Pilton Sucks dotCom

Friends and readers. We continue to monitor the happenings at the social work department, and our source has told us that developments regarding the activities of the MUIRHOUSE BULLY will soon be brought to a head.

He also told us that a council official has been asked by some senior councillors to find out the extent of bullying within the social work department. He is led to understand that a senior councillor is furious and that in his words will not accept any kind of cover up and will kick ass if there is.

So dear friends it seems the tangled travesty at Muirhouse Social Work Department is reaching the hallowed halls of the council chamber, we at Pilton sucks.com will monitor this situation with interest and hope for developments, it would seem from all that we know the bully has bitten off more than he can chew as the victim in this awful situation has allies in high places, who also wish to put a stop to bullying where ever it takes place.

As we have already reported the muirhouse bully has a history of bad behaviour, and you will have seen and read that other people are now aware of this dreadful situation and are less than happy about it. The community was awash with rumours about the absense of the victim from his many community interests, but they to now know what has happened, and are in full support of their friend and colleague.

What is to be learned from this dreadful episode, well- we can as a society demand bullying be removed not just from the school enviroment, but from the workplace as well. Much has been said and written abut school place bullying and action has been taken, but just like workplace bullying it was hidden until it was brought to the publics attention, now it is deemed to be completly unaceptable and rightly so.

Workplace bullying must be treated in the same way, not hidden brought out into the public domain and dealt with. These small minded individuals who can destroy peoples lifes must be punished and seen to be punished, not slapped on the back of the hand and told to behave themselves, that will not work, for as many of you know serial bullying is in itself a disease, for which at the moment there seems to be no immediate cure, and as you also know if bullying goes unchecked, it will happen again, who picks the tab up when that happens-the victims-thats who.

So as you go about your daily business spare a thought for those that have suffered and those that continue to suffer, and take action-report it wherever you see it support your colleagues god knows they need it, make sure it does not go unchecked, and fight the bullying syndrome.

So friends and readers be on your guard be alert be watchful make sure you do not become a victim of this terrible sickness. Go on BULLY WATCH.

Graham-Pilton sucks.com associates

Friends and Readers. Our source at The social work headquarters in Shrubhill informs us that certainly one senior manager and possibly two are now convinced that bullying did indeed take place at Muirhouse Social Work Centre and are concerned that the victim of this disgraceful behaviour is not being honestly treated.

We asked if that could be elaborated on but were told fear has gripped this particular case given the weight of evidence against the bully and that he had come to their notice before, after another alledged incidence of bullying. No-one is prepared to come out and say what they think and know,the official line is that the case has been assessed and nothing was found. We have been told privately that an outside investigation is more than warrented and any investigation would undoubtly find quite the opposite.

This Readers is not just a case of bullying it is a series of cover ups and deceit. Out in the community of Greater pilton where the victim is widely liked and respected, we have it on authority that rumors of drug abuse have been leveled against him We have been told by a community colleague of the victim, that on three different occasions she heard this charge, and was horrified as she knows first hand of the anti drug stance the victim has taken in the community and the work he has done to halt this evil practice.

Pilton Sucks.com would like to know who started these vicious lies, we do not think it would take a genius to work out who, but we leave it to our readers to work it out for themselves.

So in what is fast becoming a smear campaign against the victim, one which we know will fail such is his standing in the community, we must turn our attention to the unpunished bully, protected by management to afraid to tackle bullying but more than happy to target the victim. We at Pilton Sucks.com know and have seen the victim in action in the community,along with other activists we have nothing but praise and admiration for the work he does to help make this community a better place to live in.

We will not stand by and watch him destroyed and as one of our posts recently said-from a former colleague- this guy could lose them with one hand tied behind his back. We agree, but add that a monster such as the Social Work Department can dismantel a human being strip them of their dignity, and turn round and say -we followed proceedures.

Well here is a proceedure for you.We and many other of your staff know who the bully is and also know who the victim is.

We are willing to wager your credibility against that of the victims , and see who comes out of this the cleanest, in fact we offer you one piece of constructive advice do not try and use the bully as your reference, you will surely be swept aside and yourself be humiliated.

It is abundantly clear that a cover-up has and continues to exist at Muirhouse Social Work Department regarding this travesty, it must also be clear to them that indeed bullying took place, over a long period of time, and that nobody did anything to stop this unacceptable behaviour.

You have to look at yourselves and ask did you do every thing you could to protect this member of staff from an onslaught of abuse-answer,no.Have you really tried to get to the truth in this matter-answer,no. And finally have you looked hard enough at the bullys behaviour pattern, and if you are as clever as you think you are the answer stares at you right between the eyes.A SERIAL BULLY just as the experts decribe it, just open your eyes and let the light in, you may just see what many other people have known for quite some time.

Colin,Ian,John.

On behalf of Pilton Sucks.com associates   

Friends and Readers. Once again the financial wizardry of the ruling party must be questioned. In fact some eager beaver did. When asked how much the congestion charge scheme cost,which as you know was rejected by the Edinburgh punters the reply which had us reeling was 9.13 million pounds yes thats right 9.13MILLION POUNDS.

Oh but it gets better, nearly 5 million pounds was spent on the farcical changes to city centre traffic management, and wait for it, in December last year this had to be cut back after city centre shop takings collapsed.

Yet another Labour group mess and and bad financial management, dear oh dear no wonder they have not bothered to tell us the truth, or for that matter tell us anything we just pay up and shut up.

Oh by the way if you are looking for somebody to manage the peoples money we know of a very good treasurer in Greater Pilton- but then if he had any sense he would run a mile from that bunch of incompetents    

Friends and Readers. It would seem our ruling party have been less than honest with the electorate[suprise-suprise].A source close to the ruling labour group tells us that when they were setting our  new and increased council tax these fly and dishonest cabal raided the emergency reserves.

In case you did not know and since they are not likely to tell you the reserves are used to tackle crisis such as increases in fuel costs or a possibility of say bird flu.

So now the general reserve is almost certainly under 5 million pounds, not anything like enough for a council that spends more than 700 million pounds a year.

So friends and readers here is the punch line. If the Scottish Executive does not bail out these financial bafoons next year our council tax bills will go through the roof. Who elects these people we are told that through amongst other factors great financial management our council tax increases have been kept down,these elected morons are killing this city with their amature antics and deceit to the electorate.

As the song says when will we ever learn.

We are a group of individuals independant of any group or person, but are keen to see bullying in the workplace terminated.

The group have determined that

Workplace bullying is an increasing problem. Whether this is due to an increase in the incidence of bullying or an increasing awareness of the unacceptability of bullying behaviour is not clearly demonstrable. However the end result is the same-increased numbers of complaints, higher levels of workplace stress, great frustration with a lack of formal channels for resolving such complaints and an increased burden on all parties to resolve disputes.

Workplace bullying is not a normal industrial relations issue.

existing measures to tackle the problem are insufficient.

Responsibility for tackling the problem is diffuse. Clarity of process and resolution is required.

The impact of bullying on the individual is such that immediate action on the part of employers and the state is called for.

Legislation should be brought forward to deal with workplace bullying. This legislation should apply to all employees in the workplace, irrespective of employment status.

The model proposed which would require new legislation to implement, includes requirements that.

Procedures for dealing with incidents of bullying at the workplace be a mandatory requirement in the safety statements of all employers.

Failing resolution of complaints through an employers normal dispute resolution procedures, the matter be refered to a Labour relations commmission and a rights commissioner and

If a case is still not resolved it may be referred to either a labour court or the empolyment appeals tribunal for a final determination, which shoulkd be enforceable.

We have read with interest your imformative articles on bullying and we hope this helps, we have a duty to rid the workplace of bullys and bullying and it is not before time that you are taking the initative and running with it. The very best of luck, you have our details if you wish any further advice.

Lawyers against bullying.

Hi There. I have just found out about this site and i welcome the chance to air my opinion. I am unemployed and thought that this waterfront site would give me the chance to work again. I went down to the hut in waterfront avenue and tried to talk to someone about getting a job. Thats a laugh no chance might as well have talked to the wall, all i got was some punter telling  me there was going to be great opportunities for employment. What a load of crap, i need a job now not in the future.

What happened to all the promises about local work, gone or they were never there, i cannot understand why i cant get work down there, is it my face does not fit, or i wont work for peanuts or slave labour wages, take a walk down there and see if you can get a job. If you are prepared to work for next to nothing you might get a start, otherwise forget it.

its just beginning to dawn on me whats going down, these building contractors are not interested in local labour they prefer cheap foreign labour, with no union rights or any other rights. I think we were all told lies by the politicians at the start of this thing. I went to the meetings at the community centre and seen all their fancy pictures and listened to their bull. Anybody that tried to have a different opinion and there was one or two were put down as cranks or trouble makers.

Now i know from experience that was not true and they were right there is NO LOCAL LABOUR and it does not look like there will be. 

I was brought up to vote Labour, and I do, but see next time no chance, so i wont be voting for chisholm or macginnis, and i think a lot of other people wont vote for them either.

Tam- Wardieburn Terrace

Friends and Readers. It seems that freedom of speech is on the wane in Greater Pilton. Two of our associates were in the Prentice Centre on Monday 3-04-06 and noticed that the posters advertising this site were taken down.Surely people have a right to voice their opinion, or are they frightened of that.

The posters advertising the politicians surgerys were still up as was other public information, Pilton Sucks.com is public information whether you like it or not. Of course this could have nothing to do with dodgy Derick suttie, as he is based there, strange is it not that people who work but do not live in the area such as dodgy Derick Suttie and the centre manager Elizabeth Campbell have the cheek to try and deny the community information, which they can if they want use.

We encourage people to come and work in our community and contribute to its everyday life but we activly discourage misuse of the community by said people, we could if you want go into how Elizabeth got the centre managers job, but we will leave that to the management committees conscience.

Could it be that these ultra intelligency are in the business of patronising the community, that could not be the truth could it. Do not try and restrict what this community sees thinks and reads, for you will come off worst, you should encourage people to think and act for themselves, not try and get them to behave as you want them to, so you can justify your salarys.

So next time you decide to tear down public information remember not only will they go back up, you are actively denying the communitys right to think for themselves.

Hi. My name is Jo-Ann and I live in The Greater Pilton community. I try to be as active in the community as possible and take an interest in most of what goes on. I to am well aware of the person who is being spoken about as one of the Muirhouse two. When i asked to come on to the site I wanted to mention him by name, but was asked not to, but it is obvious to all that know him who it is.

As i was coming out of Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on wedensday afternoon 29-04-06 he passed by me, i shouted to him but he did not know me, yet i have known him for ten years. He looked a shadow of the person he used to be and he looked right through me. I walked with him along the road, he hardly spoke a word to me, this is the same person who you could not get to shut up when he spoke to you.

I do not know what has been going on but what I seen  I did not like, communitys like ours cannot afford to lose good people like this,a voice for progress, and a person very easy to like.

I and a number of other people tried to visit him but he was not well enough to talk to us, I have since seen him again in the doctors surgery and i felt upset at what i saw. That is all i have to say. Thanks for letting me use the site.

Thanks Jo-Ann 

Hi There. I am a social worker of some twenty years experience, and some of that time was spent in Muirhouse Social Work Centre. To say I was shocked to learn of the state of health of someone who I have known and worked along side for a number of years is an understatement.

When i was informed of his plight i found it hard to stomach as i remember him as a person who brought humanity and a sense of presence to the job he done. My colleague told me of his situation after she met him in the street, she was upset to see the state he was in,he barely recognised her and she had to remind him who she was.

I have been made aware of what happened to him and how he was treated, and it makes me embarresed to say I am an employee of Edinburgh City Council Social Work Department. It is true to say I am very fond of him, but that in no way clouds my sense of injustice of what has happened to him and the way he has been treated.

I know of no-one who has a bad word to say about him, and as I have made a point of speaking to other colleagues about it, what has emerged is at best terrible and at worst just hateful. I hope the department comes to its senses and takes action to bring this to an end, I was told of this site and have read the posts that have been put on. I also know who the bully is as many of my colleagues do, and their sense of injustice is very apparent.

My colleague who met the victim is very clear that he should be supported and I agree therefore I have written to unison to offer my help if required.

His plight is our loss and the community in which he lives, as a one time worker in Greater Pilton his presence was everywhere in a positive sense and so well was he known and respected his first name was all that was needed for instant recognition. I personally feel a sense of loss, i think i speak for my colleagues as well.

I know he is receiving support for his condition, I and my colleagues are thinking of him and hope he fully recovers, and fights on to bring this bully to justice. It will not be easy for as some of your contributors have said it will be covered up, as i know only to well,the Social Work Department are experts at it.

But if and when he regains full health we believe he is more than capable of fighting what can only be called a corrupt and bankrupt department, corrupt in trying to cover up the obvious[BULLYING] and bankrupt of any kind of conscience.

Yous in support and friendship

M. 

Can we think there is a real chance that power to the peolpe and not just tokenism can only be devolved in a decision making way to local communities on matters which are basically fulfilling the stated requirement of being non party political.

It seems to be that on so many local issues there is no reason to think that local councillors have any great sensitivity or awareness which allows them to take final decisions rather than letting the local community take them.

With the new community councils there is no reason why this should not be done now. The problem seems to be that few elected representatives are willing to do this because they see it as a real threat to their role and influence.

In the first instance often at the first meeting the members are told that the community councils are NON POLITICAL - now theres an interesting concept which is open to many interpretations. However as time goes on and as the councils develop and start thinking for themselves[or are allowed to] on local issues affecting them directly, they may even think politically in all its aspects, and as soon as the councillors realise this they will point the finger and say-there you are they are political and in danger of undermining the democratic system by putting up a candidate to represent their own community-how questionable is that.

Of couse in the case of Royston and almost certainly Muirhouse they will have lapdogs in place to do the bidding of the councillors, inexperienced and naive office bearers who honestly think they can make a difference, this does damage to a community,for in the first instance they become very quickly impotent and unable to do anything other than what their councillor tells them.

So the message being sent out is wrong-if you are serious about local democracy you get the strongest people to lead the way with a good team beside them and allow them to flourish, this I  am  afraid has not happened instead the exact opposite, so instead of local democracy you will get the exact opposite.