.

“Critical information can’tbe lost, it can be updatedinstantly and the member hasaccess to the information. Withthe dramatic reduction in theamount of paperwork it’s alsomuch greener,” says Bryn whois a trained paramedic with 26years experience in theambulance service.


PROCESSESWHICH HAVE TAKEN DAYS IN THE PAST, CAN NOWBE FINISHED IN HOURS

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SEVERE SANCTIONRecently, in a particularlysensitive case, a membercontacted the branch to tellthem that a CriminalRecords Bureau check haddiscovered that he had anumber of seriousconvictions which he hadfailed to disclose. Despite thefact that the offences werecommitted 20 years ago,management was insistingon a formal investigation.

A questionnaire wasemailed to the memberwhich he filled in and sentback. The form was emailedto a case worker to advisethe member on thedisciplinary process. Allmeetings were recorded andthe Health ProfessionsCouncil was sent all relevantdocuments. The individualwas in danger of losing hisjob, but managementeventually settled for a“severe sanction”. Theprocess took six monthsbecause the member had towait for a Health ProfessionsCouncil hearing, but theinternal proceduresinvolving the union and thetrust took just six weeks.

CONSTANT BASISThe branch has its ownemail [email protected] andkeeps the email addresses ofall its members so that it canget in touch on a regularbasis. Says Bryn: “I’m notsaying emails are the be-alland end-all – we’ve got tokeep in face-to-face touchwith our members on aconstant basis - but oursystem for dealing withqueries and caseworkcertainly seems to work.” �

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THE INTERVIEW LINDIS PERCY20 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

She’s been arrested 500 times, fined, imprisoned and assaulted for her beliefsand activities. But there’s no stopping Lindis Percy from doing what she believesin – fighting for peace. Reporter Peter Lazenby meets a remarkable woman

THE PEACEMONGER

WE SET UPA GROUPWHICHEXPLODEDTHE MYTHTHAT THENHS COULDCOPE WITHA NUCLEARACCIDENT

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Lindis Percy doesn’tlike being describedas “retired.”

The former nurse,midwife and health

visitor, who was a member ofNUPE, COHSE and finallyUNISON, instead says she has“given up paid work”.

Her life is devoted tocampaigning for peace.

But her life is anything butpeaceful.

Lindis, 68, is co-ordinator ofthe Campaign forAccountability of AmericanBases (CAAB), a Yorkshire-based group with activistsnationwide, monitoring andprotesting about the activities

of American military bases inBritain.

Her commitment has led toher being arrested 500 timesfor “trespassing” on landoccupied by the United Statesmilitary in Britain.

But she and her fellow-campaigners don’t justprotest. They use the law tofight their cause, repeatedlytaking legal arguments as faras the House of Lords to showthat the Ministry of Defence isin breach of British law whenit allows rights of way to beblocked, the takeover of land,and the wrongful arrest ofpeople who protest.

And Lindis and her friends

win. They have forced thegovernment to accept thatrights of way exist; that theenclosure of public space forAmerican military use can beillegal.

Her own latest victory wasan out-of-court financialsettlement from a member ofthe US military who assaultedher while she was making aprotest at the US base atCroughton inNorthamptonshire.

In February 2006 she wasaccosted by militarypersonnel. Sustained pressureto her neck caused a facialpalsy which lasted six weeks.

She took legal action which

Right: Lindisoutside MenwithHill US base

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was repeatedly blocked by thecourts, but refused to give in.

She finally won asettlement after four years –an example of herdetermination.

The settlement was a token£700, which she donated toCAAB.

WOMEN’S PROTESTLindis is an inspiration topeace campaigners nationallyand internationally thoughshe may not like the accolade.

Lindis lives at Harrogate inNorth Yorkshire, not far fromthe US base at Menwith Hill.

The base, staffed by morethan 1,000 US militarypersonnel, sits on the NorthYork Moors and is easilyidentifiable by the dozens ofenormous white sphereswhich people refer to as “golfballs.” They are “radomes”covering antenna linked tosatellites circling the earthgathering military, economicand financial informationwhich is fed to the UnitedStates government. Theactivities of the base havebeen exposed by Channel 4TV and in the Press.

Lindis’s campaigning workbegan at Greenham Common,the US base which was thefocus of a long-runningwomen’s protest in the 1980sand 1990s. Greenham was thebase for Cruise nuclearmissiles.

Lindis was born in Leeds,the daughter of an AnglicanChurch curate. Dad’s vocationmeant the family movedfrequently.

She married in 1964, andher husband Christopherbecame a priest, an industrialchaplain ministering topeople in their workplaces.

Lindis became a hospital

nurse, and again movedaround the country whereverher husband’s job took him.

In 1979 the family was inSouthampton, which is whereher commitment tocampaigning really took root.She witnessed the movementof nuclear missiles around theGreenham base, the closure ofroads by police saying therehad been a “traffic accident”in a futile attempt to disguisethe base's activities.

“We set up a group atSouthampton GeneralHospital to explode the myththat if there was a nuclearaccident the NHS couldcope,” she said. “It couldn’t.There was a very braveconsultant who spoke out.”

Now with three children,the family moved back upNorth to Hull.

She took a break from herNHS work to undertake acourse at the peace studiesdepartment at the Universityof Bradford.

She re-joined the NHS as ahealth visitor, but her workfor the peace movementredoubled.

It led to repeated arrestsand spells in prison, the firstin Holloway for refusing onprinciple to pay a fine fortrespass at an American base.

“They tried very hard toput me off in many differentways,” said Lindis. “But it justmade me stronger.”

Lindis and her fellowcampaigners put their beliefsbefore their own welfare.They believe a better worldcan be created, a world notdominated by missiles andmilitary muscle. �

� Donations can be sent to the Campaignfor Accountability of American Bases, 59Swarcliffe Road, Harrogate HG1 4QZ.

THEY TRIEDVERY HARDIN MANYWAYS TOPUT ME OFF,BUT IT JUST MADE MESTRONGER

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Background� Born in Leeds 1941� Moved around the country

through her father's work as an Anglican priest

� Student nurse Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, 1960. Qualified 1963.

� Married Christopher in 1964. Had William, Thomas and Anna. Six grandchildren.

� Midwife Oldham and District General Hospital 1976

� Health visitor 1981 Southampton

� Returned to Yorkshire 1989 to study, then worked as health visitor

� Ceased paid work 2006, lives in Harrogate

� Long-running protest at Menwith Hill US base in Yorkshire evolved into the launch In 1992 with Anni Rainbow of the Campaign for Accountability of American Bases

Taking partThroughout her working life Lindiswould never join any of the royalcolleges which were open to heras a nurse, midwife and healthvisitor. She stuck with the union –NUPE, COHSE and finally UNISON.“The royal colleges were neverreally in touch with working life,”she said. “I attended union branchmeetings and I took part inindustrial action.”

Fourth of JulyEvery year on July 4 Americacelebrates Independence Day –the day America ceased to be aBritish colony and becameindependent. Outside Menwith HillAmerican military base inYorkshire on July 4, protestersstage “Independence FROMAmerica Day,” organised by Lindisand her group. This year's eventincluded guests such as politicalcomedian Mark Thomas.

CurriculumVitae

FEATURE SPENDING CUTS22 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

Even before thecoalition governmentannounced itscomprehensivespending review,

widespread cuts were beingannounced across the publicsector in Yorkshire andHumberside.

In the health service, whichthe government promised toprotect, it was already clearthat there would besignificant redundancies.

The withdrawal of manygrant-funded contracts willlead to major budget cuts in

Alan Hughes, regional head of negotiations, shows how frontline provision isbeing drastically reduced despite government promises to protect the vulnerable

KEY SERVICES AXEDthe voluntary sector making amockery of Cameron’s “BigSociety”. Vital services suchas education, social care andpolice are facing reducedfunding and redundancies,which will impact oncommunities across theregion.

Services provided bycouncils have been targetedby the government as primecandidates for cuts of around25 per cent. Sheffield Council,run by the Lib Dems andhome to Nick Clegg’sconstituency, has sent out “at

risk” notices to 8,500 staff andissued threats to pay andconditions, including thereduction of sick pay and theelimination of increments.

CUTTING PAYIn Leeds 650 jobs have beencut over the last year and theminority Labour councilplans a £150 million budgetreduction over the next fouryears. Leeds like otherauthorities has asked forvolunteers for earlyretirement or severance as itlooks to shed 1400 jobs.

Above: UNISONmembers protestat Sheffield rally

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ANALYSTSPREDICTMORE THAN10,000 JOBLOSSES ATCOUNCILSIN THEREGION

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higher education sector.Despite the government’s

promise to protect the healthservice, many NHS trustshave announced job cuts. InLeeds 430 redundancies havebeen signalled and thispattern is echoed across theregion with up to 156 jobs togo in Barnsley whileDoncaster Hospitals isclosing the laundry andnursery and patients arebeing told to travel toRotherham for a range ofservices.

Mid Yorkshire HospitalsTrust is facing a budgetdeficit of £55 million and isplanning to make more than300 staff redundant. Many ofthese are frontline staffdelivering direct care topatients, as well as vitalservices such as radiography,pathology, physiotherapyand cancer support.

Other NHS Trusts likeScarborough and North EastYorkshire are unable to fillnursing posts. The trust is 75nurses short which has adirect impact on patient care.

DRASTIC ACTIONGovernment plans to abolishprimary care trusts and handcommissioning of healthcareto GPs and the private sectorhave been criticised byUNISON, RCN and thedoctors’ body the BMA. Theyall believe that the plans arebeing rushed through andnot tested and trialled. Thegovernment intends to cut30,000 jobs as a result of thisprocess.

Police authorities and chiefconstables are taking drasticaction to live within theirbudgets to cope withpredicted spending cuts of 25per cent over four years.

Although many councilshave not announced job lossesyet, a number of smaller localauthorities are taking theopportunity to cut pay andconditions.

North East Lincolnshire isgetting rid of enhanced payfor weekend working andcutting sick pay. Councils innorth Yorkshire are targetingmileage allowances for staffwho need their cars to do theirjobs in rural areas.

KNOCK-ON EFFECTThe coalition’s claim that it isseeking to make savings inback office jobs has beenchallenged by the largest Tory-controlled council in theregion.

Richard Flinton, chiefexecutive of North YorkshireCouncil, has said that frontlineservices like education andtransport will be hit. Cuts totransport will affectcommunities spread acrossEngland’s largest county.

While the majority ofcouncils have yet to declarethe full impact ofredundancies, analysts arepredicting more than 10,000job losses in local governmentin the region with a knock-oneffect of 2,000 further jobs inthe private and voluntarysector which rely on councilcontracts and grants.

In the higher educationsector Leeds University hasannounced plans to cutaround 100 academic andsupport jobs in advance ofmore drastic cuts followingthe spending review. Otheruniversities in Sheffield, Hull,York and Huddersfield areplanning to reduce staffinglevels but have yet to servenotice, despite spending cutsof £650 million planned for the

Some forces have beenpanicked into privatising allpolice civilian jobs or issuingredundancy warning noticesto all non-uniform staff. Forthe first time for decadespolice officer numbers aregoing to be cut as forcesfreeze job vacancies.

UNPAID VIGILANTESEarlier this year WestYorkshire Police advertised 60police constable jobs - theresult was that 200,000 callswere made to the vacancyhotline which immediatelycrashed. Now the WestYorkshire force has cancelledthe last two recruitingsessions and the police areunderstaffed. West Yorkshirelike other forces are turningto special constables, betterknown as “hobby bobbies” towork as unpaid vigilantes.

Undoubtedly, policesupport staff and PoliceCommunity Support Officers(PCSOs) will be the hardesthit. As the law stands, policeofficers cannot be maderedundant, so it will becolleagues who providevaluable support to policeofficers who are at risk. Theseinclude fingerprint experts,police photographers,emergency call centre staff,communications staff,mechanics who maintainpolice vehicles and casebuilders who preparecriminal cases for trial.

Many PCSOs are fundedjointly by councils and thepolice force so as councilslose their grants, hundreds ofthese jobs will disappearacross Yorkshire andHumberside. These officersare vital in combating anti-social behaviour - the public’snumber one concern. �Alan Hughes


FEATURE POLITICS

THEY MUST LISTEN!Active! editor Barrie Clement takes the political temperature of the region’sLabour Party under the new national leadership of Yorkshire MP Ed Miliband

The battle between Edand David Milibandis over – let’s makesure it stays that way,say Labour activists.

The elder brother’s retreatto the backbenches puts himout of the spotlight for awhile, but some of hissupporters may still betempted to see him as the“king across the water”.

Senior Labour supporters in the region say the partymust ensure that what everthe next few years bring,personal ambition should not contribute to another electoral defeat.

The party – and theworking people who dependon it – cannot afford a re-runof the kind of nonsense thatwent on between Blair and

Brown, they say.Clearly the only interests

which profited from the Battleof the Bs were the Tories.

Both Blair and Brownconstantly claimed thatpolitical journalists were“making up” stories aboutinfighting. In reality each wasencouraging his aides tospread poison about the other.

UNITED FRONTIt has become clear in the wakeof Labour’s general electiondefeat that the bitternessbetween the two men was onlytoo real.

“The last thing we need noware two Miliband Tendenciestearing at each other’sthroats,” says Wendy Nichols,UNISON’s regional convenor.

“We want the two Miliband

brothers to make sure thehatchet has been well andtruly buried – but not in eachother’s heads. And we mustmake sure that no-one elsedecides to start sniping at theleader – from inside or outsidethe Shadow Cabinet.

“Working people need theMiliband brothers – andanyone else with ambitions tolead the party – to present aunited political front. Personalpolitical ambitions must notcome before the party. Andwhoever people voted for inthe leadership election, theyshould now unite behind theone who was elected,” she says.

MURKY WORLDCliff Williams, UNISONregional secretary and chair ofLabour in Yorkshire and the

Above: In 1990before the two Bs went to war

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WE WANTTHE TWOMILIBANDBROTHERSTO BURY THEHATCHET,BUT NOTIN EACHOTHER’SHEADS

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Humber, points out that inthe last few years before theelection, the party leadershiphad become self-obsessedand had drifted too far awayfrom its political roots.

“It should be a matter ofdeep shame to the LabourParty that it took Vince Cable- a Liberal Democrat forgoodness sake – to take thebankers on,” says Cliff.

“Just imagine a minister inthe last Labour governmentstanding up and saying thatthe murky world ofcapitalism kills competitionand then going on to attackthe spivs and gamblers in theCity. Such a minister wouldhave been fired. He wouldhave been sacked for tellingthe truth.”

Cliff believes that everyonein the region who thinks thewrong people are beingtargeted to repair thedamage caused by thebankers’ recession shouldjoin “a coalition for fairpublic services” whichwould seek to win thebacking of people of allmainstream parties or none.

“Labour is clearly thenatural home for workingpeople, but as trade unionistswe should be emphasisingthe issues that are importantto us, rather then blindlyfollowing the party. We don’twant to fight for Labour’s re-election and find they havethe same policies as theTories. Labour in power hasto listen to the party.”

Cliff argues that analliance backing publicservices would serve toisolate the closetConservative deputy primeminister Nick Clegg from therest of the Liberal Democrats

- and most of the rest of thecountry - who support publicservices.

KEEP KNOCKINGClegg’s isolation from themajority of voters who wantto defend vulnerable people,was underlined by the TUCrally in Sheffield on 23October. “The theme of‘Clegzilla’ stomping all overpublic services certainlycaught the imagination,” saysCliff, who is also vice-chair ofthe regional TUC.

He wants Chancellor of theExchequer George Osborne todefine exactly what he meansby “frontline” services so thateveryone knows what theTory coalition intends toconserve and is determined todestroy.

The Chancellor refused tomeet a delegation of tradeunionists when he visitedLeeds on 14 October, but Cliffinsists that unions should nottake No for an answer.

“We shouldn’t make thesame mistake as we did in the80s and shun a Conservativegovernment. We are going toknock on their doors – andkeep knocking until theyanswer and start talkingsensibly to us. The alternativeis not an option. We have toavoid ideological isolation.

“When people like MervynKing are talking aboutpartnerships we should takethem at their word,” he says.

RAISE BARRIERSThe coalition government isfragile and Ken Curran, chairof the regional Labour linkcommittee, believes it can bedestabilised on the issue ofthe referendum to be held onthe Alternative Vote system

which would deliver morecoalitions at generalelections. The referendumwas a key part of the dealsigned by the Conservativesand the Liberal Democratslast May.

But Prime Minister DavidCameron says he is againstsuch a change and most ToryMPs are fundamentallyopposed to anything whichundermines the simple “firstpast the post” system.

And they are doingeverything they can inParliament to raise barriersto its introduction, includingthe imposition of a minimumturnout in the referendum.They are also trying to delaythe plebiscite, which is due totake place on 5 May nextyear.

“Whatever people’spersonal views on differentvoting systems, we need tomake sure that the coalitiondoesn’t enjoy an easy ride sothat they are free to carry ondestroying public servicesand endangering the livesand well-being of vulnerablepeople,” said Ken. �

Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband, MP for DoncasterNorth, won the Labour leadershipafter narrowly beating brotherDavid in a dramatic run-off voteat the party’s conference.Ed won by just over one per centfrom David after second, thirdand fourth preference votescame into play.Ed Balls, MP for Morley andOutwood and now Shadow HomeSecretary, was third, AndyBurnham was fourth and DianeAbbott fifth.

Run-Off


IT SHOULDBE AMATTEROF DEEPSHAME TOLABOURTHAT ITTOOK VINCE CABLE TOTAKE ON THEBANKERS

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Amid all the doom and gloomUNISON gave members a

day to remember at the union’sannual raceday at Doncaster.

Public service workers from allover the region – and elsewhere– came for a gathering of theclans and flutter on the geegees.

“We do it to give somethingback to the membership – andwe get a good deal from theracecourse as far as tickets areconcerned,” says regionalconvenor Wendy Nichols.

“It also gives the unionexcellent publicity and links inwith our ‘million voices for publicservices’ campaign. It gets thename of the union in the publicdomain, showing that it’s not just

Fun, sun and a flutter on the More than 3,000 UNISON members and their families got away from it all at this year’s “Million Voices” raceday at Doncaster.

about strikes, it’s about thefamily.

“Raceday gets better andbetter every year, attractingmore and more of ourmembers. People really enjoythemselves and at the sametime they’re identifying with theunion.

“I know our members enjoythese days out – and theydeserve it. Given the massiveimpact of public service cuts,it’s somewhere they can comeand stop worrying about theirjobs for a day.”

Wendy pointed out thatUNISON had other links withthe sporting world, including theunion’s sponsorship of the

Sheffield Steelers, the region’selite ice hockey team.

Physically fitApart from discounted tickets forUNISON members at ice hockeymatches, the players perform akey role in the community,working with schools and youthclubs to promote the benefits ofeating correctly, avoiding drugsand keeping physically fit.

Young generationThe union also sponsors theBritish Amateur Rugby LeagueAssociation. In fact the unionhas leant its name to the“UNISON BARLA Under 21”team.

Left: Sendingthe messageMarion Perrett and Enid Wright

Right: NicolaKenning (2nd left)is the birthday girl

�


FEATURE DONCASTER RACES

geegees Sian Thomas reports

Says Wendy: “It’s aboutshowing the younger generationthat trade unionism is a positivemovement – a force for good. Weare trying to undo the damagedone by the Thatcher years whenunions were painted as somethingwith which young people shouldnot be associated.”

“And we want to show thatUNISON is about fun andenjoyment not just about work.UNISON is basically a family andit’s one that everyone in publicservices can join.”

If you fancy a day out atDoncaster races, next year’sevent is already being planned.Date to be announced. Comealong, it’s excellent fun! �


Talking horse sense

John Campbell (right) and first race winners

Hen party with attitude

Gathering of the clans

It’s a winning smile

Hen party cowgirls - all dressed up for the rodeo

FEATURE BLACK MEMBERS28 UNISON ACTIVE! WINTER 2010

Pam Sian says she hasnever personally beenthe victim of racism.

But she knows allabout its terrible

consequences from one of hernearest and dearest relatives.

When the National Frontwere responsible for manysavage racist assaults in the1970s, they attacked hernephew in a street in Southalland carved the initials NFonto his cheeks with a craftknife and slashed himnumerous times on his torso.

He has now grown a beardwhich partially conceals hisfacial scars but he cannot takehis shirt off on the beachbecause of the scars the racistsleft him with for the rest of hislife.

Pam said: “He has to livewith that and he has had toexplain to his children whythis terrible attack happenedto their dad.

“That is the price of racismand the violence it promotes.It is not something you canever forget.”

When her son Sandeep,now a 21-year-old sportspsychology student in histhird year at Nottingham, wasbullied at first school, she tookhim to karate lessons, took upthe martial art herself and

Left: We’re one big family saysactivist Pam

�

NATIONALFRONTTHUGSCARVEDTHE INITIALS‘NF’ ON HISCHEEKS WITH A CRAFTKNIFE

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SCARS OF RACISMSchool bullies targeted Pam Sian’s eight-year-old son because he wore the Sikh “top-knot”. So Pam – now assistant regional convenor – took him to karate lessons to learnhow to defend himself. The teacher suggested she should learn the martial art herself.Now she is a black belt (second dan) and one of UNISON’s leading regional and nationalactivists in the field of equalities. In an interview with Peter Carroll, Pam explains whywe must encourage members from every under-represented group to be active in theunion and all pull together to fight the government’s attacks on jobs and services

Imag

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took her daughter Mandeep(now 23 and teaching in aBirmingham First School)along with her.

Now all three have blackbelts in Shotokan karate, aprocess which takes at leastfour years of regular andintensive study and training.

Around the same time Pamstarted getting heavilyinvolved in UNISON withinthe West Yorkshire PassengerTransport Executive andbecame the branch publicityofficer, initially, she says, outof “sheer nosiness” to find outwhat was going on.

But she comes from a longtradition of socialist activismfrom her grandfather who wasa leading trade union activistin India.

She became assistant branchsecretary, branch secretaryand women’s rep on the JNC –and is now vice-chair of thenational black members’committee, the passengertransport forum and thebusiness and environmentequalities group. She also sitson the national health andsafety committee, the nationalwomen’s committee and thewater and environment servicegroup. Oh, and she also findstime to be the region’s assistantregional convenor as well.

VITAL RESULTSOscar Wilde said the onlything wrong with socialism isthat it takes up too manyevenings – does she knowwhat he was driving at?

“It is a very absorbing andtime-consuming way of life, butit does become a way of life

“I could not have done somuch work for UNISON if ithadn’t been for theunwavering support of myfamily, especially my husband

MEMBERSARE IN THISTOGETHERAND ANINJURY TOONE IS ANINJURY TO ALL

�

�

BlackMembers:

� Play a key role in winning equality in the workplace

� Actively challenge racism wherever it is found

� Are at the forefront of UNISON’s organising work

� Enjoy UNISON’s support at local, regional and national level

“As black members in UNISON wework together to win positivechange in the workplace. Themore of us that are activelyinvolved, the stronger we become.The stronger we are, the morepositive change we can achieve.”

WhatWeDo

Charanjit. My family havealways backed me andunderstood the demands mywork make on me and I couldnot have done these thingswithout their help.”

She believes the work of theblack members’ self organisedgroup has achieved some vitalresults over the years.

BIG SUCCESSUNISON now has a formalrace discrimination protocolwhich ensures all cases arescrutinised by senior UNISONofficials and ThompsonsSolicitors.

Pam said: “This hastightened everything up andmade sure no valid cases aredismissed and the union andour lawyers cannot be readilyaccused of not dealing withcases thoroughly. It is a bigsuccess and makes us farmore effective in dealing withrace cases.

“And this year bothmotions regarding stop andsearch policies and racediscrimination, tabled by theblack members’ committee,were debated and passed byannual conference – the firsttime it has happened. That is abig thing.”

She thinks the main role ofself organised groups is toencourage members whomight not feel confidentenough to speak of theirexperiences in wider groups,to gain confidence andbecome active – to “get up” asshe describes it.

At the same time, they raiseawareness throughout theunion, and in society as awhole, about issues facingunder-represented groups.

She was appalled to see asmall number of young Sikhmen joining the English

Defence League rally inBradford, clearly subscribing to a vicious brand of religioussectarianism.

“They should go home andread the history of theirforefathers and what they hadto contend with from the far-right. They should be made tounderstand that they are beingused. The Poles and other newimmigrants are facing whattheir families faced in the 1960s.

“Have they not seen thehorrors in Northern Irelandwhere religious differencesturned into murderousviolence?”

As the government’smassive cuts programme starts to ravage public services, Pam says the onlyway to fight for jobs andservices is to be unified.

She said: “The whole isgreater than the sum of theparts. UNISON members reallyare all in this together and aninjury to one is an injury to all.We are one big, massive familywhere we embrace each otherand fight for each other.” �

In 2002 the BNP wasmaking dangerousinroads in Eccleshill,Bradford, so somemembers of the

community decided to hold afamily day to “reclaim” theplace.

The BNP’s Yorkshireorganiser immediatelyinstructed a member calledAndy Sykes to round up agang of lads and smash theevent up.

DEVASTATINGSykes, no stranger to streetviolence at the time, balked atattacking women andchildren. He arranged to meetPaul Meszaros who wasorganising the family day.Sykes turned coat, secretlyfilming BNP membersplotting attacks on Asians andlifting the lid on the party in adevastating TV documentary.

Paul said: “It was anextremely brave thing to doand profoundly damaged theBNP. He goes round schoolsand colleges now tellingyoung people about thedangers of racism andextremism.

“It was an importantturning point and two yearslater Hope Not Hate wasborn.”

Research suggestedstrongly that the aggressivelanguage and tactics used byanti-fascists in the past wascounter-productive.

Urging people to kick theBNP off the streets and callingfor mass battles was simplyan equal and opposite versionof fascist violence.

Instead, the policy was tocommunicate positive stories,to attract people of all races,creeds and ages andencourage them to vote

Fighting fascism and the electoral ambitions of theBNP has long been a priority for UNISON in thisregion. The arrival in August of the thugs of the EnglishDefence League in Bradford attracted internationalmedia interest and united the city against violence andhatred – but that unity didn’t happen by accident. PaulMeszaros, campaign co-ordinator for Hope not Hatein Yorkshire, says our job is to win hearts and minds –and drag anti-fascism from the “ghetto of the far-left”.Peter Carroll reports

HEARTS, MINDSAND VOTES

Imag

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Opposite: TheEnglish DefenceLeague peddletheir hatredin Bradford

�against the growing numberof far-right candidates.

So when Hope not Hatedecided to put a picture ofWinston Churchill on anelection leaflet – to emphasisethe BNP’s attachments toHitler and remind World WarTwo veterans of what theyfought against – there wereangry complaints.

He was a “drunken slob”who had brutally crushedworkers in the General Strike,it was said. But, it waspointed out, he did have afairly well-documentedrecord of standing up tofascists. The leaflet resonatedwith many people who mightotherwise have fallen for theBNP’s scaremongering andvoted for them.

Paul said: “We knew wehad to change the way wecommunicated with thevoters and the communitiesbut it was experimental.

“We tried a leaflet in onearea based on the nurseryrhyme Sing A Song ofSixpence mocking the BNP’spolicies and candidates. Theresponse we got was veryinformative. People weregetting in touch saying howmuch they enjoyed the piss-take and we got quite a fewnew people joining us andhelping to leaflet.”

The BNP has fallen from itshigh point of popularity andHope not Hate hasundoubtedly been a majorsuccess.

ALARMINGBut the fascist threat is alwayslurking. The EDL’s recentinvasion of Bradford isalarming evidence of that.

They described the plannedBradford march as “the bigone” and were confident of

sparking devastating riotssimilar to those the citysuffered in 2001.

But thanks to the efforts ofa coalition of anti-fascistsunder the banner BradfordTogether, 10,000 signatureswere gathered calling for theprovocative march throughAsian communities to bebanned.

POSITIVEUnions, politicians of allmainstream parties andreligious organisations andordinary people throughoutthe city persuaded thegovernment to ban the march.

A static demonstration wasallowed to go ahead but itwas heavily policed anddespite some minor incidentsthe EDL did not get theviolence it was after.

Paul said: “It is a matter ofwinning hearts and mindsand the EDL have ironicallybrought people in Bradfordtogether in a very positiveway.

“The Bradford Togethercampaign was not just for theEDL visit, it hasn’t gone awayand maybe people might nowstart to demand things frompoliticians which aredesigned to promote strongerlinks between differentcommunities and encouragecloser integration betweenus.”

ABANDONEDSenior figuresin the lastLabourgovernmenthavebelatedlyaccepted thatone of thereasons forthe rise of the

HOPE NOT HATE FEATURE

URGINGPEOPLETO KICKTHE BNP OFF THE STREETSWAS ANOPPOSITE VERSION OFFASCISTVIOLENCE

�

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Paul Meszaros

far-right in recent years isbecause white working classpeople have felt their needsand concerns have beenignored.

Paul believes Tony Blair’srelentless pursuit of MiddleEngland and the swingvoters left whole swathes ofLabour voters feelingabandoned.

This left fertile territory forthe BNP to exploit,canvassing on local levelconcerns like bins and dogdirt and promising action.

And he believes the vastmajority of people who havevoted BNP in the past couldnot be described as fascists.Their worries were exploitedby the BNP who mixedracism into the pot at thesame time.

He said: “To effectivelyfight fascism, it is not enoughto be against something –you have to be for something.We need greater integrationbetween communities andwe need to make surepoliticians are genuinelylistening to what people aresaying.” �

� If you would like to know more aboutHope Not Hate and would like to help thecampaign, the e-mail address is:[email protected]

�

PAUL ROUTLEDGEPolitical columnist on The Mirror

The ConDems claim there is no alternative to the massive cutbacks in public services. It’s not true, but it will test the fortitude ofeveryone in the labour movement. We need to emulate the Leeds refuse workers who saw off the Tory/LibDem coalition a year ago

What a difference losing makes.Having lost the generalelection, our unions are freeof the burden ofautomatically supporting a

Labour government, and the Labour Partyhas made a clean break with the Blairite past.

These are scant consolations for livingunder the heel of the ConDem coalition, aTory government in all but name. Howeverpublic service workers would have had afight on their hands if Chancellor Darlingwas still in the Treasury, because Labourplanned big spending cuts if they won.

At least with this lot in power, tradeunionists are not fighting with one handbehind their backs, tied there by politicalloyalty to “our” government. The enemy isclearly in sight.

And what an enemy! As I write, the boyChancellor George Osborne has wielded theaxe in his Comprehensive Spending Review.

As many as 250,000 jobs are at risk. Pre-emptive strikes by Tory and Lib Demcouncils are already under way inBirmingham and Sheffield, with more than30,000 men and women getting warnings ofredundancy.

Apart from the miners’ strike of 1984/5,there has been nothing on this scale in mylifetime, and I’ve been on the scene formore than forty years. It is beyond theexperience of any union leader in posttoday. And it will test the skill and fortitudeof everyone in the labour movement, fromworkplace rep to general secretary.

But I have faith that unions and theirmembers will weather this storm. It’salways a mistake to underestimate theresilience and sheer damn pluck of workingpeople faced with a challenge to their wayof life. Look at the example of the Leedsrefuse workers, whose 11-week strike sawoff the Tory/Lib Dem coalition a year ago.

I HAVE FAITH THAT UNIONS AND THEIR MEMBERS WILL WEATHER THIS STORM

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THE COLUMN A TYKE’S EYE VIEW

Right: Thelivelihoods of up to250,000 are at risk

The Big Lie about the budget deficit

Council chiefs hatepeople to know howmuch they paythemselves, butsometimes they haveto come clean. Likewhen they advertisetop jobs.

Hull council isrecruiting a new“human resources”executive, on £87,210 ayear for a 37 hourweek. The jobdescription talks about“leading an industrialrelations agenda at atime of significantchallenge.”

This gobbledygookactually means“getting rid of as manyemployees aspossible.” The councilhas asked 7,842 staff ifthey would like to takepart in a “voluntaryearly terminationagreement”, whichsounds like aninvitation to theDignitas suicide clinicin Switzerland, but isjust another mouthfulmeaning “redundancy”.

UNISON reps areunderstandably furiousat this move by the Lib-

Dem controlledcouncil. Payingninety grandto hire a jobs

executionerfor lower-paid

workers isan insult

to loyal staff.

TerminatorThey were written off by council officersand ignorant spin doctors – but they won.

This time the threat is wider. It goes rightacross the board, based on what I call TheBig Lie, that “there is no alternative” togetting rid of the budget deficit entirelywithin five years. The last time this sloganwas wheeled out was in Thatcher’s reign.She’s a distant memory. We’re still here.

MUCKY PUPDog muck was pushed through the letterbox of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg’s homein Hallam, Sheffield . Police are hunting aMr Fido Hound. “We’ll feel his collar,” theygrowled.

TICKET TOUTS“Return of the bus conductors” was aheadline that looked too good to be true.And so it is. Conductors are not comingback on the buses in Sheffield, only to thequeues at bus stops to flog tickets. They’resalesmen. Hold very tight, please, Ching!Ching!

BLAH BLAH BLAIRAs chief political commentator of the DailyMirror, I was allowed to interview TonyBlair in his Downing Street lair only once.Things didn’t go very well. The presence ofAlastair Campbell was a nuisance but nothalf as much as the booming interruptionsof my editor Piers Morgan. He was alreadyrehearsing for television stardom.

Having seen Blair in action so often, Ididn’t expect much and wasn’tdisappointed. He stuck to his hymn sheetlike a hellfire preacher. But I did insist onasking the question buzzing round in myhead: “Why do you want to run thecountry?”

There was silence - ever so short, butrevealing - before he began to blather aboutsocial justice, the last refuge of a NewLabour scoundrel. I knew I’d never get astraight answer, so I said “it’s all about

power, isn’t it?” And got more politico-babble. Tony’s autobiography, A Journey,doesn’t mention this incident. But Ihaven’t forgotten.

UNISON doesn’t get much of a mentioneither. Only once, in fact, on page 640,when he devotes one paragraph toslagging off the unions, claiming they were“deeply in the past and still activist-dominated”. No mention of the loyalbacking UNISON members gave him forfifteen years. No thanks for the millionscontributed to his election campaigns. Norecognition of the contribution made byRodney Bickerstaffe and Dave Prentis.

Only unstinted praise for globalcapitalism, and regret for not havingprivatised enough. Truly, this man wasnever one of us.

CAR PARK SCAMHospitals in Yorkshire are making a mintfrom car parking charges, and theConDem coalition says “Carry On RippingOff.” When he was Labour’s HealthSecretary, Andy Burnham pledged to endthe £100 million a year scam, but new Toryminister Simon Burns has ratted on thispromise.

In 2008/9, Mid Yorkshire Hospitalsraked in £866,783, while Sheffield TeachingHospitals collected £1,110, 415 frompatients and visitors, a nice little earner forfat-cat Trust bosses.

BEER ENGINE“ANOTHER fire put out by courtesy ofTetley’s Bitter.” No, not that way! Thiscould be the logo on your local fire engineif service chiefs in south Yorkshirehave their way. They plan to selladvertising space on firestations and appliances in a bidto raise income in these cash-strapped times. Actually, I once did putout a fire using Tetley’s, but I don’t thinkwe want to go there. �



KNOW YOUR RIGHTS STRESS

The courts have madeit increasinglydifficult foremployees sufferingfrom work-related

stress to sue their employers.Very few cases now

succeed. The worker has toprove that the stress is severeenough to have caused apsychiatric illness and thattheir employer could haveforeseen the impact of theirnegligence. This is the mostdifficult part of any stress case.

An employee must eitherwarn their employer directlythat they will suffer such aninjury, or get a medical adviserto do so. It is not enough tosay that the employer shouldhave realised that the employeewould suffer from stress.

The onus is always on theclaimant to ensure that theemployer is alerted to theirproblems at work as soon asthey arise.

But courts are not the idealplace for a stress claim to beresolved and the courtsthemselves have recommendedmediation in such cases. Aclaimant who has suffered abreakdown may need to beprotected from the ordeal ofpursuing a claim.

UNISON member NanetteBowen was unable to return towork after being bullied andharassed for three years. Theinformation manager’s lifebecame hell after a new bossstopped her providinginformation without hiswritten consent, made her fill

in a daily form so he could seewhat work she was doing andhad her responsibility to hirestaff removed.

He was also aggressivetowards her when challenged,made sexual innuendos andbanned her from attendingimportant meetings vital to herjob. She was signed off sickwith stress and when she triedto return to work, she sufferedpanic attacks.

At one point she was rushedto hospital with a suspectedheart attack.

Although her case eventuallywent to court and the NHStrust involved was foundnegligent, her claim was dealtwith under UNISON’s“protocol”.

The protocol has beendrawn up by Thompsons andUNISON to try to resolvepotential stress claims withoutrecourse to law.

The protocol allows aUNISON member to get swiftdetailed advice on theirpotential claim without havingto go through a long anddifficult interview with asolicitor. It also allows UNISONto consider whether an industrialremedy – that is talking to theemployer about how thesituation could be resolved -might be more appropriate.

The protocol says that thefirst port of call for themember should be the unionbranch secretary who will tryto establish the issues involvedand whether they can beresolved through talks.

Stress at work is the unseen industrial injury. Linda Millband of ThompsonsSolicitors, explains how potential claims can be resolved without legal action

This process also enablesthe branch secretary to forman opinion as to whether thecase would actually have areasonable chance of success ifit did end up in the courts.

If the matter cannot beresolved at this stage, adetailed questionnaire iscompleted by the member andthe branch. Thompsons usesthis questionnaire to giveadvice on the merits of theclaim directly to UNISON.

If there is clearly no possibilityof making a claim for damages,UNISON will explain thereasons to the member andinform them of the time limitsshould they decide to try topursue the claim without theunion’s backing.

If the case stands a chanceof success, it will proceed as anormal personal injury claimwith Thompsons obtainingmedical evidence and startingcourt proceedings if appropriate.

In 2008 more than 20UNISON cases were settledusing the protocol. �

AT ONE POINT SHE WASRUSHED TO HOSPITAL WITH A SUSPECTED HEARTATTACK

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Linda Millband

If a member is suffering from stress,the first port of call should be thebranch secretary. She or he willadvise the member whether theproblem might be resolved throughtalks with the employer.

If that is not a possibility - and thereis a case for legal action – ThompsonsSolicitors will become involved.

StepByStep

NANETTE’S ORDEAL