Power to the people

The cuts have also began to hit the school where two of my children go to and just lately most of the Mums have been talking about one of the popular teachers who was told she was being made redundant. She was phoned up on her mobile while she was shopping in Waitrose to be told she was being made redundant. That's a nice touch, wouldn't have speaking to her face to face been more suitable?. As a result of the shock of this she collapsed in the middle of the shop.

As more was found out a petition was started to say that the parents objected to the decision to make this teacher redundant and would they reconsider. Even parents of children who had left school in previous years wanted to sign the petition.

As the petition grew bigger other teachers were saying to the parents that they should stop the petition as there was no point. Also the teachers were saying that it was upsetting the children as they began find out that one of their favourite teachers would be leaving.

A committee meeting was held on Thursday and as parents waited to find out what was happening and today were issued with a letter saying the redundancy process was being stopped.

This is a copy of the letter which was received today. I say this petition has helped influence this decision. We will have see how this develops. I say Power to the People!.

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

In my last post I said about the Lady at work who was losing her job as a result of the department she works in being closed down due to cuts.

I was in the bookshop dropping some parcels off and I saw her in the bookshop and she came up to me and said that it was her last day today. I was shocked and I said I felt sad because even though I might only see her for a few minutes every day she always managed to make me laugh. I just gave her big hug and I said was going to miss her.

Today I went into the office to collect the post and turned to where she normally sits and I was shocked to see her desk completely empty. Any sign of her existence had gone. It all seemed very final and it feels like you are losing part of the family.

Cuts.com

Everybody has heard about George Osborne's spending cuts on the news and on the radio but where I work it is happening all around me. Everybody is worried and there are news on the radio and newspaper of possibly more redundancies but this is already on top of people who have left.

As part of my job I visit lots of departments on a daily basis and just this week I heard that an entire department I visit is going. it is almost like a family and you see the same people everyday and I notice when people are missing. I feel sad because the Lady in that office is leaving. I have got to know her over 6 years and she has helped me on my way and she makes me laugh. Another Lady in the same office has been there for 19 years and she is leaving.

People went to a large union meeting yesterday and then later you see whole offices closed for meetings, people talking in small groups saying things like how do I know my job is secure.

Another department is going next July and Clare who works there says she is gutted because it has become part of her life and she doesn't know what she is going to do. She says you have to be grateful now for everyday you have a job. See what happens tomorrow.

Taking Risks

Having read on the scrapping of the 104 week linking rules on benefits & work & where's the benefit? means taking a big risk. I started work for the agency in April 2010 so the linking rules would have covered me up until April 2012.

Part of my decision to start work with the agency was based on knowing that I was covered by the linking rule and would be able to fall back on if things go wrong. After 31 Jan myself and probably many others will no longer be covered. Whose idea was it to scrap the linking rules?.

Luckily things haven't gone wrong but in the current climate anything can happen. This must be a worrying time for disabled people wanting to try work or been in work for a little while.. I was talking to a CAB worker today and they said that if I lost my job that I would probably not even get ESA as I have been working and would have to go to JSA. It is at the back of my mind and that's where its staying at the moment. I just go from week to week without making any big plans and then hope I get a text saying I am needed the next week.

see ya

You Can't Beat a Bit of Bully pt.3

After my complaint I had to go to a meeting to see the big boss and the supervisor and basically they said that my heatlh is nobody elses business. They don't want to see me coming to work anxious. They told me that what she is doing is like treating me like the person who I was when I first started volunteering. I am not the person all wrapped up in cotton wool and things have moved on and I have made a lot of progress since then.

They said if I have any problems is to go and see them rather than contacting the agency. I just really followed what it said in the manual I got from the agency.

Since that time some new rules have been implemented in the area where I work and also due to the time of year my hours have been plummeting spectacularly. Yesterday I went to work and did 4.5 hours work and today I did 3 hours work. It will be lucky if I even do 20 hours work this week.

The woman in the morning seems to enjoy telling me there is not a lot of work to do and also seems to like to see me squirm when I have nothing to do. Going to work is kind of strange now because when I go to work I just go and pick up what I need to do and disappear. I don't need a lot of assistance and barely have anything to say. I am not very good in engaging in conversations or trying to keep a conversation going so a lot of the time I am quiet.

With my hours dropping and not doing any work in the afternoon I emailed the big boss today and I asked after I have finished working in the area I work in is there any other areas I can help in. He said he was going to talk to my supervisor and would be pleased if I could help elsewhere. I was quite surprised as I was expecting him to say no so I am going to see what happens there and I did it all by myself. It might do me some good to work with someone else or in a different environment.

Ta ta

Brain Blogger

You Can't Beat a Bit of Bully pt.2

Back again. I am writing my blog at 1.54 in the morning as I can not sleep

Monday and Tuesday this week have been different, instead of me going into work and sorting out what I need to do as part of my job it is now already done for me. This was stuff I previously did by myself quite happily. I picked parcels up and had a look at the list of what I needed to get signed for in the different offices.

As soon as I walk in and walk over to where my work the woman who has been harassing me follows me over stands by me and says "I have done all your bags for you and there is this parcel and that parcel that you have to take". I did not know I have suddenly turned into an idiot and everything has to be explained to me. I know I have got brain damage and everything but I am not stupid. I can still read and I can still work it out for myself what to do. I think she plays on my disability because I have short term memory problems.

I also think she doesn't like it because over time I have learnt what to do and I need little or no supervision. I think all she just wants is like someone to be like a little puppy for her to boss round and say yes ma'am to her all day.

Another thing has happened while I am out and about she does some of my work which is one of the jobs in my job description. I said this to her but she has an answer for everything. She says when she has got nothing to do she has got to do something so that includes doing my work as well, nice. She has also been doing Gail's work which didn't go down to well. This in turn means Gail has less to do and then I have nothing to do to help Gail later on meaning I have to go home. I think she has taken exception that I do more hours for the agency and I help Gail in the afternoon.

As soon as I walked in this morning even before I had even hung my bag up she was on to me about something. She did this in front of another member of staff which isn't the right thing to do but it gave me the opportunity to say even though I was shaking like a jelly I managed to say to her to stop harassing me as it is not necessary.

I went out with the post trolley and then later tried to find my supervisor but she was nowhere to be seen. I was in quite a state so I phoned the work agency and asked what do I do if I am being harassed and they said to send my list of complaints and things that have been said to me. I managed to find a computer in one of the offices and I sent my email to the agency.

She got back to me later and said she has passed it on to the chap I saw when I first started working for the agency. He said that they appreciate the work I have been doing and that I am an intelligent guy and I shouldn't have to come to work and work in that environment so that made me feel a bit better.

As I have made a complaint it now has to be investigated as harrassment is not tolerated. No doubt this woman who's been harrassing me will say I have blown everything out of proportion and it is all in my head and all she is worried about really is my well-being. Seen it all before, got the t-shirt and the dvd.

The only person who I want to worry about my health is me. It really gets on my tits when I go to work now and in the past how people wrap me up in cotton wool.

I managed to speak to the supervisor later on and said I could not find her and I phoned the work agency to ask for some advice and she wasn't very happy as I had not given her my complaint and completely bypassed her. She just said I have got to work it out with the woman who is harassing me.

Its all so simple, spend years on benefits, do voluntary work to build yourself up, get work with an agency and then try to find a way to build yourself up again to beat the bully at work.

What happens tomorrow and whether I will still have a job at the end of the day I do not know.

Thank you for reading my blog

cheers

Brain Blogger

You Can't Beat a Bit of Bully

I have been working for the employment agency for nearly six months, however there have been some funny goings in the last 6 weeks or so. It was really difficult getting to where I have got to now but I am facing a problem.

My work hours are normally 9-2.30 with a half hour break. I have been doing quite well and feeling confident in myself. In the morning I work with the woman who is about 60 and then I fill in helping the other Lady who is nearer my age who works in the afternoon.

Just recently It has been very busy at work and I have been helping a bit longer in the afternoon. The Lady in the afternoon has said to the supervisor that I have been very helpful and she could not have managed without me. My hours have been gradually building up to 30 plus hours and the last two weeks I have done full-time hours which I was surprised with myself.

Most of the work is repetitive and is in a customer service environment. In the last few years I have been listening to the other people how they go about things and now I am having my own take at it. I am always polite and I ask what can I do to help.

The supervisor and the assistant director were concerned that I was doing too many hours but I said I am happy helping in the afternoon and if I have any problems I will come and see them. Nobody has said I am doing too many hours and I have had no problems when I have handed my time-sheets in.

However the woman in the morning who works there and does not work for the agency seems to have taken exception to me working longer hours. She has been asking what hours I have been doing and has asked me about what time do I get home. She does not ask me or the supervisor but the Lady who comes in at 1pm. Are crip's not capable of working after 2.30 then?.

I dread going to work in the morning and I have had some of the anxiety symptoms return, headache, feeling sick, heat pounding. I often think what have I done yesterday afternoon that the woman in the morning will find fault with. The woman in the morning is the same one who I said about in one of my previous posts and just recently she has been making me feeling quite inadequate, doubt myself, gives me impossible targets, talks to me like I am a child and over supervises which can be quite suffocating. A classic one is when someone who has come in and asks me a question she butts in. Its like having a interpreter but in a bad way. Due to the damage to my brain I know what I want to say but I just takes a little longer to get it out. Sometimes when I am doing something she will quote bizarre health and safety rules.

This week it has been trivial complaints which aren't worth the time of day. Yesterday a student came in to post a letter so I said it will cost 41p. Next thing the other woman is interrupting me and saying excuse me, excuse me, the student goes over and then she says that will cost 41p. Thats funny I thought thats what I just said. Am I not capable of taking 41p of someone and putting it in a till?.

This morning I did the capital crime of forgetting to deliver a parcel to someone. I took my fleece off and put it in the post trolley and inadvertently covered this parcel up. I got back to the office and a few minutes later she said, you don't normally forget to deliver parcels and I have noticed you are not quite with it lately. I said it wasn't a major disaster and I said I would take it over a bit later and what was it that is supposed to be wrong with me.

I see my supervisor regularly and I mention some of the things that happen and she says thats what the woman in the morning is like and I have got to try and not take much notice. I have started to write down some of these things down and I am wondering whether to email it to the Lady at the employment agency. It says in the employment agency handbook I was originally given that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect at work. I feel like I am being harassed but I am not sure what to do because if I make the wrong choices it will all backfire on me.

see you later

Brain blogger