Stressed Workers

Employees suffering from high stress levels have lower engagement, are less productive and have higher absentee levels than those not operating under excessive pressure, according to research from professional services firm Towers Watson.

The firm's Global benefits attitudes survey found that levels of workplace disengagement significantly increase when employees experience high levels of stress. The research shows that of those employees who claimed to be experiencing high stress levels, over half (57%) also reported that they were disengaged. In contrast, only one in 10 (10%) employees claiming low stress levels said they were disengaged and half of this group claimed to be highly engaged.

Conversely, almost half (59%) of low-stressed respondents said they were highly engaged, but only eight per cent of highly stressed workers could say the same.

Its study into health, wellbeing and productivity found that employees describing themselves as highly stressed lost three-quarters more days (4.6 days) to absence on average than low-stressed employees (2.6 days).

They lost a further 50% more time to presenteeism that is, attending work when unwell and unproductive, than their less-stressed peers.

Meanwhile, employees said that inadequate staffing, low pay and unclear job expectations were the three top causes of stress.

http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Press/2014/09/Workplace-stress-leads-to-less-productive-employees

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4990

Government cuts leaving Part Time workers exploited

My union UNISON have highlighted the exploitation of part-time workers after survey of 2,600 respondents in local government and schools indicated that the exploitation comes as a result of the government cuts leaving many workers feeling overworked.

Our analysis shows that specifically part-time workers in councils and schools are being undervalued and overworked, the survey also highlighted that 91% of these workers are women.

The survey revealed that many part-time workers, work unpaid overtime with 60% saying they do it every week.

I believe part-time workers are a vital part of the workplace and without them local government departments and schools wouldn't function properly.

Yet these workers are facing an all-out assault on their pay, conditions and hours of work.

On strike day 10 July 2014, we seen our own branch activist Sharon Graham take action.

Sharon works part time in three jobs as well as being a shop steward at a local school and believes taking action was absolutely necessary not only for her but thousands of others in similar positions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047zqkq

Source: Labour Research

Labour activists working hard to keep pavements clean in Wooler

This year the council hand out over half a million free poop scoop bags to communities in Northumberland but it would seem that only if your parish or community request them will your community receive an allocation.

Northumberland County Council has a zero tolerance policy for dog fouling. Anyone witnessed not cleaning up after their dog will be issued with a £75 fixed penalty notice. If a fixed penalty notice is not paid within 14 days of its issue, offenders will be prosecuted for the offence in court and could face a fine of up to £1,000.

As you will see from my fixmystreet entry both me and Joyce Guthrie reported multiple dog poop problems in Wooler last month in the lead upto the parish election. Further to these reports I am pleased to say the council contacted me and subsequently placed poop bags on the dog bins throughout Wooler.

Should you want to make a complaint regarding dog fouling you should, follow the instructions below.

The complainant details are not essential for dog fouling complaints however detailed information significantly increases the likelihood of a solution. Important information to note in such a case includes:

• Type and or description of dog
• Time, location, frequency of alleged offence
• Complainant details for feedback

You can report any incidents online via www.fixmystreet.com

UNISON Activist stands for Heaton North Seat

I was at Heaton North in Newcastle, last night helping fellow UNISON activist Mick Bowman in his quest to become a Newcastle City Councillor for the Labour Party.

The seat is currently held by the Liberal Democrat, Greg Stone with a 514 majority but since 2010, we all know how the political balance has changed.

Really positive response on the #labourdoorstep, electors indicating they've had enough of the Lib. Dems both locally and nationally.

Mick is an experienced UNISON activist and takes his role very seriously within the UNISON Northumberland County branch. I believe if he is elected as a councillor his vast political and social awareness will make him an excellent councillor.

Good luck Mick.

Mick Bowman

No Genuine Negotiations for Blacklisted Workers

A group of major multinational companies that were involved in the recent blacklisting scandal announced a compensation scheme for those workers who were spied upon by the Consulting Association (which ran the blacklist and was funded by and reported to the construction companies).

A statement for the companies said that they 'all apologise for involvement with TCA and the impact that its database may have had on any individual worker'. The Blacklist Support Group, comprising former blacklisted workers, said 'forgive us if we do not crack open the champagne just yet...the only thing they regret is being caught'. The Blacklist Support Group later walked out of compensation talks describing the offer as 'not proposals designed for genuine negotiations' and vowed to continue with legal action against the companies.

Source International Centre for Trade Union Rights

Labour brands ‘bedroom tax’ in county ‘chaotic and unfair’

Thousands of people on a low income in Northumberland face the prospect of a ‘bedroom tax’ in April at the same time that people earning over £1m/year are due to get a tax cut of almost £100,000 per annum.

The new rules say that people only need one bedroom for each of the following: a couple, a person who is not a child, two children of the same sex, two children who are under 10, any other child and a carer providing overnight care. If you have an extra bedroom under these rules you will lose 14% of your housing benefit (25% if you have two extra bedrooms).

Nationally 660,000 people will be affected. The Government says people will be able to move to smaller properties but councils and housing associations say there are not enough. So a couple with two children aged 8 and 4 who live in a 3-bedroom flat face a 14 per cent cut in their housing benefit because the rules say they are ‘under occupying’. To avoid the penalty, they are forced to move to a privately rented 2-bedroom flat. They lose their security of tenure because - with private tenancies - their new landlord can evict them without a reason after just 6 months. Their private rent for a 2-bedroom flat is higher than their old rent for a 3-bedroom property and the housing benefit bill to the taxpayer goes up.

The council needs to be absolutely clear about how many people in Northumberland this affects otherwise our discretionary housing fund will be under further pressure as we look to prop up this mindless Condem policy.

It's just bad social policy and it does not make economic sense.

Source: ‘Council has ‘lost’ 1825 families hit by ‘bedroom tax’ – Grant Davey

http://northumberlandlabour.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-labour-party-in-northumberland-have.html

The Labour party in Northumberland have uncovered a ‘major black hole’ as the Liberal run administration in County Hall struggle to come to terms with the impact of the so called ‘bedroom tax’. Figures show that families will face penalties of £496 per year for 14% ‘under occupancy’ by one bedroom and a whopping 25%, £886 per year for those who ‘under occupy’ by two bedrooms

The ‘tax’ brought in by the coalition government to tackle ‘under occupancy’ has been branded as ‘a chaotic and unfair tax on struggling families’ by Labour in Northumberland.

The council estimated the ‘charge’ would hit 3,397 families across Northumberland but Labour has uncovered a ‘hidden group’ who the council didn’t know existed. Figures released by the National Housing Federation show that the actual figure impacted by the bedroom tax is 5,222.

The council now face accusations that ‘they’ve lost control and have seriously underestimated the impact of the tax on Northumberland’.

The storm over the impact of the tax also extends to the lack of affordable housing available in the county as the council also acknowledged in its Housing Needs Survey that it would need to build 240 homes every year for decades to meet the need for affordable housing.

Labour are demanding council leader Jeff Reid makes a statement clarifying the true council’s true position on the impact of the bedroom tax and its impact on the recently agreed council budget.

Labour group leader Grant Davey said

‘The council has ‘lost’ 1825 families while it has been preparing for the impact of the bedroom tax. How can we have confidence that the council is ready for the ‘tsunami of misery’ unleashed by this regressive tax? Jeff Reid needs to get a grip on his council and come clean about the true impact of this raid on the living standards of people living in social housing’.   

Notes to Editors

Attached letter to Ronnie Campbell MP which gives the number affected by the ‘under occupancy’ charge as 3,397 across Northumberland

Source: See attached letter

Research for NHF shows that in

1.    Wansbeck – 1355 households will be affected

2.    Blyth – 1321 households will be affected

3.    Berwick – 1335 households will be affected

4.    Hexham – 1211 households will be affected

Total affected – 5,222

Source:

http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2013/03/how-many-bedroomtax-victims-are-there.html

Performance Related Pay would be a step backwards

Following the earlier posting on the Northumberland Labour Leaders blog, I'm concerned of the arrogant disregard for the workforce from the Tories following the statement where it alleges they would introduce performance related pay (PRP) for Northumberland County Council staff.

A new system would give managers and head teachers more power to decide on individual salaries, with I'm surmising  proposals recommending that pay progression be linked to an annual performance appraisal but maybe it could be the colour of your eyes or whether your the bosses best mate!

PRP is fundamentally inappropriate for a Local Government pay structure, where outcomes are based on teamwork and the cumulative contribution of a number of staff, it also makes the council vulnerable to equal pay claims.

The NJC pay structure provides a coherent framework for career progression and is equality proofed, if such a PRP scheme were to be implemented, the council would expose themselves to Equal Value claims.

My concern is at the core of this the Tories aim to reduce pay rates at the expense of the staff.

My view is this would be a backward step for equality and a very costly mistake which could cost the council millions.

I believe if you are a public sector worker, voting for the Tories would be a costly mistake and they'd end up tying the council into paying legal bills instead of fixing the roads and protecting services.

Remember your vote counts in the forthcoming Northumberland County Council Elections on 2nd May 2013, Vote Labour.

Link http://northumberlandlabour.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/tory-pack-leader-councillor-peter.html