An old scab postman lay dying…

An old scab postman lay dying… He sent for his son. The son rushed to his bedside and put his ear close to the old man’s lips.

“Yes Dad, what do you want to say to me?”

“Son”, he wheezed, “I’ve got one last wish, and I want you to see it’s carried out.”

“Yes, Dad, what is it?”

“When I’m gone, I want you to arrange my funeral.”

“Yes, Dad, I’ll do that.”

“And I want you to arrange that the Union Banner is draped on my coffin, and that my pallbearers are good Union members, and better still, Union Reps.”

“But Dad”, the son replied, confused, “You never supported the Union. When you started in the Post Office as a casual, it was the Union who got you a permanent contract, but you always slagged them off.”

“I know, son.”

” And the Union got you taken on full time, but you thought it was management who had given you a full time job, and although you joined the Union, it was only to get any protection going, in case you needed it.”

“Yes, son, that’s true.”

“And when you were threatened with dismissal for sickness, it was the Union Rep who represented you and saved your job.”

“Yes, she did.”

“And you took every pay rise, and improvement that the Union negotiated, though you always said that the Union did nothing for you.”

“Yes…”

“And when the Union said a stand had to be taken against Management’s refusal to negotiate on their plans to cut wages and impose their Business Plan, you resigned from the Union ‘on principle’, as you were against strikes.”

“Yes, son, I did — the Union can’t tell you what to do.”

“And you crossed the picket line, laughing at your colleagues standing there losing pay to defend their pay, their conditions and their jobs.”

“Well, yes, I did. They’re idiots to think they can stand up to Management.”

“And you did every bit of overtime going, even coming in on your days off.”

“Yes, son, well, you have to look after yourself.”

“And if anyone called you a scab, you went running to the manager to get disciplinary action taken against them.”

“Yes–well, they shouldn’t be so nasty to me, I’m only doing my job.”

“So Dad, if you’ve hated the Union all your life, why would you want Union members to be your pallbearers?”

The old scab wheezed and gasped, turning blue, before he breathed his last, and departed this life for that hell reserved for scabs, nonces, bullying managers, torturers, concentration camp guards, fascists, greedy bosses, and the rest of the dregs of humanity. He beckoned his son to come closer, and with his last breath he whispered:

“GOOD AND DECENT TRADE UNIONISTS HAVE CARRIED ME ALL MY LIFE, AND I WANT THEM TO CARRY ME WHEN I’M DEAD, TOO.”

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Vibration permanently harms man’s hands

As reported by Rory O’Neill in the Risks Newsletter:

A 24-year-old crack tester from Doncaster who says he was forced out of his job after vibrating tools permanently damaged his hands has received a £30,000 compensation settlement. Unite member Dean Grice was employed by MSI Forks Ltd, a firm making forks for forklift trucks. He had worked for the firm since 1997. His job required him to grind out defects on the forks using pencil grinders and angle grinders – tools which vibrated in his hands. As a result, he developed hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS – also known as vibration white finger) – a painful condition which causes the fingers to go white and numb – as well as carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes numbness, tingling and pain in the fingers. Mr Grice explained: ‘It was my GP who told me that I had symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and he referred me to the Doncaster Royal Infirmary. Sadly my employer refused to re-deploy me to a job where I wouldn’t be exposed to vibration so I had no choice but to resign.’ Unite regional secretary Davey Hall said: ‘This is not the first time that an employee of MSI Forks Ltd has suffered from hand arm vibration syndrome. We hope that it will now force them to ensure that correct health and safety procedures are in place.’ The two conditions are commonly associated with work with vibrating tools, and have been the subject of a series of recent industrial disease payouts.

Thompsons Solicitors news release

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Obstructed safety rep gets payout

A union safety rep on London’s Tube system who was prevented from fulfilling his health and safety role by London Underground has won thousands of pounds in compensation at an employment tribunal. London Underground was found to have ‘wilfully and deliberately’ flouted health and safety law by refusing to allow Paul McCarthy, 47, to inspect four tube lines. The tribunal said it could see ‘little if any attempt’ by London Underground to comply with health and safety law when it prevented Mr McCarthy from inspecting the Hammersmith and City, District, Metropolitan and Waterloo and City lines. As a health and safety representative it was his role to inspect the Tube network to check that it was a safe working environment for all staff. The tribunal, which awarded Mr McCarthy £11,500 plus costs, said it was surprising that senior management had not attended the employment tribunal to explain why they had decided not to comply with the law. It also found that London Underground’s defence of the claim had been ‘misconceived and unreasonable’. Mr McCarthy’s union representative, ASLEF district organiser Steve Grant, commented: ‘ASLEF will continue to defend all our members’ health, safety and welfare industrially – and if needs be, legally – regardless of where they work or what their operational grade. We will be asking the Health and Safety Executive to consider prosecutions for the people responsible for these breaches and asking LU what disciplinary action they are taking against them for compromising their employees’ safety.’

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Company prosecution after fall from roof

From the Health and Safety Executive press office:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning companies whose business involves working at height to ensure they provide suitable safety equipment and have appropriate procedures in place before allowing their staff to work in potentially dangerous situations.

It follows the prosecution of a North Wales roofing contractor in relation to an incident where one of his employees sustained serious injuries, and later died, after a 25ft fall through a skylight on the roof of the Comet store in Wrexham.

Paul Christopher Alker, 33, required surgery for a broken collar bone after the fall, just days after starting work with Wrexham Roof Services Ltd. He died shortly after his operation.

In a prosecution brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, Steven Christopher Smith, director of Wrexham Roof Services Ltd, Rhostyllen, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a charge under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and a further charge of committing acts intending to pervert the course of justice. Smith was jailed for a total of two and a half years following a hearing at Mold Crown Court.

HSE assisted North Wales Police on the investigation into the incident, and HSE inspector Debbie John said it was not acceptable for employers to cut corners.

“Mr Smith clearly knew that he should have provided safety harnesses for people working on roofs, but chose only to do this after the incident which led to the death of Mr Alker.

“Figures show that in 2006/07, 45 people have died and more than 3000 suffered a serious injury after a fall from height in the workplace. It remains the most common cause of fatal injury in the workplace, but the risk does not just apply to those working at great height. Many fatal and serious injuries are caused by people falling from below head height too.

“Health and Safety rules are not there to inconvenience employers or to wrap employees or others in cotton wool – they are in place to ensure incidents like this are prevented, and the risk of this incident happening would have been significantly reduced had appropriate safety equipment been provided.”

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Warehousing and storage: new guide from the HSE

The HSE has published a new, free advice guide to health and safety in warehousing and storage. The pamphlet tackles all the most common causes of accidents, such as slips and trips, falls from height, manual handling and injuries linked to vehicles.  The Adobe PDF pamphlet can be downloaded here:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg412.pdf

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Self-reported work-related illness and workplace injuries

Headline results from the latest survey of self-reported work-related illness and workplace injury to gain a national view based on individuals’ perceptions.  Here:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/publications/swi.htm?ebul=hsegen/16-jul-2007&cr=8

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