Monday, 31 March 2014

Strike Pics 2

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22 comments:

  1. there was a lot more people on strike today than I expected in my office.
    but they all missed the point because everyone did their interviews and reports this morning and were heard to say when they left the office that they were all up to date so wouldn't have to catch up on their return.

    so basically they worked harder this morning and my boss says they won't be missed tomorrow because they've done their work.

    they've just proved you can cope with less of them and they could be much more efficient. Grayling would be so proud.

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    1. Part of the "point" of taking strike action is using the time you are not in work speaking out about the isdues whether thats by talking to people in street/news reporters,attending rallies etc so that more will support our cause.Even by swelling a picket line yr colleagues would have helped attract attention and obviously when questions asked in HofC are counted as staff being off on strike & not happy with TR.

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    2. Of course they can cope for a day and a half, everyone covers for colleagues when they are off sick. The system won't be able to cope when TR comes in, however, because it'll be rigid, bureaucratic, under-resourced, and will haemorrhage experienced staff. Trying to stop that future is the point of striking, along with every other part of the campaign.

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  2. I think it is you who are missing the point. One overheard conversation in one office and you have developed a critique of a national campaign of industrial action that you think sufficiently robust that you are willing to post it on a national forum. I think you may have another agenda?

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    1. I made the point lots of people went on strike and I'm really pleased because I wasn't sure they would. Problem is at a local level there is no impact from this which is a shame given the support. I just think some late converts to strike action were misguided in their approach.

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    2. Is that you Chris?

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  3. you aren't in London are you? It was same in my office. Funny thing was our biggest priority was getting cp interviews done so we didn't impact on sercos contract which is hysterical in circumstances. We worked right up to strike doing referrals to them and they said was a really busy morning for them so sounds like most lpt offices did the same.

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    1. I don't understand why you worked right up to strike action. You do what you can & that's it. Let the manager sort it out. That's why they are getting paid more then you i.e. to manage the work.

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    2. Because we have all our interviews on Mondays and we weren't going to let service users turn up with no one to see them. I normally do 5 interviews on Monday and I managed to do 4 before strike.

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  4. People came out - that was the point. How and why and What Katy Did Next, is irrelevant. Members and others came out to support the action and made a visible stand. Well done. No justifications or criticisms, please. People came out. That's all that mattered - today ... and lets hope tomorrow brings more powerful messages.

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  5. http://m.todmordennews.co.uk/news/business/video-probation-officers-strike-in-dispute-over-privatisation-1-6532659

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  6. Sky News running a piece on re offending rates ....usual Murdoch inspired piece but sting in tail says that dealing with u12m sentences have always FAILED. I say let the Trusts get involved.

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    1. The U12 months cases will always drain the tank, especially under a profit led regime. New Labour knew this was a bottomless pit of resource and eventually decided to leave it well alone.

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  7. Having looked through the pictures here I hadn't realised how massively unrepresentative probation seems to be in terms of black and ethnic minorities in our communities. When I worked (in inner city teams) there were POs from as many backgrounds as you could imagine, and a very active black staff association. Is probation really so 'white'? Or am I missing something?

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    1. At this time - Anon at 23.19 like the Probation Institute (who today asked me to view some of their speechifying - I kid you not) is a distraction and maybe a malevolent distraction.

      I choose to recall that before the murder of Stephen Lawrence, Napo campaigning got section 95 into the 1991 CJA -

      95 Information for financial and other purposes.

      (1)The Secretary of State shall in each year publish such information as he considers expedient for the purpose of—

      (a)enabling persons engaged in the administration of criminal justice to become aware of the financial implications of their decisions;

      [F1(aa)enabling such persons to become aware of the relative effectiveness of different sentences—

      (i)in preventing re-offending, and

      (ii)in promoting public confidence in the criminal justice system; ]F1 or

      (b)facilitating the performance by such persons of their duty to avoid discriminating against any persons on the ground of race or sex or any other improper ground.

      (2)Publication under subsection (1) above shall be effected in such manner as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purpose of bringing the information to the attention of the persons concerned.

      http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/53/section/95

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  8. It depends what you mean by 'white'. I can see that there are a lot of probation workers in these pictures with dual heritage who may appear 'white' to you I guess.

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    1. You are right - with mixed heritage I may present as 'white' (which is why I used parentheses) - but I remember being in teams where the majority of colleagues were of black African or black Asian heritage. There is no malevolent intent or mischievous aim to distract, just a reaction to the visual cues in the images. Perhaps my questions would have been better phrased as "has the demographic of probation staff really changed that much?" And whether - and if so, how much - the JL incident has undermined confidence in or support of NAPO by black colleagues?

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    2. Of course, it could just be the case that nobody got out there with a camera, or sent any pictures to Jim.
      Deb

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    3. Again, a very good point. I'm only using the pictures on one blogsite as a barometer. But perhaps there was more damage done by 'JL-gate' than previously understood? And if so, perhaps NAPO need to come to terms with that?

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  9. A big committment from Sadiq Khan today as regards a future Labour governments intentions towards a privatised service will go a long way to supporting the cause

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  10. A story to bring a smile to the picket line, perhaps. In the US a man has been placed on probation, with terms of probation that prevent him from wearing his crime-fighters outfit or by calling himself BeeSting, his crime-fighting alter ego. By donning his mask and identifying himself as BeeSting online, he's broken his probation and had it extended.

    http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Probation-extended-for-costumed-crime-fighter-5365311.php

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  11. And while we're in the USA, try this as a glimpse into the not-too-distant future

    http://rt.com/usa/georgia-private-unprecedented-probation-system-253/

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