A Personal Open Letter to MPs and Councillors

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Today, members of the PCS union within Revenue and Customs (R & C) will be taking industrial action against draconian sick absence rules being imposed by their employer.

The rules propose that, despite the law allowing 7 days self-certified sick absence, workers in R &C could potentially be disciplined after just 5 days.  5 days! The government guidance on influenza suggests staying off work longer – but R & C staff will be expected to report to work ill.

Within R & C stress levels are at an all time high, as job losses and increases in workloads have be forced on a workforce being pushed to the edge. And now they are being disciplined for it by a policy that was unilaterally introduced without any consultation. A policy which punishes staff for being stick, rather than tackling the underlying causes of the sickness.  

I have experienced such sick absence rules when I worked for another government department. Those rules meant that after genuine sickness, I was hounded and harrassed by disciplinary procedures which instead for looking after my well-being at work, sent me into a spiral of depression, stress and more sick absence. I remember it as the worst time of my life. And in the worst moments of it, even thinking that I simply couldn't go on.

R & C workers provide an essential role within society. They collect the money that pays for everything we take for granted – hospital, roads, schools; but the workers are more than that. They’re people. They’re voters.  They have a say, and the support they get in this struggle will be a defining issue when it comes to putting a cross in a box.

I would therefore call on all elected councillors and MPs to make a statement today, whether to the press, via Twitter, blogs or letters of support to local PCS branches taking action.

These workers live and vote within your constituency. The need your help and support, and as someone who has put themselves forward to represent your community, it’s time to show you support your potential voters who need help.

Do it today.  Show that you understand that people in R & C aren’t faceless bureaucrats – but people, who provide an essential role in difficult circumstances. 

Do it any way you can, but make today the day you once again affirm to your voters that you stand up for people in my community.

Do it because R & C workers are your voters, a vital part of your constituency. Do it because being elected is a two way process; but most importantly do it because it’s the right thing to do.

 

Mark Everden  - in a personal capacity.

 

The price of everything, and the value of nothing

Lib-heart
It seems to me that libraries are becoming expendable to the Coalition government. Libraries were first in the firing lineof cuts, and the only response from the right boiled bown to 'I don't need libraries; I don't want them, so sod anyone who does'.  We can all mock the comic stereotype of the evil bastard Tory, but their lack of concern over libraries tells of a much deeper narrative - that of the complete lack of understanding of the values of a civilised society.

To me libraries are far more than just a local authority expense, or yet another service to be analysed financially. To me, libraries are the thing that defined part of my childhood and became so much more than that.

I'm not from a poor background, but we weren’t exactly well off. Books were certainly a luxury rather than the norm, so our local library became absolute essential for a bookworm like me. My local library is where I discovered the wider world. The books I borrowed didn’t just entertain me, they helped form my ideas, my values and my view of the world. The library allowed me to discover places I could never hope to go to, it helped me find my place in the world and more than that, it helped me learn and grow as a person.   As I grew older, it was books from the library that helped me get through my O’Levels and A ‘Levels, helped me research for interviews and get jobs, helped me apply for university as a mature student.  The library was part of how I became a rounded out, educated citizen.  And all because of this devastatingly simple idea that a small part of our taxes should enable us to borrow books for free. 

When a kid borrows a book from a library, they are not accessing a service, but taking home a new world to delve into, new ideas to ponder, new knowledge to expand their minds. What could be more essential to a civilised society but to fire the imaginations of the new generation? To start the process of creating the next generation of creative and engaged citizens. The next generation who will drive society forward.  Knowledge means ideas, and ideas mean innovation – and nothing drives a society forward more than imagination and a thirst for knowledge.

Libraries are great levellers as well; anyone can borrow books no matter what their wealth or status.  Libraries were one of the reasons literacy was achieved in this country.  What could be any more progressive and civilised than the simple idea of free books to borrow?

Since being in power the Coalition have showing nothing but their complete lack of understanding of the value of libraries. With a breathtaking callous disregard they intimate the only thing that matters is the cost. The "sod you" venal right wing extremists once again showing their breathtaking short-sightedness.  When I think of libraries I think of people gaining knowledge, using their imaginations and becoming better people. The right just sees people getting something for nothing.
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  The issue of library closures just illustrates to me that those on the Right, who claim to know what’s best for the economy know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.