While Edinburgh council workers struggle through the snow to deliver essential services, the best the Council’s Head of HR can do is email managers telling them how staff will lose money or have to make up time if they are late or have to go home early.
With stories from all parts of the council of staff taking hours to get to work and fighting through the snow to deliver home care, protect children or ensure public safety – not to mention the gritters working round the clock – the head of HR might have been better offering a smidgeon of thanks instead of a headmasterly lecture on how to dock wages.
Thanks perhaps to the home carers and the Pentland Rangers helping them get to clients. Thanks perhaps to the social workers walking miles to visit children. Thanks perhaps to the road workers and cleansing workers working long shifts to try to keep the roads clear. Thanks maybe also to the staff managing to get into the central offices to keep systems working. And perhaps a hint of recognition might have been in order for the people who just could not get in, many of whom will have been working at home.
UNISON members deliver services but also rely on them too, like any other citizen. So if the council can’t bring itself to value the efforts of its workers through the blizzards, we at least can.
Thanks to you all.
PS: We hear the Head of HR didn’t manage in today because of the snow!
NOTE: Later this afternoon, the Chief Executive issued a thankyou to staff. It was justified and appreciated.
Check out the website for full details http://www.unison-edinburgh.org.uk/
Very good blog – I thought, too, that there was an unseemly rush to point out that employees could be sent to the naughty step! However, I must say that my own experience, locally, has been that middle managers have been very supportive and appreciative of their colleagues' (and joint trade unionists' in most cases)efforts.
Perhaps this managerial attitude could be cascaded up to the 'higher echelons'!