Magazine for Prospect members • www.prospect.org.uk • Issue 1, February 2015

PROFILE

WHEN THE prime minister declares that Britain needs a pay rise, you know an election must be round the corner.

David Cameron appeared to make a remarkable conversion when he told February’s British Chambers of Commerce conference that “economic success can’t just be shown in the GDP figures or on the balance sheets of British business but in people’s pay packets and bank accounts and lifestyle… put simply it’s time Britain had a pay rise”.

This is very close to the TUC’s campaign slogan “Britain needs a pay rise”. So are we seeing a sudden outbreak of economic consensus, heralding a new drive to tackle the depressed incomes of the last five years? Sadly not.

If you are a government employee who has suffered four years of pay freezes and restraint, it sounds like hollow rhetoric. Nor will it be a source of optimism for UK citizens more generally. Whether you work in the public or private sector, incomes have stagnated and the prime minister’s exhortations to the private sector are unlikely to have any effect on pay packets or financial security.

To be fair, all the major political parties lack a coherent programme to redress the imbalance in the workplace, the erosion of workers’ voices and the decline of pay and employment conditions in the wider economy.

Staff in unionised sectors continue to enjoy a pay premium over other environments but they are a minority in a sea of employers who decide these matters unilaterally.

In the run-up to the election Prospect is pressing politicians across the spectrum to tackle the professional and workplace issues affecting our members. We have put questions to the main political parties and official opposition(s) and are encouraging branches and members to take up these themes with their constituency representatives and candidates.

We have also set up a dedicated website to bring these resources together – Your voice, Your vote, at ge2015.prospect.org.uk

While the conventional pressure point for trade unions is industrial action, applying leverage and sharing facts through social media is also key. Prospect has shown that such campaigning, combined with passionate advocacy from committed union reps, can have positive outcomes. More than 20,000 people signed our online petition against the closure of the Imperial War Museum’s library and education services.

Prospect reps and staff, the media, politicians and authority figures highlighted the importance of defending this essential part of our heritage. I was proud to stand and leaflet with members outside the Imperial War Museum early in the campaign. But ultimately this was about the determined local reps who worked so hard to make their case with our support.

Evidence, measure and determination – these are Prospect characteristics and we are going to need all of them in the run-up to and beyond the election.

Prospect General Secretary

Profile magazine profile@prospect.org.uk www.prospect.org.uk

Editors: Marie McGrath and Penny Vevers

Reports: Katherine Beirne, Andrew Child, Boc Ly

Design and origination: Simon Crosby (Prospect) and edition periodicals editionperiodicals.co.uk

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Election time means turning up the pressure

‘The prime minister’s exhortations to the private sector are unlikely to have any effect on pay packets or financial security’

■■ Prospect■has■a■new■Freepost■address: Prospect, Freepost RTHG-URYE-ASKU, Flaxman House, Gogmore Lane, Chertsey KT16 9JSUse this address if you are sending application forms or envelopes to the union’s membership department in Chertsey.

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

2 GENERAL SECRETARY

11

2426

INSIDE4 NEWS ROUND-UP8 MEMBER RECRUIT

MEMBER Want to be happy? Join a union

9 PROSPECT EXTRA A new service for members, coming soon

10 UNION EYES/ 60 SECONDS

11 MINES RESCUE SERVICE12 HISTORY UNEARTHED

Archaeological dig in Shadwell

13 WOMEN IN STEM Returnships; Scotland events

14 REPS MAKE A DIFFERENCE Safety rep’s drive to set up a well-being clinic in her workplace

15 TRADING STANDARDS16 GENERAL ELECTION

It’s your vote, your voice – Prospect resources to help you engage with your candidates

18 MEET AN MEP Judith Kirton-Darling explains why the EU matters to UK businesses and workers

21 HEALTH & SAFETY AGM, Prospect Pledge signing and industrial action over pay

22 SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE

23 DEFENCE24 FAIR PAY FORTNIGHT

TUC’s 2015 campaign; Wales living wage

25 ENERGY26 HERITAGE SEMINAR

Prospect goes to York

27 OBE FOR UKHO REP plus obituaries

28 VIEWPOINT Letters, emails and tweets

30 CROSSWORD & PUZZLES

31 CLASSIFIED ADS

Cover illustration: Simon Crosby

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Prospect • Profile – February 20153CONTENTS

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Inserts – Legal rights factcard* – https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2006/00702 PublicEye (civil service sector only*) – https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2015/00206 RMG Update (retired members only) – https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2015/00191* excluding retired members, IOM and Channel Islands.

NEWS4

Prospect • Profile  – February 2015

Victory for Imperial War Museum campaignersSTAFF AT the Imperial War Museum have won their campaign to save its library and Explore History service.

However, cost-saving measures will be introduced, including staff cuts; new opening hours for the Research Room in London; charges for its use and a review of the enquiry services available to the public in future.

Andy Bye, Prospect negotiator, thanked everyone who supported the campaign, including more

than 20,000 people who signed an e-petition.

“Seven days a week for three months, in wind, rain or snow, our members gave up their lunchtimes to leaflet visitors and collect signatures,” said Bye.

“We have won an important battle. Now we need to win the war for adequate government funding for the Imperial War Museum and, indeed, all heritage organisations.”

The museum, like others across

the UK, has taken a huge hit from government austerity measures, with funding reduced by 34% in the last five years and more cuts to come.

“We continue to press IWM to do everything possible to encourage donations from the public to ease the difficulties created by these cuts,” said Bye.

The museum will receive £8m across four years to safeguard the immediate future of educational activity. This will come from fines levied under LIBOR, though the Chancellor has not yet formally confirmed this.

Bye warned that the long-term future of the library’s collections is still not guaranteed – the status of 240,000 items has been changed so they are no longer part of the core collection.

“The devil may be in the detail and we will continue to be vigilant about protecting this national resource.”

■■ The■petition■is■still■open,■at■bit.ly/save_IWM

Prospect_ImpWarMus_output.indd 1

15/12/2014 13:45

IN BRIEF■ CARE ABOUT

SCHOOLS? – Are you a governor or otherwise involved in your local school? EducationEye is the termly magazine for Prospect’s Aspect group, employed in education services and

early years. The next issue is in March. All members can access PDFs of back issues (formerly called Improvement) from: www.prospect.org.uk/aspect_group

■ MY CSP DELAYS – Prospect

has written to the Cabinet Office after civil service pensions and redundancies administrator MyCSP admitted to serous delays in paying beneficiaries and responding to queries. The mutual company said taking on three big tasks contributed to recent problems: moving members onto a new administration system; taking administration of pension payments in-house; and supporting new pension arrangements from April 2015 – bit.ly/mycsp_probs

■ ORDNANCE SURVEY STATUS

– Ordnance Survey’s standing as a world-leading mapping agency must not be compromised when its status changes from a trading fund to a government company, says Prospect – see bit.ly/OS_status

■ BITE THE BALLOT –The TUC and

unions are among organisations hoping to add 250,000 names to the electoral register by 20 April during a voter registration drive. Find out more: bit.ly/vote_reg

Collective memoriesYou can make the Museum what you please. You can make it a mere storehouse of souvenirs and trophies and guns, but those

are the matters of smallest importance … It is in the records, the maps actually used by the generals in the field, the enormous collection of photographs, all the air photographs that were taken, the record of all the work of women throughout the length and breadth of the country during the war in manufacture and substitution, the library, the map room – it is in all those smaller and less striking objects that the main value and importance of the Museum to the historian will consist.

Sir Martin Conway, IWM’s first Director-General, Parliament, June 1920 – http://bit.ly/IWM_conway

■ Seven days a week for three months, in wind, rain or snow,

Prospect members gave up their lunchtimes

to leaflet visitors and collect signatures

■ Above: Travellers on London Underground

saw a poster campaign for the museum

MARK TH

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NEWS 5Prospect • Profile  – February 2015

THE DEPARTMENT for Transport broke employees’ contracts by changing its absence management procedures without union agreement, the High Court ruled in February.

Prospect, the FDA and PCS brought breach of contract claims against the DfT on behalf of members in the central department and its agencies in November 2014.

The other organisations affected are the Highways Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driving Standards Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Vehicle Certification Agency and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.

The staff handbooks for the DfT and its agencies each set out employees’ terms and conditions, with individual agencies able to adopt different policies on matters such as leave, attendance and absence.

However, the central DfT handbook says the contract of employment cannot be changed without agreement from either the employees or recognised unions.

In July 2012, the DfT imposed a new blanket attendance management procedure across the core department and agencies, even though, after talks, unions opposed the changes. New

formal and informal “trigger points” for disciplinary action were introduced as follows:

● absences of five working days or on three occasions in a rolling 12-month period would require mandatory informal action

● absences of eight working days or four occasions in a rolling 12-month period would require a first written warning and then a final written warning, possibly leading to dismissal.

Prospect legal officer Linda Sohawon said the new, stricter trigger points “stigmatise individuals who may have chronic complaints or unrelated illnesses and create anxiety because of the threat of disciplinary action”.

The judge, Mr Justice Globe, said the new procedures were fundamentally different to the old ones and would be seriously detrimental to employees. He cited two examples:

● a DSA employee who continued working after being struck on the head by a defective door handle and knocked unconscious for a period

● a DVLA employee who brought his baby to work because his wife was ill and he had no childcare.

The judge ruled: ● the old procedures and policy would

PROSPECT BACKS CRICKET UMPIRES SEEKING 65 NOT OUT RULING

continue to apply ● the new procedures were not

contractually binding ● by imposing the new terms, the DfT

and its agencies had committed an anticipatory breach of contract

● if the new procedures are applied to individuals, the DfT and its agencies will commit a breach of contract.

Sohawon said: “This ruling is good news for employees suffering under these new procedures as the old policy must now apply.”

DfT broke contracts by failing to secure union agreement – judge

■ Linda Sohawon: individuals stigmatised

BOB BO

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BOB BO

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■ An employee at work at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (now called Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency)

THE FORMER cricket umpires Peter Willey and George Sharp have brought a case of age discrimination against the England and Wales Cricket Board after their enforced retirement.

Willey and Sharp, both Prospect members, are highly respected umpires, who wanted to continue beyond the ECB’s expected retirement age of 65.

When their request to stay on was refused they brought claims of unfair dismissal and age discrimination.

The ECB accepted that both umpires were performing well, but argued the retirement age was justified. The case was heard by the employment tribunal in February.

Alan Leighton, Prospect national

secretary, and John Holder, one of their former umpiring colleagues, also gave evidence.

The members were supported by Prospect’s legal team and represented at the hearing by barrister Declan O’Dempsey.

George Sharp said: “I would like to thank Prospect for its professional help and support.

“It has been exceptional in its approach, dedication and understanding of my cause.”

Peter Willey added: “The union was great and it really shows how people need unions. We could not have taken the case without it.”

The tribunal’s judgment was reserved and it will be some weeks before the outcome is known. ■ Seeking justice: (l - r) Marion Scovell, Prospect head of legal; Declan O’Dempsey, counsel; Peter Willey,

George Sharp and John Holder, former cricket umpires; and Alan Leighton, Prospect national secretary

‘Prospect has been exceptional in its dedication and under-standing’

NEWS6

Prospect • Profile  – February 2015

New BT approach to performance is a ‘step in the right direction’, says Prospect

ON TRACK FOR SUCCESSJason Crowe talks to Boc Ly about his unusual passionWHILE THE Isle of Man is synonymous with motorcycles and speed, it’s not often that a Prospect member there is feted for being a racing champion.

However, recent joiner Jason Crowe is a successful sidecar racer, who was crowned British champion in 2011 and last year won the prestigious Southern 100 race.

Jason, who works in client services for a life assurance company, has had most success as the passenger in the sidecar, although that description says little about his hair-raising exploits.

While his partner “drives” the bike, Jason needs to manoeuvre his body and distribute his weight to ensure they can go around corners at the highest speed possible. In the future, Jason hopes to drive a lot more, too.

He got into the sport through his uncle, a celebrated sidecar champion who won the Isle of Man TT five times.

“My uncle would be testing his sidecar up and down

the runway near my house,” recalls Jason. “I was out of the door whenever I heard it screaming on the runway and he would take me up and down the strip.”

In 2007, when he turned 16, Jason’s racing career began in earnest. He’s now won races all over the UK and says his ambition is to win a TT race.

“The build up to a big race is always exciting and I always enjoy the racing on track. The buzz I get off

winning races is addictive,” he says.“Along the way, I have a laugh with mates

and you meet some awesome people.”Among the few downsides to sidecar

racing is the expense and having to organise time off work.

As well as having a head for speed, his decision to join Prospect

shows he also has a head for making sensible choices. “A family member had

joined and highly recommended it. It was never something I planned on doing but after hearing about what Prospect had done for members, I signed up,” Jason says.

“Just like my car insurance, I hope I don’t need to use it! However, the benefits are good and the peace of mind is reassuring.”

JASON’S ACHIEVEMENTS

●● 2008: Wins local Manx championship in first full year

●● 2009: Wins first Southern 100

●● 2010: Fifth-fastest TT newcomer passenger

●● 2011: British champion

●● 2014: Southern 100 champion

PROSPECT HAS made a significant step forward in BT after the telecoms giant agreed to move to twice-yearly performance ratings.

The move, a long-standing demand from the union, means that from April staff will only be rated in the second quarter and at the end of the year, rather than every quarter.

Alongside this there will be a new approach to performance management called Continuous Development.

While the details have yet to be finalised in talks with the unions, it should see a shift from form-filling to having “conversations about development”.

BT said that the aim was to support coaching, encourage personal development and simplify performance management.

“We know performance management has been a huge challenge for our members in BT over the last few years,” said Aveen McHugh, assistant secretary for Prospect’s communications, media and digital sector.

She said Prospect would continue to work closely with BT to build this new approach and to ensure that it is applied consistently across the company.

Performance management has been one of the biggest issues affecting

members at BT, with confidence in the system marred by the perception that performance marks have been manipulated.

The union acknowledges that it will take time to rebuild trust and sees this as a first step in the right direction.

“This is a real opportunity to create a simpler and more positive approach that works for BT and its staff,” McHugh said.

“We will be doing everything possible to deliver the changes our members need to see.

“Ultimately, the only real test of any approach will be how this feels to people on the ground.”

■ McHugh – real opportunity to create a simpler and more positive approach

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IN BRIEF

■ FORENSIC FEARS – A National

Audit Office report has highlighted the risk of falling standards since the closure of the Forensic Science

Service. Similar concerns about the impact on the standards of crime science evidence were first voiced by Prospect in 2012. Since then work has been transferred to in-house police labs and private firms. The NAO said there was too little data on the forensic services used by police forces, while companies risked being pushed out of the market. See: bit.ly/NAO_FSS

■ MET OFFICE ACTION – Prospect

members at the Met Office are planning a period of industrial action over low pay. From Thursday 19 February they will be working to rule and a three-hour strike will take place from 26 February.

■ GREEN DATES 2015 – Anyone

interested in raising awareness and organising activities on sustainability issues can tap into two existing campaigns. Climate Week will be held from 3-9 March and Earth Hour is marked for 28 March. This is a global event where people are encouraged to turn off their lights for one hour. Find out more: www.climateweek.com and www.earthhour.wwf.org.uk

Staff in the Forensic Science Service seek your support

in their fight for fair pay and against privatisation

a bloody

INJUSTICE

stand up for forensic specialists

www.prospect.org.uk

slashing forensic

science – a body blow

to criminal justice

union for professionals

Prospect airs concerns as Capita wins Fera contractGOOD-QUALITY , long-term science must not be endangered by the government’s privatisation of the Food and Environment Research Agency, Prospect said in February.

It was responding to the change in Fera’s status, approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, from 1 April.

Defra announced that Fera will enter a joint venture with private company Capita – which has paid an initial £20m for a 74% stake – and Newcastle University.

Prospect represents nearly 400 scientists at the agency in York.

“This has been an anxious time for members,” said national secretary Geraldine O’Connell. “Sadly, our experience of the privatisation of other public sector scientific organisations has not been encouraging.

“We will want to ensure that the new provider focuses on delivering good-quality, long-term science and is not simply concerned with making money.

“Equally, we will be seeking commitments from Capita to safeguard the future of the workforce and all their terms and conditions of employment.”

O’Connell stressed that government policymakers must continue to have access to Fera’s critical and unique scientific knowledge.

“Fera plays a crucial role in supporting safe food,

grown in an environmentally sustainable way. This is of fundamental importance to the UK,” she said.

“The scientists at Fera focus on finding real, practical solutions to solve problems throughout the agri-food supply chain. They also identify and monitor the disease and chemical risks within this supply chain.”

Fera provides diagnostic and forensic support to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, the Genetic Modification Inspectorate and the National Bee Unit

(partly based in Fera), and advises the policy units overseeing these areas.

“All three areas are critical to UK biosecurity,” stressed O’Connell.

Fera also provides scientific support on quarantine plant pests and pathogens, invasive

species and analysis of potentially illegal genetically modified organisms.

Defra said it was maintaining a strategic share of 25% in Fera, in case of emergencies such as ash dieback or the horsemeat scandal.

It added that Fera will have access to Newcastle University’s experimental farms for agriculture, horticulture and crop protection, as well as research expertise in food quality, agri-tech and food safety.

But critics fear that the sell-off has the potential to “abrogate” government responsibility for plant and animal health issues.

Geraldine O’Connell

– Policymakers must

continue to have

access to Fera’s critical

and unique scientific

knowledge

■ Scientists at the Food and Environment Research Agency developed and first used portable DNA technology in 2012, when the ash dieback crisis hit the headlines

DAVID

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them what they’d like us to do.”As a result, Llamau received £140

worth of M&S vouchers from the branch.

Members at Sellafield have also taken an altruistic approach, raising £200 for North Lakes Foodbank, an organisation that feeds around 600 people in West Cumbria every month.

Mike Graham, head of national organising,

recruitment and development, revealed that in 2014 Prospect recruited 13.8% more members than in 2013.

■ Find ut more: bit.ly/prospect_MRM

CREATIVE PROSPECT branches are using the Member Recruit Member scheme to raise money for good causes in their local communities.

The scheme, which celebrates its first anniversary in March, offers an incentive worth £10 to existing members who recruit someone new to the union.

The reward can be taken as a £10 love2shop or M&S gift voucher, or a charity donation.

For 2015, Help for Heroes has been added to the list of charities nominated by Prospect, along with the union’s Oxfam and benevolent funds.

Branches can also ask for the money to go to a charity of their choice.

Members at the Intellectual Property Office chose to help Llamau, a charity that supports homeless young people and vulnerable women in Wales.

“The IPO recruited 49 patent examiners this year

and we were given an hour-long induction session with them,” said Eleanor Wade, branch chair.

“We did some group exercises on their perceptions of unions and asked

UNIONS MAKE YOU HAPPYIF YOU have a colleague who hasn’t joined Prospect yet, here’s a good reason for them to reconsider.

American researchers have found that people who join unions are happier than those who don’t join.

Their findings were publicised in the New York Times opinion pages and widely shared on social media in January.

The study authors, Patrick Flavin of Baylor University and Gregory Shufeldt of the University of Arkansas, used data from the World Values Survey, a research project focusing on people’s beliefs.

They analysed US data from five different years between the early 1980s and mid-2000s and concluded that “union members are more satisfied with their lives than those who are not members”. What’s more, this effect “is large and rivals other common predictors of quality of life”.

They identified four “pathways” by which being a union member might improve quality of life.

These include: ● having greater satisfaction

with one’s experiences while working

● feeling greater job security ● being afforded numerous

opportunities for social interaction and integration

● enhancing the benefits associated with more engaged democratic citizenship.

They suggested this effect was independent of factors such as income. In fact union membership offered a bigger satisfaction boost that an increase in income, though less than getting married.

● New York Times article: bit.ly/NYT_union

● Labor Union Membership and Life Satisfaction in the United States: bit.ly/union_happy

Signing up new members benefits homeless, food banks and others

■ Union members are more satisfied with their lives than those who are not members, a US study found

■ Prospect members at Sellafield raised £200 for North Lakes foodbank

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

8 RECRUITMENT

NEWS 9Prospect • Profile  – February 2015

IN BRIEF■ HAZARDOUS

SUBSTANCES – Members are encouraged to fill in a TUC survey on workers’ exposure to hazardous substances. It will be online until the end of March and the results released to coincide with Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April. See bit.ly/1E0ENbA

■ WORKPLACE LEARNING – This

year’s Learning at Work Week takes place from 18-24 May around the theme of “shaping our future”. See bit.ly/1ygOIVS

PROSPECT EXTRA: NEW MEMBER SERVICE TO OFFER BIG SAVINGS

INTREPID EXPLORERS SLEEP OVERA GROUP of scouts from Kent (above) spent the night at Prospect’s London headquarters in January before embarking on a challenging nine-mile hike

through the capital. The sleepover was arranged by their leader Paul Austin (right), a UK Power Networks engineer and Prospect rep.

Paul said staying at New

Prospect House was“fantastic”, as making such trips affordable for young people was a struggle.

It was also a chance to introduce them to trade unions.

Enough of fat cats and meerkats – soon a new Prospect service will offer competitive deals on products members really want.

Members will be able to enjoy exclusive market-beating deals on a range of common financial and household services, thanks to the bargaining power of Prospect.

The money-saving offers will be available through Prospect Extra, a ground-breaking service launching in late spring. Members will be able to access it by logging on to a dedicated website.

Prospect has developed the service with Union Extra and consumer and finance experts, including Sarah Willingham, voted one of the UK’s most successful women under 35 by The Sunday Times, and Business Weekly’s entrepreneur of the year.

“At Prospect we are constantly challenging ourselves to improve the services we offer to our members,” explains Sue Ferns, director of communications and research.

“We will be the first union to use our bargaining power in this way to secure unique money-saving deals on important products and services that members use in their everyday lives.

“The potential savings could be worth many times the cost of monthly union membership fees.”

Research suggests more than 50% of consumers switched a financial or home services product in the last year. While the cannier will have used price comparison or cashback sites to save money, people rarely use both.

Comparison sites do save consumers money,

but are pushing up premiums by

continuously forcing up commissions to spend on marketing, while

cashback sites help

consumers by returning excess

commissions. However, using the

latter without comparing products will not get consumers the best deal.

Alongside the usual benefits of belonging to a union, such as workplace collective bargaining and legal advice and representation,

Prospect members will be able to access market-beating deals on items ranging from mobile phones and broadband to home and car insurance, energy, and credit cards – products and services most of us have to use each year anyway,

The unique selling point of Prospect Extra is that by bringing together both marketplaces – comparison and cashback – it combines the advantages of both.

The new service will focus on helping members to make the best choices for their own circumstances – it will not push particular products or services.

Offers will be tailored to members’ preferences over time and will be accompanied by short video guides and other advice on money saving and personal finance. Members will be able to access and edit a personal profile that will detail money saved and products viewed.

Ferns adds: “We want to give our members quick and easy access to the best deals available. We also want to take out the guesswork, time and hassle that most people experience in trying to find these.

“For the sake of openness, what we won’t be doing is offering you a cuddly meerkat! ”

Information about how to access this new service will be sent to all members before its launch.

■■ Sue■Ferns■–■potential■savings■could■be■worth■many■times■the■cost■of■monthly■union■membership■fees

■■ Sarah■Willingham■–Business Weekly■entrepreneur■of■the■year■–■has■helped■to■develop■the■service

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The Beagle has landedBack in June 2003, Profile featured Prospect members involved with the Beagle 2 project. Beagle 2 was due to land on Mars on 25 December 2003 but noth-ing was heard from it and the mission was presumed lost. Fast forward to January 2015 and new images show that Beagle 2 did land on the surface of Mars in 2003 but failed to fully deploy its solar panels. Without these, it could not communicate with Earth and scientists lost contact.

The story is tinged with sadness as Colin Pillinger, the driving force behind the pro-ject, died in 2014 without knowing what had happened to his pride and joy.https://library.prospect.org.uk//down-load/2003/00030

Save our soundsThe British Library has launched a cam-paign to raise £40m to digitise its sound archive of more than six million recordings. Around two million of these are fragile, rare and at risk of being lost due to physical degradation and the disappearance of the technology to play them. Find out more at bit.ly/bl_savesounds or contact michele.burton@bl.uk, tel 020 7412 7030

Talking pointsGoogle has patented a technology to help tourists and others get to grips with tricky pronunciations. Native residents would record themselves pronouncing a particu-lar place name. They would then upload the audio snippets to a Google server which would crunch all the files to deter-mine the most common pronunciation. Over to our colleagues in Ed in Burra to see what they make of it. Talking of sounds, perhaps Google could make a donation to the British Library sound archive (above).

Ewe-nique art!Congratulations to Louise Boyce, aspiring artist and executive assistant in Prospect’s Bristol office, who was chosen to paint a 5ft Shaun the Sheep sculpture. Lou’s design was

one of 120 selected from more than 2,000 submissions. The giant sculp-tures of Aardman’s internationally-acclaimed character Shaun the Sheep will appear in art trails in London and Bristol. The London trail runs from 28 March to 25 May; the Bristol trail from 6 July to 31 August. The sculp-

tures will then be auctioned to raise money for children in hospitals across the UK. www.shauninthecity.org.uk

An MP’s life revealedProspect’s own Parmjit Dhanda has writ-ten his political memoirs. Before joining the union’s staff he was a Labour MP in Gloucester and the first British-born minister of Asian parent-age. In My Political Race he speaks for the first time about uncomfortable issues in politics around race, including the shocking occasion when a decapi-tated pig’s head was left outside his house. After los-ing his seat in 2010 Parmjit came to work for Prospect, currently as a negotiator. The book launches on 10 March – Amazon is already taking orders.

Snot trueThere is such a thing as man flu, with men less resistant to pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses, says a story in the Independent. Scientists from Harvard University discovered that the female sex hormone oestrogen fortifies the immune system, and men are suffering from its absence. The study, reported in Life Sciences medical journal, found that a simple dose of oestrogen was capable of curing both male and female mice of bac-terial pneumonia.

Reach for the starsAlmost of a quarter of British people lie

about what they do for a living, says a recent survey. Men and younger workers between 18 and 34 years of age were the

most likely to tell fibs. When asked to actually name their dream job the most

popular responses among the 2,000 people surveyed were pilot, foot-

baller, journalist, doctor, busi-ness owner, vet or astronaut.

60 SECONDS

DR JACK DAINTY

Institute statistician at the Institute of Food Re-search, providing statistical support and advice to all the scientists at IFR.

Why did you decide to join a union?

Because without unions we would all be worse off. I also value the ethos and philosophy of the trade union movement in terms of trying to improve the terms and conditions of working people.

What have you got out of being a Prospect member?

The pleasure of helping my colleagues is the main one. Also, gaining skills and confidence that are beneficial to my job. Meeting new people from different walks of life on Prospect training courses is good fun, too.

What are some of the main workplace issues affecting members in your branch?

We have a two-tier workforce that has resulted from governance changes that took place in 2011. The now “independent” BBSRC Institutes will not recognise Prospect for the purposes of collective bargaining for the staff employed since 2011. The biggest challenge is to gain recognition of Prospect at each of the institutes.

Has your job made you more circumspect about what you eat, or about certain foods?

As long as you apply common sense to what you consume, you should just eat what you enjoy. Anything to excess is usually a bad thing but people should not worry excessively as long as they eat a reasonably healthy diet. And don’t forget to do a bit of exercise!

Is the constant stream of food-scare stories in the newspapers helpful or a hindrance?

It can be very confusing for the consumer and it can also undermine the trust people have in scientists. If you try to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, do a bit of exercise and don’t read the Daily Mail, you won’t go far wrong!

How would persuade non-members to join a union?

We have strength in numbers and the best way to safeguard the benefits we’ve got and to try to improve things in the workplace is through collective agreement and democratic discussion. “We are stronger together” is the most persuasive argument.

UNION EYESRemember to keep your eyes peeled and email us if you spot anything Prospect related – profile@prospect.org.uk

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

10 UNIONEYES • 60 SECONDS

YOU’D THINK it was obvious what the Mines Rescue Service does.

Yet the organisation – set up more than 100 years ago to protect workers in the UK coal industry – has evolved. These days it provides health and safety products, advice and training to a vast range of clients.

The legacy of UK coal-mining is still core to its business, explains Andrew Watson, the service’s centre coordinator.

“Our specialist teams still provide vitally important training and rescue cover for mines throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

“We also get around six calls a month to go and look at hazards that have developed from historical mining.

“There are 170,000 mine shafts that we know of in the UK and at least as many that are unknown. We are contracted to examine 12,500 shafts or mine entry points a year to look for problems before they occur.”

MRSL’s expertise is available to any UK industry, be it for health and safety advice, training in confined space entry and rescue, first aid, fire-fighting, risk assessment, breathing apparatus instruction or emergency responses.

The service is based across six rescue centres – Crossgates, Fife; the headquarters at Mansfield, Nottinghamshire; Houghton, Tyne and Wear; Rawdon, Derbyshire; Kellingley, North Yorkshire; and Dinas, Rhondda.

Each has its own dedicated mocked-

up facility for confined space training, while Crossgates also hosts a new wind turbine training facility.

Despite the decline of the UK coal industry, MRSL is going from strength to strength, employing 140 staff, many of them members of Prospect who transferred from colliery managers’ union BACM last year.

This is far more than when the MRSL was privatised in 1996 – and the organisation continues to grow.

Roughly speaking, says Watson, the work divides into consultancy, training people to national occupation standards and the rescue service.

“It is a legal requirement that anyone working in a confined space must be competent to enter it.

“The regulations say that if you have a specified risk you must have a means of rescue, make sure everyone entering the space is safe to be there, and monitor the environment for hazards such as toxic gas, fumes or vapour. If we think an area is too dangerous we say so.”

The advice provided by MRSL has led to changes in some surprising industries.

Brewing is a big customer although even as little as 15 years ago brewery employees would be expected to work in a CO2 environment, explains Watson.

Access to the mash would be via the bottom of the silo, meaning employees were ascending into an increasingly oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

On MRSL’s recommendation, access

‘If you have a specified risk you must have a means of rescue and make sure everyone entering the space is safe to be there’

■ Watson – providing vitally important training and rescue

Helping you out of a tight spotDespite the decline of the UK coal industry, the Mines Rescue Service has gone from strength to strength. Katherine Beirne finds out why

is now top down so employees know where the CO2 is and are equipped with breathing apparatus – silos are now also far better ventilated.

“We also do a lot of work for the nuclear and renewables industries, particularly with wind turbines. At the end of the day it is a generator and therefore a fire risk.”

Other customers include water utilities, for personnel checking sewers, National Grid staff checking cable ducts, or the marine industry “which has a poor record for health and safety.

“Crews on conveyor vessels often carry out repairs when out to sea moving from A to B. The vessels are double-hulled and often require repair work between the hulls but rust absorbs oxygen, meaning that you could have an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

“Cargos themselves can present hazards. The Health and Safety Executive recently put out a warning that wood pellets transported for use in biomass energy generation absorb oxygen, so can deplete the atmosphere.”

Oxygen enrichment can be equally dangerous, increasing the risks of fire and explosion. In fact the range of hazards associated with confined spaces is enough to make you dizzy – electricity, mechanical equipment, noise, dust – the list is endless.

Which is why the demand for MRSL’s services is increasing. However, Watson stresses, prevention is better than cure.

Prospect • Profile – February 201511DEEP MINES RESCUE

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HIDDEN FROM view behind high blue hoardings on the site of a huge former car park by Tobacco Dock in Shadwell, east London, a small group of Prospect members toil away in muddy trenches under a gunmetal sky on a damp, cold morning in early January.

The dozen or so archaeologists from Pre Construct Archaeology are working on the last leg of an excavation that has been under way for more than 19 years on and off, while the site under different owners has seen plans for a factory, shop and cinema come and go.

In that time PCA, a private company that provides archaeological services to help developers meet their planning obligations, has uncovered evidence of settlement from the Bronze Age through to the Roman and post-Medieval eras.

The team struck archaeological “gold” in 2002 when they uncovered the remains of a brick Roman bathhouse – the second largest discovered in London. It is part of an extensive settlement that would have been the size of a small town, lying more than a kilometre beyond the walls of ancient Londinium.

“The Romans terraced into the site, which is part of an escarpment that slopes down towards Wapping,” explains site director Alistair Douglas, a member of Prospect’s Archaeologists branch.

“That might just look like mud to a lay person on the site, but we can see the remains of buildings,” he says, pointing to one of the head-high trenches that criss-cross the site where archaeologists painstakingly scrape away with their trowels.

“It’s all about seeing differences in colours and textures and identifying certain features like postholes.”

Most of the Roman buildings would have been of timber and clay construction, of which little remains, says Alistair. His team has to look for the tell-tale signs of their existence such as postholes and their imprint or outline.

“We find ‘cuts’ with the trowel in the trench to reveal features. Each cut, each posthole, each piece of metal is

The thrill of

the d gArchaeologists have unearthed proof of Roman, Bronze Age and post-medieval settlements on an east London site. Andrew Child witnesses their painstaking efforts to preserve this precious history

numbered and recorded before removing and moving on to the next layer. We take everything out in the reverse order to which it was put in.

“We carry on digging until we hit orange gravel which is the natural drift geology. At that point we know there’s no more human intervention.”

Evidence for Bronze Age activity is to be found in mounds of burnt flint below the Roman layer, which could be the remains of an early form of sweat lodge, though many theories abound, according to Alistair.

Above the Roman layer, remains of wells and cesspits provide evidence of the many post-Medieval dwellings once on the site, some of

which stood until the 1950s.Apart from artefacts such as coins, buckles, pottery

fragments and other ephemera which end up in local authority archives, all that will remain of the excavation site for future generations is the assessment reports, which piece together and make sense of the meticulous recordings made by the archaeologists as they work their trenches.

This is done back in the relative warm and comfort of the site office. “We call this preservation by record,” says Alistair. “We plan everything – the site is divided into five-metre grid squares and forms are filled out detailing what we have at every level in each of these, so we know where we are in three dimensions. From these I produce an index or matrix which shows how everything is related.”

The analysis of the data culminates in a published account of human settlement on the excavated site. However, our understanding can be an open-ended, ever-changing process.

Says Alistair: “Our archaeology links up with that done on neighbouring sites in the 1970s. Back then they thought what they’d found was only of minor significance.

“They didn’t realise it was part of a wider Roman settlement. Every time you go to a new site it gives you more information; you never stop learning. Your model of the past changes with what you find. History is not static.”

■ ‘A Roman Settlement and Bath House at Shadwell’ documents earlier excavations on the site – www.pre-construct.com/Publications/Shadwell.htm

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Prospect • Profile – February 2015

12 ARCHAEOLOGY

PROSPECT AND three other skills organisations have called on Vince Cable to introduce a “returnship” scheme for women scientists and engineers who have taken maternity or career breaks.

The request to the business secretary came in the wake of a survey revealing just how many obstacles such women face.

It was made in a letter in January from Prospect, Women in Manufacturing, the Women’s Engineering Society and Talent Retention Solution.

“Returnships can help address the UK’s skills shortage in science, technology, engineering and maths, as well as creating a more equal and diverse workforce,” said Sue Ferns, Prospect director of communications and research.

“Our idea is for employers to work with skills organisations, trade unions and other stakeholders to create returnships to bring women back from extended leave.

“An alarming 60% of respondents to our survey identified serious barriers to returning to work. Returnships are a simple and effective way to help women back on to the career ladder after time out.”

Barriers include: ● lack of training and guidance ● not enough opportunities for

flexible or part-time working ● too little pay against the costs of

childcare ● problems with location.

Explaining how a returnship would work, WES president Dawn Bonfield said: “The employee is given a short-term contract by a participating company, and follows a set programme of activity, including

monitoring and support, designed to help bring them up to speed.

“Where available, it opens the door to permanent job opportunities as well.”

The letter proposes that funding could come from the department for business’s women engineers fund. All four signatories offered to help draw up a proposal that would include sharing good practice and lessons learned.

Download the Women in STEM: are you in or out? survey overview from https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2015/00134. It was completed by more than 5,000 respondents between May and September 2014.

■ Around 14,000 female Prospect members work in STEM sectors. If you’d like to get involved in the union’s women in STEM initiatives, please email sue.ferns@prospect.org.uk

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Help STEM women with returnships, Cable urged

FEMALE POWER IN SCOTLANDTHE PART played by women in trade union history will be the focus of a series of events at the National Library of Scotland in March, some of them arranged with the help of the Scottish TUC. The workshops will include:

● 12 & 24 March: “United to protect – Scottish working women’s history”

● 14 March: “Scottish women of science: Forebears of today’s scientists”

● 19 March: “Women and trade unions”, with early 20th-century examples.

All events are at the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh. Entrance is free.■ For details and booking visit www.nls.uk/events or phone 0131 623 3734

NUCLEAR DIVERSITY MESSAGEONLY 7% of engineering professionals in the UK are women – the lowest in Europe – and Women In Nuclear UK is determined to change that.

Its first conference, on 20 January in London, sought to gain industry and political support for promoting gender diversity across the industry.

While the UK is the worst in Europe, countries such as Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus lead with nearly 30% of engineers who are women, the conference heard.

WiN UK’s three core aims are to:

● attract more women into the nuclear sector

● keep those already in it

● have a dialogue with the public, especially women, about the importance of nuclear energy as part of a balanced energy policy. Recent research shows that 26% of women support the use of nuclear power, compared with 57% of men – see bit.ly/nuclear_gender

■ Full story: bit.ly/WiNlaunch

■ www.womenin nuclear.org.uk

■ Jennifer Clark, Systems Engineer at EDF Energy.

The UK engineering sector currently employs 5.4 million people across

540,000 companies

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Prospect • Profile – February 201513WOMEN IN SCIENCE

■ Penny (right) and senior occupational nurse Vicky Rose discuss how to identify problems using the anatomically correct models. The comments below are from grateful colleagues

Health and safety rep Penny Oliver’s idea for helping her colleagues was literally a life saver. She explains all to Katherine Beirne

TWO YEARS ago Penny Oliver approached her employer with a radical idea – open a workplace well-being clinic for staff to raise awareness of cancer risks.

Examining yourself for lumps and unusual changes can help detect many cancers early, saving lives. So Penny, a Prospect health and safety rep and radiation protection adviser at Nuvia, felt she could make a difference.

“I know many people have difficulty in facing up to the possibility of illness, especially cancer, so the idea of a simple drop-in clinic was born.”

Penny secured funding from her employer and teamed up with Vicky Rose, a senior occupational health nurse, to run the clinic.

To allow visitors to “feel what they should be looking for”, Vicky got hold of anatomically correct models of breasts, one of which simulates a breast tumour in a man.

She also acquired models illustrating two different examples of testicular cancer.

Vicky also sourced urine analysis dipsticks to check for signs of other problems such as diabetes and kidney disease.

Nuvia pays for an occupational health nurse to be present at each clinic to interpret dipstick readings, take blood pressure and offer confidential health advice.

“We also put together a 15-minute rolling video, using clips from Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies programme,” says Penny.

“This offers advice on self-examinations, and what to look out for with moles and prostate issues.

“It plays on a loop on a personal computer, so that visitors can watch it as they wait to speak to the nurse.”

Many staff have used the service and when they come “it’s obvious how the weight falls off their shoulders – we don’t impose a time limit so people don’t feel rushed”.

The scheme has been a huge success with 11 clinics run across Nuvia’s six sites

in England and Scotland. Sessions were also opened up to co-workers from nearby companies.

Many colleagues have benefited – nearly 500 staff have

been seen so far, with a 10-12%rate of referral to their GP or occupational

health for follow-up. Not content to stop there,

Penny has now joined forces with a nutrition enthusiast to launch an Eat Well campaign across the company.

Jackie Wilkinson is a former head of safety at the UK Atomic Energy

Authority and an ex-international archer.

She now focuses on nutritional coaching, and will be holding presentations for Nuvia staff, using her scientific background to talk about diet.

She aims to bust some common myths, and will draw on

her own experiences.When she followed a conventional

healthy low-fat diet, Jackie suffered from energy dips, mood swings and dizziness, until a metabolism test revealed that her body chemistry required a radically different food mix.

Penny looks forward to the project with enthusiasm. “I feel that these union well-being clinics have made a genuine tangible difference to staff both inside and outside Nuvia.

“I hope that the Eat Well campaign will build on that success.”

Taking a healthy interest

“I found the clinics very good and

as a direct result I found the lump in my breast quickly… We all think it

won’t happen to us but I am proof that it

does.”

“These workshops have

brought an awareness and understanding to us… I carried out the checks myself and on

finding something that was not ‘normal’ I had the knowledge

to go for further screening and tests.”

“This has been a real eye-

opener. Fortunately, I was lucky that I turned out to

be OK. Penny and the team have helped me to deal with this, so I would like

to personally thank them all.”

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

14 HEALTH

TRADING STANDARDS departments are among the local authority services worst hit by the financial crisis, despite their vital work in ensuring public health and safety, according to Prospect member Sandy Driskell.

Sandy works for the Trading Standards Institute, the training and membership organisation for local authority trading standards officers.

She was inspired to contact Profile after reading about Prospect’s Love your Regulator campaign, which aims to challenge the myth that regulators are a burden on business.

Sandy, a TSI information officer, highlights the disturbing findings of recent research into cuts faced by the 165 trading standards services across England and Wales.

A workforce survey by the TSI and the National Trading Standards Board revealed that funding of services will have been slashed by 40% over the lifetime of the current parliament.

Staffing levels, which account for about 80% of budgets on average, will have fallen by an even greater 45%.

Of the 163 services polled across England and Wales, 126 or 78% replied. And more than 70% of these said some services would be restricted or stopped in response to drastically reduced budgets.

“These cuts threaten consumer rights, consumer safety and the health of legitimate businesses,” says Sandy.

She fears that budget negotiations have been hampered by a poor awareness and understanding of the role of trading standards officers among the public and local councillors.

“Trading standards are bottom of the pile when it comes to things that politicians think are important,” she says. “The issue is not being heard on the doorstep.”

This may seem surprising in the light of recent food scandals such as the discovery of horse meat in “beef” burgers and similar products sold by leading supermarkets.

But she says many people have problems understanding the complexity of trading standards officers’ remit,

A shocking 40% of councils’ trading standards services have been whittled away during the lifetime of this parliament. Vulnerable people will suffer, Sandy Driskell tells Andrew Child

The crucial areas of trading standards work under threat include: ● product safety ● food standards● rogue traders ● age-restricted sales.

On product safety, Sandy highlights the potential for deadly fires caused by faulty electrical equipment. On age-restricted sales, she emphasises the harm which can be caused to the health of young people consuming alcohol and tobacco.

But for her it is the work tackling rogue traders, who often target vulnerable elderly people, that deserves greatest attention.

“Research shows that elderly people who are victims of rogue traders are more likely to go into care, suffer acute illness or even die in the two years after they are targeted,” she explains.

Sandy and TSI are urging people who care about raising the profile of such work to write to their local MP, asking them to sign an Early Day Motion on the issue, tabled by Stephen Lloyd MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Consumer Affairs and Trading Standards.

■ bit.ly/trading_standards_edm ■ bit.ly/workforce_survey_2014

Cuts that give rogue traders a free rein

which ranges from animal welfare to weights and measures.

And while the awareness of rogue traders has been raised through TV programmes like the BBC’s long-running Watchdog, people still aren’t making the connection with trading standards in terms of prevention and enforcement, she says.

Although the survey did not cover Scotland, TSI has worked with Trading Standards Scotland to gather data on budgets north of the border. This suggests a similar picture, with funding falling slightly less – 39% – between 2010-11 and 2015-16, but staff numbers falling by more – 52% – over the same period.

The deep cuts to trading standards services across the UK are a false economy, according to figures quoted in the report, which suggest that for every £1 spent, the consumer saves £6.

Such calculations likely arise from the prevention work carried out by officers in the form of raising awareness and free business advice. “Prevention is often better than cure,” says Sandy. Unfortunately, such “discretionary” services seem to be bearing the brunt of the cuts.

■ Tests on counterfeit toys seized by investigators in Norfolk showed them to contain potentially dangerous levels of lead and chromium

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■ Driskell – deep cuts are a false economy

Prospect • Profile – February 201515TRADING STANDARDS

AS WE approach the general election, Prospect is encouraging members to get in touch with their local MPs and candidates to ask for their views on policies affecting jobs, rights at work and the sectors they work in.

Prospect is not affiliated to any political party and does not advise members on how to vote, but we do want politicians to know about the issues affecting your workplaces.

Branches and individuals can approach their local candidates or use the Prospect Pledge campaign as a springboard (see box, p17). A list of candidates and contact details has already been sent to branches.

As well as the questions on these pages, you can, of course, also put your own questions to MPs.

The union has sent questions covering issues that affect all members

to the government and main opposition parties – the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the governing parties in Northern Ireland.

Core questions cover: good work; health and safety; tribunal fees; zero hours contracts; sustainable procurement and the role of modern unions (see p17).

Other questions relevant to members in different sectors will be posted on Prospect’s dedicated election website.

Election micrositeThe Prospect microsite has been launched at ge2015.prospect.org.uk

As the replies from the different parties come in, we will publish them in the “answers” area.

Also look out for coverage of responses in any sector magazines

It’s going to be a close call, but whatever the outcome of May’s general election, the consequences for working people will be profound. It’s all the more reason to engage with your local MP and candidates about the things you care about

coming out before May.For the first time in a general

election, Prospect is preparing its own briefings on a range of issues that matter to members. These will also be available on the site for branches to use for local and national campaigning.

Topics covered will be: civil service, energy, telecoms, aviation, heritage, education, science, defence, labour market, legal, Europe, pensions and the role of regulators.

Events “Question Time” style debates are planned, in:

● Edinburgh – 23 March at Carlton Hotel – 5pm refreshments, 5.30-6.30pm debate

● Cardiff – check the microsite for details.

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

16 GENERAL ELECTION 2015

THE PROSPECT PLEDGEProspect has raised its profile among MPs by inviting them to sign pledges covering five areas of concern to our diverse membership.

The Pledge campaign offers another route to gain access to your MP and candidates in the run-up to the election.

More than 100 politicians from Westminster, Holyrood, the Senedd and Stormont have already signed some or all of the pledges – see https://library.prospect.org.uk//download/2015/00143.The five pledges are:

● “I agree that the government should set up a minister-led commission involving Prospect and others, to increase the 13% of women in STEM careers to 30% by 2020.”

● “I believe in responsible procurement – when awarding

public contracts government should consider the number of apprenticeships and graduate traineeships that are created and the quality of working relationships.”

● “I will write to my party leader asking them to work with Prospect to promote an independent review of pay for skilled professionals in the civil service.”

● “I will support investment in the skills and infrastructure to make our nations world leaders in low carbon energy, including renewables and new nuclear.”

● “I would like to meet Prospect members in the workplace or my surgery to learn more about the Prospect pledge campaign.”

■ If you need more copies of the Pledge card, please email centralservices@prospect.org.uk

FIND YOUR MP, CANDIDATESHouse of Commons

● bit.ly/commons_your_mp

● www.theyworkforyou.com

Northern Ireland Assembly

● bit.ly/ni_mlas

Scottish Parliament ● bit.ly/scot_msps

Wales Assembly ● bit.ly/wales_ams

Prospective candidates ● bit.ly/con_ppc ● bit.ly/lib_ppc ● bit.ly/lab_ppc

Marginal constituenciesMARGINAL SEATS are those in which elections tend to be won by small margins. In 12 of the last 17 elections, 90% or more seats stayed with the party defending them.

● The BBC has a useful webpage showing seats by margin, party and A-Z: bit.ly/bbc_marginal.

● A House of Commons library briefing is at bit.ly/vote_marginal

CORE QUESTIONSGood workPROSPECT HAS published a manifesto for good work (https://library.prospect.org.uk//download/2014/01019). Do you support our manifesto and what will you do to implement it?

Health and safetyResearch has show that the early influence of the health and safety regulator and trades unions involved in constructing the London Olympics site helped secure contractor “buy in” to the business case for a healthy, productive workforce that ensured the Olympic park was built without loss of life, on time, sustainably and to international acclaim.

How would your future government ensure the Olympic learning is embedded within UK businesses, including government setting by example, to reduce the toll on our NHS, UK plc and the lives of workers and their families of preventable occupational ill health, injury and death?

■ http://bit.ly/olympic_safety

Employment tribunal fees

The number of claims to

employment tribunals has fallen by more than 70% since fees were introduced, which demonstrates that fees are a substantial barrier to access to justice for working people.

Will you support the abolition of fees for employment tribunals?

Zero hours contractsDo you agree that zero hours contracts for workers should be regulated by law, so that the 1.4m people who are on zero hours contracts are protected from the exploitative elements and used appropriately so that both employee and employer benefit from the flexibility they provide?

Sustainable procurementDo you agree that government should leverage its own procurement to ensure that suppliers and contractors operate sustainably and offer a commitment to provide good opportunities for apprenticeships and graduate trainees?

Modern trade unionsWhat role do you see for modern trade unions in the economy and in wider society?

Sector questionsWe have also drawn up some sector questions on the microsite: ge2015.prospect.org.uk

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■ Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, signing the Pledge at the Commons launch

Prospect • Profile – February 201517GENERAL ELECTION 2015

JUDITH KIRTON DARLING is a Labour Member of the European Parliament for the North East of England and sits on the EU trade committee. She is a former

confederal secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.

Two recent opinion polls show that people in Britain are in favour of membership of the European Union. How do we make the EU more accessible and less remote?

It’s a paradox that we have the rise of Eurosceptic parties across the EU and at the same time an increase in people’s understanding of its value. The problem in the UK is one of political education. We need proper political education in schools that shows how our political system is organised and the way democracy works.

My role as MEP is not to wait for people to come and find me. I was told that no one ever contacts an MEP, which is rubbish, because I have so much casework from people who need help related to something decided at European level.

My job is to increase the visibility of MEPs and I will do anything that gives people an insight into the work of the people they’ve elected.

Trade unions have a particular role in this. I can appear on TV or radio, write to a paper, stick a leaflet through your door, but ultimately, I’m a politician and people have a low trust level.

Unions have a really important role to play in the political education of members and ensuring that people know where the different parties stand and how important it is to vote.

Some industrial relations experts

suggest that we’re entering a post-democratic period where decisions are taken by technocrats and people are moving away from decision-making.

That’s the opposite of the position I or any trade unionist would want to be in. Industrial democracy is fundamental to parliamentary democracy.

Do you think that the way people in the UK feel is similar across Europe or is there a particular malaise in the UK? Do the media fuel anti-EU sentiment?

I think it is a malaise in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are much more positive about the EU. The media have really fuelled this, but they can only fill a vacuum created through a lack of understanding of how Europe works.

People don’t need to know the detail of how every committee in the

Shining a light on European democracyMEP Judith Kirton Darling explains why the European Union “isn’t just a capitalist club” and why ordinary people must challenge the people they elect. Graham Stewart reports

PICTURES: RICHARD LEE PHOTOGRAPHY

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

18 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

EU works. But everybody should have a general understanding of how it works and how you can do some basic influencing.

Without it, the media can say that the commission dictates things – all the explosive headlines, which are completely incorrect. In fact any decision taken within the EU is taken by directly-elected people, or indirectly by government.

There needs to be a bit more honesty in the media. But the question about the UK versus the rest of Europe mirrors frustration and anger about how the economic crisis has been handled.

The EU was created to ensure that European states negotiated their difficulties, brought any conflict to the table and talked it out, rather than taking it on to a battlefield. Some extremist parties are actively trying to build animosity, stereotyping and generate conflict.

This is the longest period of peace in European history. It isn’t guaranteed and it takes a lot of work to keep it, because we’ve all got our own agendas. European institutions are crucial to ensuring that nations can come together to try to address common concerns.

Do you think that there is tension between what the EU has achieved and the fact that more and more nations want to join the club?

The UK has not been one of the countries to go for deep integration. Some countries would like to go for pure federalism in the EU. There’s a lot of feeling about how far integration should go and UK support for the enlargement to Eastern Europe was built on the fact that it would dilute that integration agenda.

It’s unlikely we will see any massive increase in integration, but for the Eurozone there has to be, because the Eurozone is fundamentally flawed.

If you have a joint monetary policy, but no joint economic policy, it’s impossible to manage a single currency zone in those terms. Equally we should

recognise that within a single currency zone you also need redistribution mechanisms, which allow for the spreading of tax revenue and fiscal transfers between areas – if you want to maintain a balanced economy.

The UK doesn’t want to be part of the Eurozone, or part of that deep integration, but we have to be part of promoting it. We have to be at the table because otherwise, we’ll find ourselves in a very difficult situation.

Unfortunately, the UK government is acting like an infant in the negotiations, and that has fundamentally weakened our position.

You can see how keen Europe is for us to be there, particularly the Scandinavians, because we share a lot of values, like economic openness, the spirit of fairness and the rule of law. However, we must change our behaviour towards them to create a balanced relationship with other European countries.

I’ve also been struck by how strong the business reaction has been to the UK government’s view on Europe. Standard & Poor’s produced a report on stability criteria and a long-term business forecast. The number one issue wasn’t the Eurozone, or China, it was whether the UK will have a referendum on the EU.

It’s clear in every meeting that I have with the Confederation of British Industry, and with big multinationals

that their main concern is that the UK will leave the EU.

And that’s why it is crucial for trade unions to say why the EU is so important for working people and how it has contributed positively because this isn’t just a capitalist club. There has been a strong social dimension to the EU.

We have made big gains. We have equal pay for men and women; rights for paid maternity and paternity leave; and health and safety at work protection. We have rights on consultation, rights for part-time workers, those on fixed-term contracts, and agency workers, which we would never have got without the EU.

What’s important is that all of these things have been about the weakest and most vulnerable parts of the labour market. But recently, social Europe has stalled. My big concern is that if you lose the social face, then you lose public acceptance and buy-in. It’s crucial that the social dimension is pushed to the fore.

How do you do that?

One area where Europe could really step up would be around zero hours contracts. They are potentially in conflict with European employment law. They undermine our productivity. They undermine the whole skills agenda and the drive to be an advanced manufacturing, high-skilled, cutting-edge economy.

That’s impossible if you have

It’s crucial that people have the opportunity to question and to challenge what’s done in their name. Without that there’s nothing to stop a corporate power grab. The power is in the

hands of people challenging those they have elected

Prospect • Profile – February 201519EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

AND ON A PERSONAL NOTE…Can you describe a typical day?

It starts quite early, about 6.30am, up and out. Most mornings when I’m in parliament I start with a breakfast meeting at 8am. When we’re in Brussels and Strasbourg, you’re in committees from 9am-12pm. Afternoon is more committee meetings. They’re long days. I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard.

Best career moment?

Standing for election. The biggest thing was when I was elected confederal secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. I was in a theatre with over 1,000 union leaders, and I’ve never been so intimidated and scared. I was the youngest ever candidate and a woman.

Were you a prefect at school?

Not a very good one. We got the worst stairwell to watch. Nobody went there and we sat on the stairs and ate crisps and drank pop.

The person who was the biggest influence on you?

Definitely my mum. Yes.

Three policies you would introduce if you were prime minister?

The living wage is at the top. Although I may be out of line with some, I think there has to be a nationalisation agenda – definitely the railways. We don’t have enough investment in skills and education, a fundamental weakness that, if we don’t address, will scupper our economic base. You can’t have a balanced economy without manufacturing, and you can’t have manufacturing without a skilled workforce.

Eight people, living or dead, who you would invite to dinner?

Ellen Wilkinson (MP and 1936 Jarrow march leader), Nelson Mandela, Golda Meir, George Clooney, Fidel Castro, Jack Jones (former leader of the Transport and General Workers’ Union). I’d like to have met my grandpa. My dad because we could talk about the meal and analyse it for evermore.

precarious work at the centre. Another area is health and safety. The European Health and Safety Framework deals with traditional risks. We need an agenda that addresses modern epidemics like mental health and stress at work.

It’s not about increasing costs for business. My view of regulation is that it is about finding a balance between the cost for business and the long-term benefits for society. And the cost to our health services, lost days at work and long-term productivity far outweighs the short-term costs of putting in place regulations. Happy workers are more productive.

Do you agree that we need a new economic approach in Europe, based on fair standards, good wages, and a skills agenda?

Yes. I think we urgently need it. The new Commission president has put forward a 300bn investment plan which recognises that you need to invest in an economy to get it moving.

You can’t just keep cutting. We need that investment to target infrastructure, the modernisation of transport and industrial innovation.

Our energy industries need to develop breakthrough technologies, which will allow us to improve energy efficiency and resource efficiency. These are key challenges. But to tie it up you have to have the employment dimension as well. So we need investment that produces jobs.

One really good example of that is energy efficiency and housing stock. If you invest 1 in the renovation of housing stock, you create 5 in the local economy, because you’re cutting energy poverty. People have more money in their pocket to spend in local shops, so you’re generating a local boom and creating jobs in construction.

Alongside that you then have a skills agenda in the construction sector, looking at how you can build up a new generation of key trades, which we desperately need. That means that you don’t need to bring in workers from other countries to fill skills gaps, which improves social cohesion, reduces community tensions and that has a knock-on benefit.

Ultimately we have to look at where the distribution of the wealth goes. And that’s why a living wage is an absolute essential, because low pay will also weaken our economy. It doesn’t make

The TUC says that it’s the best opportunity in years to make progress on the labour and trade union agenda in Europe. Do you agree?There’s a window of opportunity. Many decisions in the European Council depend on agreement by everybody. Hopefully we can build a coalition of governments inside the council to get a shift in policies back to a longer-term agenda.

As trade unionists, should we be worried by TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership)?

TTIP is very controversial, but we shouldn’t be worried too much by the idea of trade agreements. However, globalisation is badly regulated. It means workers are badly treated. Badly paid workers around the world are put in competition with each other. It means that there are loopholes that companies use to squirrel away money into tax havens.

So the idea of regulating is positive. We need a public debate around what we’re negotiating with the Americans, because any agreement between the EU and the US will account for 50% of global trade. It will set a global standard, and we need a gold standard in relation to the protection of the environment, labour rates, food safety and so on.

There must be safeguards against pressure to lower standards as a result of a trade agreement. And there shouldn’t be any specific legal system for multinationals to sue governments through a state dispute.

It’s only through public debate around TTIP that we can push for more transparency. People need to engage and ask their elected representatives what’s going on in the negotiations.

In that way, we create more transparency and can be sure our representatives are negotiating a gold-standard agreement, and not one that will push us towards a cowboy economy.

It’s crucial that people have the opportunity to question and to challenge what’s done in their name. Without that there’s nothing to stop a corporate power grab. The power is in the hands of people challenging those they have elected.

That’s the way you shine a light that creates the space for scrutiny. Ultimately democracy is a delicate flower and the key to keeping it alive is the water of public interest.

us leaner and mean, it makes us pretty mean and pretty skinny in the long-term.

The last 20 years, we’ve seen a massive increase in the share of GDP given to profits, at the expense of wages. We need a shift back in the other direction if we want sustainable economic development.

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

20 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Prospect has reason to be proud of its health and safety reps, says H&S officer Sarah Page JANUARY MARKED 40 years since the Health and Safety Executive was born out of a rare political consensus: protecting workers’ health and lives

As it celebrates the anniversary, the HSE is inviting others to join in on Twitter using the hashtag #HSE40.

To mark the occasion, I invited some of Prospect’s health and safety committee to share their personal reflections.

Izzy Lane works at BT’s Adastral Park. She cherishes the ability to secure improvements as a Prospect health and safety rep. For example, she has worked with her employer to arrange the installation of non-slip flooring after some nasty accidents and this has prevented any recurrence.

As an H&S rep working for both the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems, Tom James has been empowered to stop unsafe work.

During one inspection, he came across a very dusty woodwork shop, which he closed until the local exhaust ventilation was renewed and new working practices agreed. Current staff and their predecessors were contacted for health surveillance.

In our ever-changing world, many Prospect members and reps retain invaluable corporate memory. Ben Pye, the highly effective H&S rep for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs branch, is proud of helping ensure pitfalls of the past

are avoided despite the churn of new managers.

All our reps truly uphold the spirit of cooperation

in health and safety on which Prospect prides itself.

I was a nurse in the early 1980s before the

introduction of COSHH, the law requiring employers

to control substances hazardous to health. This was also before manual handling regulations made explicit the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

I remember mopping up body fluids (without gloves) that I later learnt contained Hepatitis B. In those days manually lifting and turning patients was the norm.

Like so many nurses, I eventually injured my back and was forced to leave the health service. I welcome the lifting aids, hoists and “no lift” policies that emerged in the 1990s.

■ To volunteer as a health and safety rep, tell your branch committee or contact safetyreps@prospect.org.uk See bit.ly/Safetyrep

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Walk-outs over payProfessionals and specialists in the Health and Safety Executive took a half day’s action in December with co-ordinated walk-outs at 1pm from 30 offices across the UK.

The dispute follows the branch’s rejection of a 1% pay offer that HSE imposed even though it was overwhelmingly rejected by staff.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy visited protestors in London.

The further planned action will delay on-going casework, though responses to emergencies or planned court appearances will be exempt.

Pay restraint is now impacting on HSE’s ability to recruit and retain staff, the branch says.

PLEDGES WIN SUPPORT AT H&S EVENTTWO MORE politicians boosted the Prospect Pledge campaign at a gathering of the union’s Health and Safety

Executive branch in January.Shadow employment

minister Stephen Timms (left) signed the pledge to work with Prospect.

Oliver Coppard (below), the Labour candidate for Sheffield Hallam standing against Nick Clegg, pledged to support investment in skills that contribute to a low-carbon economy.

Timms, the MP for East Ham, was guest speaker at the branch’s annual

general meeting in Sheffield. He said he wanted to work

with experts and encouraged members to write to him with health and safety issues they would like a future Labour government to take on board.

It was right to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act last year, he said. It had saved thousands of lives and he was proud of its impact on society and the wellbeing of individuals.

The Labour Party still believed that evidence-based policy was the guiding principle of health and safety law, Timms added.

He voiced his concerns about the changes proposed in the deregulation bill – currently at report stage in the Lords – that would exclude the self-employed from H&S inspections.

Answering a question from the floor, Timms said he could not promise any immediate extra resources for the HSE, but his party would undertake research into priorities.

Prospect • Profile – February 201521HEALTH AND SAFETY

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commonly negotiated by their unions. The civil service, for example, has

confirmed that shared parental leave will be paid at contractual rates, with men and women treated equally.

EligibilityTo be eligible for shared parental leave, the mother or main adopter must qualify for statutory maternity/adoption leave and pay, or maternity allowance.

She must share the main care of the child with the father/her partner, who may be of the same sex. Other relatives, like grandparents, are not eligible. Each parent has to meet two further tests:

● Continuity of employment: they must each have worked for their respective employer for at least 26 weeks at the end of the 15th week before the week in which the child is due (or an adopter has been matched with a child). They must still be employed in the first week that the shared parental leave will be taken.

● Employment and earnings: they must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks leading up to the due date and have earned above the maternity allowance threshold of £30 a week in 13 of those 66 weeks.

The conciliation service ACAS cites an example where leave could be shared if only one parent meets the eligibility criteria – a self-employed parent would not be entitled to shared parental leave but could still pass the eligibility test regarding employment and earnings, allowing the other parent to qualify.

ARE YOU or your partner planning to give birth to or adopt a child on or after 5 April 2015?

That’s the day a new right comes into effect for both parents to share their parental leave – as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.

But the new rules are difficult to navigate. Prospect is advising members to seek advice from their local reps in good time and start planning and talking to employers early.

The mother must take the first two weeks after the baby’s birth as maternity leave, but after that – if she agrees – a couple can share up to 50 weeks’ leave, with flexibility to:

● take it in turns to take leave to look after the child

● be off work at the same time. Fathers/mothers’ partners will

retain their old right to two weeks’ paternity leave.

However, shared parental leave replaces any previous right to additional paternity leave.

PayMothers’ existing right to statutory maternity pay will transfer to shared parental leave. That is currently 90% of normal salary for the first six weeks; a statutory rate of £138 per week (£139.58 from April 2015) for the next 33 weeks; and 13 weeks of unpaid leave after that.

The share of money paid to fathers will depend on how much time they choose to take off.

Many workplace agreements offer better terms than statutory pay,

However, two in five new fathers won’t qualify at all, according to the TUC. This is mainly where the mother/main adopter is not in paid work – see bit.ly/tuc_shared

When can SPL be taken?SPL may be taken in one continuous block, or in discontinuous blocks of complete weeks.

Parents can take the time off together, separately or overlap part of their entitlement.

Employers cannot refuse requests for one continuous block of leave.

They can refuse requests for discontinuous blocks, but must be willing to discuss them.

Telling your employerThe notification requirements are complex – each parent will need to give at least eight weeks’ notice to employers before taking any proportion of the leave.

The regulations allow parents to change their minds about when they want to take leave, but again, it’s complicated.

Return to workA parent who returns to work after 26 weeks or less has the right to return to the same job; and after more than 26 weeks the right to return to the same or a similar job, if not reasonably practical for the employer to give them the same job.

● Logged-in members can download Prospect guidance, including detailed advice on how to apply, from: https://library.prospect.org.uk/id/2015/00128

■ ACAS advice: www.acas.org.uk/spl

■ Government advice: www.gov.uk/parental-leave/overview

■ Working Families articles: bit.ly/WF_shared

■ Maile – Essential to seek early advice

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

22 PARENTAL LEAVE

Who’ll be holding the baby?Working parents will have a new right to share their parental leave this April. But the changes are complex, so do read the small print, says equalities officer Sandie Maile

Prospect • Profile – February 201523DEFENCE

THE MINISTRY of Defence has published a new attendance management policy without prior agreement with the unions.

Prospect does not support the change of policy and associated procedures – in particular vague new criteria applied to discounted absences.

This was despite assurances that discounting would continue. The union says publication followed an “inadequate” consultation.

In a letter to members, Prospect assistant secretary Steph Marston said: “Early engagement was good but this ceased and was followed by MOD sending us a large suite of documents with an impossible timescale to respond.”

Meanwhile, Prospect has secured important concessions to proposed new MOD travel and subsistence arrangements. These include retaining the UK incidental expenses allowance, standard rate motor mileage allowance and transfer grants.

However, payments have been capped at levels that may leave members out of pocket when conducting MOD business.

Marston said consultation had been “sporadic and patchy”. At one point Prospect and other unions had to seek external assistance from the Central Arbitration Committee to get MOD

Royal Ordnance redundancy deal securedProspect has reached agreement with BAE Systems over redundancy arrangements for former Royal Ordnance factories staff, years after talks began.

The union sought to challenge the legality of redundancy tapering arrangements as well as selection criteria, after the introduction of age discrimination legislation in 2006 and a 2009 test case.

The latest talks came after the announcement in 2013 of redundancies within the former Royal Ordnance factories.

The negotiations concluded recently with the removal of non-compliant selection

criteria and tapering moved from age 57-60 to age 62-75.

Many people will now be entitled to a maximum of 104 weeks’ redundancy pay up to the age of 62, an improvement of five years’ protection. The tapering element will also be revisited before any statutory increase in the basic state retirement age.

Negotiator Tony Hammond said: “The outcome brings more than just comfort to members in terms of

recompense for job losses, there is also great relief that common sense has prevailed.”

Prospect also successfully fought an attempt to change the balance of the board of trustees for the Royal Ordnance pension scheme.

Since 2008 there have been eight elected/nominated trustees: four nominated by BAE Systems, one by the pensioners’ group and three sought by nomination – and election if necessary – from active scheme members.

“We support a strong and knowledgeable board of trustees that includes representation from the retired members’ group but not at the expense of active members.”

IN BRIEF■ SPENDING EDM – An early day

motion from former defence minister Sir Peter Luff calls on the next government to devote at least 2% of GDP to defence, including a 1% a year increase in the equipment budget. It says this is required to counter a growing and ever more complex range of threats. Please encourage your MP to sign it. See: www.parliament.uk/edm/2014-15/757

■ PAT DAVIES – The president of Prospect’s Flagship Training

branch has taken early retirement. Pat has also been branch secretary and sat on the union’s national Defence Maritime and Logistics group. Negotiator Clive Scoggins said: “By using his valuable skills and expertise Pat gained the confidence of the employer and built up a good rapport so that members’ concerns were fairly represented with excellent outcomes.”

MOD fails to discuss changes with unions

to release supporting evidence for the changes.

Unions have been in talks with MOD over T&S provisions for more than three years. The last Strategic Defence and Security Review included a target to reduce the civilian allowance budget by £50m.

“The principle must be upheld that staff should not subsidise the MOD when required to travel or work away from the normal location of business,” said Marston.

“The proposed changes are unfair to staff – in that they set limits that are inadequate at current price levels; and unnecessary for the department – in that civilian staffing cuts driven by the SDSR have already achieved the mandated reduction in civilian costs.

“The unions have initiated the formal disputes procedure, with a view to raising these concerns at the highest level.”

■ MOD members can find a summary on the e-group: http://bit.ly/1vdT4ww

■ Hammond – common sense has prevailed

■ Marston – proposed changes unfair

WE CANNOT talk about a real economic recovery until the majority get to share in it. This is why fair pay and living standards must be high on the political agenda as we approach the general election.

The government’s failure to meet its own deficit reduction targets has nothing to do with lack of enthusiasm for cutting spending.

The problem is that it has raised much less tax than it expected. New jobs have tended to be low paid and insecure, and even those with better conditions have had a pay cut, with prices rising more than wages month after month.

The danger now is that the Chancellor’s failure gets us stuck in a vicious spiral of further decline. Holding back pay in the public sector and hitting the whole economy by rapid deep cuts after the next election will leave people with less in their pockets. This is economic self-harm.

People tend to think of Britain’s cost of living crisis as just affecting low-paid workers, but even those with steady jobs are struggling.

Take Prospect member Neil Hope-Collins – a health and safety inspector in Leeds.

Neil hasn’t had a pay rise in seven years. He told the Daily Mirror: “I can

pay the bills, just. But we have no savings left. We have had no holidays. We have seen our standard of living drop dramatically.”

John Doherty (not his real name) is another Prospect member who would describe himself as part of Britain’s “squeezed middle”.

He says: “I earn £34,000 working as an environmental regulator in Cornwall. This sounds reasonable, but a succession of pay freezes and below-inflation rises have left me far worse off than I was in 2008.

“I no longer have any spare money to spend on new clothes, days out, home appliances or even simple work on the house. Holidays are effectively out of the question.”

Prospect members made a big contribution during the Britain Needs A Pay Rise march last October and we need your help again.

The TUC is organising a fortnight of regional events between 16 February-1 March to raise awareness about the need for fair pay and better living standards.

Fair Pay Fortnight 2015 is chance to get involved again – to organise workplace activities, write blogs, Tweet and share why we need fair pay and good jobs, and how unions can make a difference.

■ www.fairpayfortnight.org

LIVING WAGE FOR WALES LIBRARY STAFFPROSPECT MEMBERS have welcomed the National Library of Wales’s commitment to pay its lowest-paid staff a living wage.

The minimum wage was set at £7.65 in January, rising to £7.85 from April, after talks with the library’s unions.

Ken Skates, the Wales Assembly’s deputy minister for culture, sport and tourism, visited staff at the library to mark its landmark decision.

He said: “We are committed to the roll-out of the living wage in the public, private and third sectors in Wales. It is an important initiative in addressing some of the issues associated with low pay and poverty.”

Management introduced the underpin for its lowest-paid employees, despite struggling to balance the books and avoid redundancies after a decade of annual cuts.

Negotiator Gareth Howells led the talks for Prospect, PCS and FDA. He said: “We are delighted that the library has agreed to one of the cornerstones of the unions’ pay claim. It is a matter of basic fairness that people should get a wage that is enough to live on.

“This proves the value of partnership working between management and the unions during a difficult time in the library’s history.”

■ Ken Skates with Iwan ap Dafydd, Prospect heritage branch secretary; Aled Gruffudd Jones, librarian and NLW chief executive; Rob Phillips, NLW Prospect rep; Gareth Howells; Doug Jones, PCS; and Sian Thomas, NLW Prospect rep

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TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady argues for new policies to ensure better pay and living standards

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

24 PAY

■ Prospect deputy general secretary and incumbent TUC president Leslie Manasseh

(centre) joined Frances O’Grady at the head of the TUC Britain Needs A Pay Rise

march in London last October

PROSPECT HAS written to energy minister Matthew Hancock to highlight how the current tax treatment of workforce allowances is penalising employees on long-term construction projects.

The arrangements threaten to reduce the pool of skilled employees needed to complete major infrastructure projects crucial to the success of the UK economy, the letter says.

Concern centres on accommodation and subsistence allowances for employees working away from home. After two years on a project, employees can lose the favourable tax treatment of these allowances. Where projects are expected from the outset to last more than two years, the concessions do not apply.

Nuclear new build at Hinkley Point C in Somerset is set to take ten or more years, as could other major infrastructure projects.

“The taxation system should support flexibility and stability,” said Prospect deputy general secretary Garry Graham. “We are concerned that under the current approach employees will not be willing to work away from home or will feel prompted to move away before a project is complete.

“It is normal on major

developments to draw workers from across the country to achieve the necessary mix of skills. They incur genuine and legitimate expenses associated with working, and lodging, away from home and should be reimbursed.”

Prospect has been working with other unions and employers to highlight these concerns. In the case

of Hinkley Point C, an important concession has been secured from HM Revenue and Customs.

Philip Parker, head of industrial relations and employment affairs at EDF Energy, explained: “We have managed to secure an agreement from HMRC that extra statutory concessions dating back to the 1980s can apply to the Hinkley Point C agreement and the allowances in question.”

Rather than employ a succession of travelling workers, EDF’s aim was to develop employees’ skills throughout the length of the project, creating a “more progressive employment arrangement than is typical in construction”.

But a cloud still hangs over the concessions. Parker said the government had signalled it wants a review of this kind of tax policy and allowances.

“We were expecting a green paper early this year but that may not happen now, given the election. Extra statutory concessions don’t sound very secure, given the

political climate and the drive for cuts.

“We have stressed that this is not some sort of tax fiddle but payment to cover entirely legitimate, business-related costs.”

He added that an overnight allowance of £35 per night taxed at 40% leaves just £21 and can be a significant deterrent to the individuals concerned.

Prospect’s letter to Hancock said current tax arrangements ignore:

● the duration of major projects ● the need to attract a skilled and

specialist workforce from across the UK

● the fact that retention and upskilling of that workforce is critical to completing projects on time and to budget and specification

● finite duration means it is not in the interests of local communities, or those delivering projects, to relocate permanently.

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■ Workers on big projects, like the Queensferry Crossing

in Scotland (pictured), can incur high costs if they have

to live away from home

Tax barrier to infrastructure projects

SELLAFIELD REVIEWS PRIVATE SECTOR ROLEMEMBERS AT Sellafield woke in January to news that the £9bn contract with the consortium managing and operating the site is to be terminated.

In the face of rising costs, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has decided the Cumbrian nuclear reprocessing and decommissioning site is “too complicated” for private sector management.

NMP will continue to manage the site for a 15-month transitional period, while board members will gradually be replaced with NDA personnel.

The NDA will then look to appoint private sector companies as strategic partners in the decommissioning process.

Prospect has been in talks with the NDA over the impact on staff and operations and the selection criteria for new strategic partners.

National secretary Gill Wood said: “We have sought assurances from the NDA and government that the terms and conditions of staff will not be affected, the promised development of local communities will be delivered and the transition period will not detract from the planned decommissioning work programme.

“Sellafield and the NDA have indicated they are happy to work with us throughout the process.”

‘We have managed to secure an agreement from HMRC that extra statutory concessions dating back to the 1980s can apply to the Hinkley Point C agreement and the allowances in question’ Parker

Prospect • Profile – February 201525ENERGY

PROSPECT TOOK its campaign for proper investment in the heritage sector to the historic surroundings of York in January.

A packed seminar sought to build on the findings of last year’s survey report – Heritage in a Cold Climate – from a regional perspective.

It was held in the medieval grade 1 listed King’s Manor, home to York University’s archaeology department.

Chaired by Prospect national secretary Alan Leighton, speakers included union vice-president Denise McGuire; the Lord Mayor of York Ian Gillies; York City Council cabinet member Janet Looker; and academic Dr Mick Taylor.

The heritage sector accounts for around £5bn of the UK’s GDP, said Denise McGuire, opening the meeting. It represents the biggest asset of the booming tourist industry, set to make up 10% of the economy by 2025, according to Visit Britain.

This strength was demonstrated by the fact that the UK’s top five visitor attractions were all heritage sites, albeit in London, said McGuire. The challenge was to get visitors to enjoy the rich cultural heritage in the rest of the UK.

Alongside its direct economic contribution, the heritage sector should also be valued for its contribution to health, wellbeing and inclusion. “Some 20% of those who visit museums are more likely to report good health,” she said.

But this contribution and the UK’s global reputation for heritage were being threatened by “death from a thousand cuts” and the budgetary outlook was worsening. Despite this, public support for government funding of the sector had increased sharply.

McGuire said the pay of Prospect’s 6,000 plus heritage specialists working across 25 or more institutions had proved an easy target.

Stagnating wages had led to low morale and a loss of expertise. Cuts had also produced a degree of “corner-cutting” and “dumbing down”.

Many heritage-based organisations had been forced to close, with the regions – where funding had all but dried up – suffering hardest.

Many had seen increased charges and hidden costs and institutions were reducing community engagement work, damaging social inclusion. Members felt the sector was reaching “a tipping point”.

Heritage investment adds value

Government cuts are damaging community wellbeing as well as the sector’s contribution to the economy

Alongside his mayoral duties, Councillor Ian Gillies is president of York Archaeological Trust and a York Civic Trust member. He observed that it was often said York was “the best free day out in the country”.

He believed that keeping many historic attractions free could help encourage spending elsewhere, as well as maintaining the principle of inclusivity. However, he observed that money was lacking to provide some attractions with a much-needed facelift.

His colleague Janet Looker explained how York’s rich heritage was highly prized by its populace as being integral to the identity of the city.

She said: “You can’t go dig anywhere in York without coming up against 2,000 years of human settlement.”

The city’s heritage attractions represented its strong, independent spirit. York Museum was the very first museum built outside London, while York saw fit to build its own gallery as part of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

She emphasised that York’s approach to the past was not simply to preserve it but make it work for the future.

Schemes aiming to do that include: ● the £7m refit of York Art Gallery ● the reopening of the City Library with a new archive facility,

following a successful Heritage Lottery bid ● a scheme to create a world-class venue and exhibition

space for creative business in the city’s historic Guildhall. Heritage not only needed to attract tourists and other

visitors, but also make York a desirable place to live, as well as attracting businesses, and students to its thriving universities, she stressed.

In recognition of this, heritage has been put at the heart of a new business development and city marketing agency.

Councillor Looker suggested that heritage would increasingly have to look to innovative forms of funding and partnership as core budgets came under further pressure.

Dr Mick Taylor, an academic working in social enterprise, highlighted the value of “social capital” within heritage, alongside narrow economic measures of a sector’s worth.

He urged institutions and sub-sectors to avoid seeing themselves as in competition with each other, and to seek common cause to raise awareness of the impact of cuts.

■ McGuire – sector at tipping point

■ Taylor – common cause

■ Looker – York’s rich heritage

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Prospect • Profile – February 201527OBE • OBITUARIES

HONOURED FOR UNION CONTRIBUTIONDECADES OF selfless devotion to trade union work by Brian Larcombe, a long-standing rep at the UK Hydrographic Office, was recognised with an MBE in the New Year Honours list.

The honour also recognised his 42 years of service to the UKHO, as a cartographic officer and manager, latterly within human resources.

Brian spent 35 years on the branch committee of Prospect and its predecessor unions, 25 years as chair, and also chaired the trade union side. He served on the MOD group council and chaired the union’s mapping and charting group.

During this period the UKHO moved to agency and trading fund status. There were regular status reviews and potential threats of privatisation, redundancies and outsourcing.

He campaigned for the UKHO to remain as a government organisation, convinced this was best for the UK, safety of life at sea, the organisation and the staff.

Brian said: “I have always been driven by the idea of fairness, whether it’s a collective issue or concerning an individual member.

“I also believe you shouldn’t be overly critical of other people’s efforts if you are not prepared to do it yourself – so I did.

“To me it doesn’t matter where the answer comes from as long as it’s the right one – it can come from management, unions or members.”

Ian Moncrieff, UKHO chief executive, praised Brian’s “altruistic zeal and common-sense, even-handed approach, even in difficult times”. He added: “He has helped make UKHO a great place to work and the 1,000 people on site to find career satisfaction in public service.”

Prospect represents over 400 staff at the Taunton-based UKHO, which provides worldwide navigational products for the Royal Navy and Merchant Marine.

A leader ahead of his time

SAD LOSS OF MARY WATKINSMARY WATKINS, who was a full-time officer at Prospect and its predecessor for 21 years, sadly died in December 2014.

Mary started at the union in 1982 as a library and information officer. She then became a research officer with responsibility for health and safety and Prospect’s homeworkers’ network.

After retiring she and her husband Malcolm, who lived in Kent, enjoyed driving holidays in France and visiting her two sisters in Australia and New Zealand.

Mary took early retirement in 2003 due to ill health and lost her battle with asthma at the end of last year. Prospect sends its deepest condolences to her family.

KENNETH GLYNN, general secretary of a predecessor union of Prospect, died aged 94 in November 2014.

Kenneth was appointed general secretary of the Society of Telecommunications Engineers in 1960, retiring in 1983.

He affiliated the union to the TUC and in the early 80s he envisaged and set up the first union political fund that was not affiliated to a political party. During his leadership the union grew from 5,500 to 29,000 members.

Denise McGuire, Prospect vice-president, and a mere “grassroot” when Kenneth was a giant, said: “Strategic vision was Kenneth’s hallmark – an amazing leader, a brain the size of a planet and 10 steps ahead of everyone else.

“He negotiated pay increases others could only dream about, created generations of trade unionists and imagined a different world for us all.”

Denise recalls the first fringe

meeting organised by activists at the union’s national conference. “What would Kenneth say?” was the question

on everyone’s lips. He was very clear: “Now we are a real union.”

She added: “Kenneth would be thrilled that his legacy has resulted in people from ‘his’ union playing key roles on the national and international trade union stage.”

The union later became Connect, merging with Prospect in 2010.

Reaction from colleagues in the communications, media and digital sector were captured in DigitalEye – see bit.ly/Digi_Eye_Dec

The Guardian also published a tribute – see bit.ly/obit_Kenneth

After retiring, Kenneth worked for Pensioners for Peace and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

His contribution was recognised by Bruce Kent, who spoke at the funeral.

Prospect’s thoughts are with his wife Val and all the family.

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‘He negotiated pay increases others could only dream about’ Denise McGuire

OBITUARIES

Indexing should be an election hot potatoI couldn’t agree more with Paul Shave (ViewPoint 4/14) with regard to pension indexing.

David Cameron says “we are all in it together”, but not MPs, it seems, as they keep the Retail Prices Index and reduce everybody else to the Consumer Prices Index.

This should, indeed, become an election issue and be brought to the attention of the wider public.

If we have to take a cut then so should MPs. I for one am sick and tired of those who feather their own nests at the expense of everyone else. There should be a “none of the above” box on all ballot papers.

I wrote to my MP, Sir Peter Tapsell, asking for an explanation as to why

the index linking of MPs’ pensions was treated differently to those of every other public servant.

His reply was to refer me to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which was set up to regulate, scrutinise and fix MPs’ salaries, expenses, allowances and pensions in the wake of the expenses scandal.

So I wrote to the chief executive of the IPSA on 13 January 2015, but I have neither received a response to my letter nor even an acknowledge-ment.

His address: The Chief Executive, Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, 4th Floor, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DU.

Perhaps other members would like to bombard the IPSA with requests for an explanation as to why MPs’

pensions should be treated differ-ently. The current situation is hardly in the interest of fairness, equality and being “in it together”.

Eric Buckley, Lincolnshire

Why UK is failing on science and engineeringI read the article “Time to stem the loss of defence skills” in Profile (4/14) and it did not surprise me that the seminar speakers failed to address the lack of recognition of science and engineering as worthwhile professions.

Also most people are unable to differentiate between a profession-ally qualified engineer, a technician, an assembly line worker or a labourer in an engineering company.

TTIP is road to misery, not prosperityI was pleased to see the two letters on TTIP in November’s Profile.

From being something that no-one knew about and could hardly pronounce, this Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has become notorious.

As a result, out have come the enthusiasts telling us it will bring us all wealth and that the NHS will not be not affected.

They ignore the evidence of previ-ous similar partnerships, notably the North Atlantic Free Trade Area, agreed 20 years ago and supposed to bring vastly greater prosperity to Mexico and the US, and thus stop immigrants to the US (they’d be so well off in Mexico).

Instead, these neoliberal eco-nomic policies did not cause pros-perity in the US, but the loss of an estimated million jobs as companies relocated to low-wage Mexico.

What little protection there had been in Mexico for workers’ rights went, and prosperity did not dawn there either – countless Mexicans are still trying to enter the US.

Canada has also suffered attacks on new environmental legislation through the Investor State Dispute Resolution provision.

This gives companies the power

to challenge democratic decisions made by a state and claim compen-sation if those decisions could be argued as harming their profits.

Special tribunals are used, which are not part of the state’s legal structures – they comprise three commercial lawyers, one of whom is appointed by the company making the claim.

Under similar treaties, costly claims have been success-fully made or are under way. The prospect of this will hamper democratic pro-cesses and be both expensive and risky.

When the nego-tiations were about to begin, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills sensibly sought the views of three eminent economists.

Their April 2013 report stated: “Ultimately, we conclude that an EU-US investment treaty that does contain ISDS [Investor State Dispute Resolution] is likely to have few or no benefits to the UK, while having meaningful economic and political costs.

“Removing ISDS from the treaty would be unlikely to have an appre-ciable impact on the (already negli-gible) benefits of a treaty with ISDS, while largely removing the costs of the treaty to the UK.” (Costs and Benefits of an EU-USA Investment

Protection Treaty – see bit.ly/costs_LSE)

Despite these warnings, the enthu-siasts claim it will bring prosperity and ISDS is nothing to worry about. Wishful thinking, it would seem, and in defiance of expert advice.

If you don’t like TTIP, make your views known to your MP and MEP. Ask them what they know about it

and if they think it’s so good, why.

While free trade may be a good thing

and no one wants to argue with pros-perity (though the LSE report says it’s

unlikely), let’s argue for a levelling up of

standards of protection for workers, the environ-

ment, food safety, and banking, not levelling down.

Let’s argue that a treaty that would in any way inhibit our ability to make policy is anti-democratic and not worth having; and that ISDS is definitely not wanted.

You can get involved in cam-paigning, too: 38 degrees has been bringing people together in all parts of the country to do this; and I was on a street stall with col-leagues from Unite and Unison in December. People are surprisingly keen to find out about it. Rosi Edwards, Birmingham

ViewPoint ■ Please note – letters may be edited

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Prospect • Profile – February 2015

28 VIEWPOINT

While briefly mentioning the need to provide vocational training, and equating it to educational qualifica-tions, Janice Munday said that key to this would be getting the message into schools and colleges.

Unfortunately the problem in the UK runs far deeper. There is a com-plete disrespect, often contempt, among many highly educated people in non-scientific or non-engineering professions – and the population in general – for mathematical-based sub-jects and competences that are funda-mental to science and engineering.

Little wonder schoolchildren are not enthusiastic about a career in so-called “STEM”, a term which seems to be used in education but not widely elsewhere.

A friend who attended a highly regarded school and chose to read physics at university obtained good A-Level results and a place at the uni-versity of her choice.

Even then the headmistress said she could still get her into another univer-sity to read an arts subject, as if this was somehow better.

The same friend, now retired, attends a book club run by an ex-headmistress, who never asks for her opinion or that of another member with a science background.

She openly boasts about having failed O-Level maths three times. She seems to regard this as a badge of honour, in the same way a yob regards an ASBO.

An American, Japanese, Chinese or Korean and most Europeans would not be willing to portray themselves in this way, as mathematical compe-tence is much more highly regarded in our competitor countries.

There, science and engineering are high-prestige professions attracting the best students. Until UK society’s attitudes to science, technology and mathematics are changed, further decline is inevitable.

The same lady, who retired as a hos-pital physicist, took up a part-time job as a teaching assistant after her main career. She sat in lessons given by a qualified teacher and observed that some of the physics being taught was simply wrong.

When challenged as to how she knew, the staff were amazed that she had a degree in physics.

One should not blame the teacher for making errors but those behind a system that misuses professionally qualified teachers to teach subjects in which they have no expertise, pre-sumably on the assumption that their teaching ability means they can teach any subject.

Yes, you need to get the message into the schools and colleges, but you need to get the appropriate attitudes into the Department for Education, local authorities, governors, heads, teachers and parents first.John Davison, Andover, Hampshire

PROSPECT TWEETS and RETWEETS@ProspectUnion

Jon Green @jmgreenprospect Feb 12 The pay squeeze is hitting skilled workers too – Great blog @FlipChartRick: The fall of the skilled worker http://wp.me/p3uYA-2hI

Steve Jary @UnionSteve Feb 10 Left Foot Forward @LeftFootFwd Begging business for a pay rise is meaningless while David Cameron attacks trade unions http://bit.ly/1B5ELlb

Prospect Union @ProspectUnion 10 Feb Round up of stories from Wednesday’s papers for @ProspectUnion members: www.prospect.org.uk/news/resources/inthenews/2359

Sue Ferns @FernsSue Feb 9 Interesting @TUCeconomics blog – Osborne’s recovery twice as slow as the previous record #badeconomics http://bit.ly/1AMYdTw

Prospect Union @ProspectUnion 9 Feb Museums and galleries should be public services: public meeting in parliament, committee room 6, Feb 10, 6.30pm. http://bit.ly/1CvsMh3

Andy Arnold @WW1geek_andy 7 Feb At @Save_IWMLibrary I found only copy of a book listing 1,900 men from my area who served during WW1. #LoveIWMLibrary pic.twitter.com/3uptKmHUY0

Prospect Union @ProspectUnion 7 Feb Library & Explore History saved - but petition remains open http://bit.ly/save_IWM via @UKChange

SaveIWMLibrary @Save_IWMLibrary 7 Feb Today we’re celebrating #NLD15 - tweet us photos of something you found, discovered or learnt in IWM Library with hashtag: #LoveIWMLibrary

Prospect Legal @LegalProspect 5 Feb Cricket umpires (members of @ProspectUnion) challenge retirement & take age discrimination case to Tribunal http://bit.ly/18RumgU

Angela Dixon @Angela_Grotbags 5 Feb Great news today. Member who I recently supported at a grievance over pay has had this upheld. @ProspectUnion

Louise Staniforth @StaniforthLouMP 5 Feb .@ProspectUnion Essential Skills Course. Reps learn and have fun! @JoinProspectNow to be part of something special pic.twitter.com/OTARNaVzd0

Kubsat @Kubsat 5 Feb Excellent selection of donated cakes for our @ProspectNPL #TimeToTalk event, already >30 chats @ProspectUnion pic.twitter.com/uYPSydwgTW

Prospect Legal @LegalProspect Feb 5 Update for members/reps on DfT judgment: union agreement to vary contractual sickness absence @ProspectUnion http://bit.ly/1v0TYMI

Prospect Met Office @ProspectMetO Feb 4 Massive turnout to AGM today! Motions on #industrial action got near-unanimous support. Thanks everyone.

Prospect Legal @LegalProspect Feb 2 Trades Union Congress - New health and safety rules for self-employed workers are a “license to kill”, warns TUC http://bit.ly/1vq4NZa

Prospect • Profile – February 201529VIEWPOINT

WORDWISEYou have 15 minutes to find as many words as possible using the letters shown in the grid. Each word must contain four or more letters, one of which must be the letter in the central square. No letter can be used more than once in each word. No proper nouns, plurals or foreign words allowed.

FEBRUARY 2015

CROSSWORD ANSWERS – ACROSS: 1 Industrial 7 Jack 9 Credited 10 Whinny 11 Fairway 12 Venture 14 Backlash 15 Mock 17 Quid 18 Sunshine 21 Anxious 23 Press on 25 Avenge 26 Brunette 27 Croc 28 Trade cycle.DOWN: 2 Normal 3 Underpaid 4 Titlark 5 Indy 6 Low tech 7 Joist 8 Contract 13 Mainz 15 Monastery 16 Turnover 18 Student 19 Hirsute 20 Portal 22 Ionic 24 Abba.

WORDWISE SOLUTION: SupporterTHINKS... ? SOLUTIONS: 1 – Each can be preceded by the word HOT to form a familiar phrase. 2 – Time on one’s hands

ACROSS1 1 Strike action? (10)7 Weightlifter found on bowling-

green (4)9 Believed to have been entered on

one side of the account (8)10 Why, going round hotel, do we hear

sound of a horse? (6)11 Green approach not particularly

close (7)12 Risk this capital? (7)14 Rear left has trouble with violent

reaction (8)15 Exam copy (4)17 Which French duke had tobacco? (4)18 It comes in through this roof (8)21 Restless one promises to pay ten

that have been included (7)23 Wrong persons keep going (5,2)25 Some scavengers retaliate (6)26 Nutter be upsetting young lady (8)27 Reptile caught old bird (4)28 Exchange bike during fluctuations in

economic activity (5,5)

DOWN2 Ordinary novice supporting lady (6)3 Not given enough remuneration

from below room I entered (9)4 One bird after another’s a pipit (7)5 Car racing in outskirts of Derby (4)6 Unsophisticated cloth we removed

(3,4)7 Joanna first on beam (5)8 Get less agreement (8)13 Said girl going over New Zealand

port! (5)15 Religious establishment, one almost

in control (9)16 Pie sales (8)18 Learner’s stunted development (7)19 The lady’s clothing reportedly is

hairy (7)20 Left a pupil at the entrance (6)22 Style inside station I could see (5)24 Pop group turned up unchanged

(4)

Crossword Puzzles

ORS

PET

PRU

THINKS... ?

1 What do the following words have in common?

LINE • MONEY • SPOTPANTS • SEAT • PLATE

2 What familiar phrase or expression is represented here?

11:4511111

WordCount25 average47 brilliant68+ amazing

There is one nine-letter word. Today’s clue:

FAN

Prospect • Profile – February 2015

30 CROSSWORD • PUZZLES

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Profile- February 2015

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