Pilton Sucks dotCom

Hi There. I have been reading your posts on bullying.Here is what I have to offer.

Is there a schoolyard bully in your workplace? Bullying in the workplace is rampant and is an issue that is emereging as a significant challenge for employers

Studies show that bullying impacts one in six workers.It is believed bullying is even more prevalent than sexual and racial harassment

What makes these types of situations worse,is that we are not yet paying that much attention to it. Bullying is still a back burner for most. However,bullying suits are going to creep up om employers.

Bullying is known as PSYCHOLOGICAL mistreatment and considered a form of abuse.It is repeated nonphysical health-impairing psychological mistreatment. Bullies pick targets and have different motives for the bullying.

Bullies in the workplace are like bullies in the schoolyard…but these bullies can do even more damage.

The target of a bully may suffer severe health problems,such as post traumatic stress disorder,depression,sleeplessness and/or usually experience some form of career loss.social isolation,etc. There is decreased productivity and a steady decline in moral throughout the organization if it goes unchecked.

Employers really need to know their employees so they can watch out for them. Companies and organizations should have and enforce anti-bullying policies. Bullying is a serious issue. A message of zero tolerance needs to be enforced by senior management and exemplified in its actions when faced with a situation.

Bullies respond to power and pressure,after all they are cowards at heart and need to be removed from the workplace.

Lisa Yankowitz.  

Friends and readers. As our Labour Group leadership contest grinds to a finish,we had the almost former leader spouting off about his marvellous reign as City leader. That was laughable enough, but included in the article was a couple of lines regarding our very own runner in the leadership sweepstakes,multi jobbed Elizabeth Mcginnis.

It said and we nearly chocked,that support for Ms. Mcginnis would be a step backwards as she is from the old left. Far from being left wing,she is part of the gimme class, all for me and the plebs can fight over whats left. We agree that support for Ms. mcginnis would be a step backwards, but for slightly different reasons.

She already has enough jobs and salarys to go with them,she should have gone when she hi-jacked the managers job of the Pilton Elderly Project,were she gets her lackies from the partnership panal to support applications for monies to the project.

This is not the kind of person this city needs as leader. Here is a thought though.

What about good old Bill Baille Fitzpatrick as group leader, he knows the ropes still lives in a council house in Royston with no extension and actually stops in the street sometimes to talk to his punters,not very often but you cannot have everything.

One minor drawback with the artful dodger Bill is he forgets who he last spoke to and depending on who he meets will depend on the story you get.

But that aside he would make a refreshing left wing change to these other right of centre candidates Aitkin-dodgy Davies and more for me Mcginnis.

So go on Bill throw your hat in the ring lets make a real contest out of it. You have two or three days to have a go,at least save us from the doomsday scenario. 

Dear Friends and readers. It would seem from a report we received recently,that our local true and honest reporter of the facts The Edinburgh Evening News is not quite convinced that we can back up our series on workplace bullying. Feel free to contact us at your leisure and we will be more than happy to provide you with real facts,not the alice in wonderland fantasy you are used to hearing,and are conned into printing.

You know were we are.

Friends and readers. One of our associates has just returned from a long weekend in Birmingham,hardly the costa del plenty but never mind she enjoyed it.

It seems right now there is a small artistic festival going on at the moment. Wether it is city wide or not she was not sure. But we digress, Anna went to see a play at a church hall entitled walls of silence,which ironically was about bullying and its repercusions. It centred around a victim of bullying who had tried to take his life because he had no-one to turn to for help.

Anna described it as a moving piece of drama which had some of the audience visibly moved by the experience of the victim.

After the show she spoke to some of the players involved in it. Alan the guy who wrote the play told her that he wrote the play after his friend had tried to commit sucide because of bullying. Anna told him of our campaign against workplace bullying and its repercusions,and we have now recruited another associate,in Birmingham no less.

Such is the power of the bully that it can move people to contemplate suicide, we ourselves cannot begin to understand what is going through a victims mind at that point,but whatever it is, must be horrifying, we can only begin to wonder what these bullys think and feel as they push a victim to the very edge.

There is in our opinion an evil in them,that they can try and destroy another human being,it is almost unthinkable.

What it does to us,is strengthen our resolve to fight bullying and the sometimes dreadful concequences of such behaviour.

Is it any wonder the courts now take workplace bullying seriously,and so they should. We have said before, if it feels like bullying it probably is. We have reported to you on the change in the 1997 harrassment act,we have told you about the various campaigns round the country to act on workplace bullying,we have told you of the human cost and of less importance the financial cost,nothing is more important than human life and the right to live in dignity not fear.

We have reported to you how main stream newspapers are picking up and reporting workplace bullying.Trade Unions see it as a big issue.HR[human resources] report it as a  serious issue,why then if all these people and organisations are taking this issue seriously,has workplace bullying been swept under the carpet for so long.

Nobody wants to do anything about it because it is to big a problem with the added factor of serious health issues surrounding the victims,the pitfalls are obvious.

But that is not an excuse nobody will fall for that one,and the more the problem is highlighted, the more the shortcomings of people charged to do something about it becomes apparent.

We at Pilton sucks are in contact with other organisations intent on stamping out this disease. We have related our experiences to them and they with us. One common thread seems to run through victims experiences, and that is it never leaves you,and may haunt you forever. It is now clear that victims need people they can trust to talk to. They also need professional help in some cases for a very long time,as they come to terms with what happened to them.

The more we research into workplace bullying and its concequences the sadder we become,not for the bullys,no certainly not,although we accept they need some sort of intervention in their lives,we feel sadness for the victim and their families,that is something we should not forget,the pain that this causes the victims family.

But sadness will not stop this creeping virus only vigliance and action will stop these individuals from destroying others.We cannot in all honesty begin to calculate the damage that is done to victims,but when we hear of suicide attempts ,we can only imagine the torment in the mind of the victim.

We at Pilton sucks always try to write it as we see it or as it is reported to us. But what really sticks in our throats,is the thought of a bully cowards that they are denying their behaviour,even in the face of what mabey overwhelming evidence,still they lie,still they hide behind anybody who will shield them, but beware for the noose may yet tighten,and as time goes by and this most terrible and destructive illness becomes more public,people will stand up and be counted.

All that you can be afraid of is fear itself. that is little to what the victims have suffered and will continue to suffer as they try to rebuild their lives. Those who turn away and deny any knowledge are as guilty as the criminal themselves.

If we are to live in a civilsed society,if we are to work in a bully free enviroment,you have to come forward and say what you seen.The invisible scars of the victims may never heal, the trauma of an experience so horrifying as to try and take your life,would make any fair minded persons stomach turn at the thought of bullys in their workplace.

So whether it is a piece of drama or real life the experience of bullying is all to real.The one difference is that you leave at the end of the play or film. the victim cant for them the suffering goes on,they cannot leave and go on into the night,their anguish is our anguish their pain is our pain.

  

As you wander in the city crowded as it is this time of year,and you listen to the luvies twitering on,as they grace us with their presence,pause for a moment possibly have a cup of something in one of the overpriced eating and drinking establisments,and consider your lot.

Is it one of contentment at the thought of visitors enjoying this wonderful city,or even trying to think over the noise of the open topped bus which cruises the city pointing out the sights and delights of the capital. Or does your mind turn to more mundane matters,of which no one seems interested in,how to find somewhere affordable to live in this city.

We in Greater Pilton are experienced in being sold a line about affordable housing,in fact it has become a sad joke. Every so often someone will be dragged out to tell us of how they got an affordable place to live,we are never told about the suffering of the homeless about the cronic shortage of reasonably priced housing to buy or rent. Why,because awkward questions would have to be answered 

It is all about profit.Build those awful rabbit hutches we are getting here,forget about architecture or design,fling them up and charge the earth for them. But wait a minute,we have a planning department in this city,we still have city architects somewhere dont we. Do we have a good taste department obviously not judgeing by the overpriced crap they are buliding here in Greater Pilton.

So what are our great and good local councillors doing about all this. On the face of it-it looks like very little except point the finger away from themselves and blame private enterprise.The very private enterprise that they are only to happy to get into bed with and allow them to run wild and bulid were they like regardless of any objection.

Now that our very own Royston Wardieburn community centre is to be replaced,what happens to the land.Green space perhaps,no wrong,houses of course,affordable ones you ask,no dont be so silly.

The city councils policy of sell it if it moves is damageing the fabric of existing communties. No thought has gone into inclusuve housing just greed and bugger the rest. This is not only a stupid policy it is a dangerous one. Stupid because it will make communities eventually become strangers to each other,and dangerous,because many of these overpriced conurbations will be the slums of tomorrow,long after our dead beat rulers are gone and someone else is left to pick up the tab.

So when or if they come looking for your vote and promise you the earth,or glorify in what they have done-incidently thats what they were elected for,ask one simple question.

WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON AROUND ABOUT US?   

Friends and readers. It has been reported that Edinburgh is now the most expensive place to live in the UK. Suprise Suprise. As you know as a city becomes wealthier poverty seems to become more acute. According to reports 93% of salary is swallowed up by regular outgoings-rent ,utility bills and debt repayment.

Goodness only knows how those without a salary manage.Certainly in Greater Pilton where poverty is a real issue very little of this citys supposed wealth reaches here.

The wealth as usual is in a few hands usually or in Edinburghs case in the more affluent areas,or in the hands of big business,you know the people who leadership contender Mcginnis was crawling to the other night.

Most of the wealth generated in this city which we are told by our noble rulers runs into hundreds of millions,depending on who is bullshiting you at the time,does not come to us puny citizens us moaning wimps,oh no it stays in the hands of the few,who then have the cheek to tell us that it creates and sustains jobs-who for Australian bar staff or hotel staff,or East European labour who can be exploited and paid sweeties.

No dear friends what ever excuse our noble rulers give us the money does not trickle down to the underclasses,in fact we are told regularly that our community charge has to increase,or our rents have to go up.

You do not have to be brain of Britain to realise that the cost of a loaf of bread is the same for a rich person as it is for a poor person. If this city is supposedly swimming in money why cant we have a rent freeze or a community charge freeze if not all over the city then in the poorer areas,wouldnt that be something.

But alas dear friends that will not happen the poor will continue to be fleeced the low wage earners will be fleeced as well,while the better off go from strength to strength.

So we can only stand by and watch this wealthy city get wealthier and wealthier, while many of our citizens struggle to make ends meet. All this with a Labour Executive, A labour Government,and a Labour local authority,makes you wonder who is on the side of the weakest in society. 

Down Holyrood way we hear there is to be a debate on workplace bullying with legislation to follow.Thats all fine and dandy and long overdue,but we are still left with the problem of the bully,or are we.

it is clear something radical has to be done to rid the workplace of these morons, and we might be able to help on this matter. As you know there is a register for sex offenders and rightly so,Pilton Sucks asks why not a register for known bullys,that way the system could keep tabs on them and be aware of where they are.

Of course that does not rid us of bullys in the workplace,but it goes some way to acknowledge their existance,and the method by which they will be tracked.

This might return some public confidence in a system which seems to go out of its way to protect these thugs,and offer some re-assurance to the victims.

There are of course more tried and trusted centuries old methods of dealing with characters like these. We could try putting them in the stocks and allow the public to pelt them with rotten vegtables,but that would be a waste of vegtables.

Or we could give them electric shock treatment but we would be loathed to pay the electricty bill. Or possibly a community disposal,say cleaning dog poo off the streets,or painting the forth road bridge in the middle of winter.

But jesting aside why not a bully register and enforced by the full weight of the law, and allow us to be reasonable,attend anger management classes,with a view to modifying this most gross of behaviours.

We will send our views to the exective,with one or two other additions, let us hope they take this issue with the gravity it warrents,and punish those who would try and destroy others.

As the leadership for the Labour Group heats up us mere mortals can only look on in awe as the great and the good cut each others throats to grab the coveted top spot. Will it change our lives,no of course not,will the lot of the citizen be improved,dont be silly of course not.

What earth shattering changes can we expect then. Dont hold your breath waiting you might choke. No all that will change will be one party hack for another and more of the same. Our three candidates will continue to tell us of the benifits of their leadership and how they will donate a part of their over inflated salery to charity[HA HA] 

It never ceases to amaze us by theres and other over inflated egos but there you are, you reluctantly pays your money and the choice is made for you. We wont have to wait to much longer now,and as the three runners Davies Aitken and Macginnis enter the stalls for the leadership dash,who will make the quickest break,who will be able to trip the others up first,and who will pass the chequered flag in first place,to stand on the rostrum and shower the rest with cheap plonk and gloat in their victory.

This summer may have been hot,and something which we are not used to,but we did not complain it was overbearing,cant say that about this three horse race.                   

Friends and readers. You may or may not know that we have in Greater Pilton an art gallery.Yes you read correctly art gallery. Yes on West Granton Road just next to the flats to be demolished and behind the hole  in the road that nobody has bothered to fill in. Just on that point that hole in the road contains electric cable joints open to the public and LIVE. Would this be allowed to happen in say Barton or Crammond.

But never mind that is mere detail isnt it councillor Fitzpatrick who is probably to busy enjoying the freebies of the festival to be bothered with a potentially dangerous hole in the ground. He would probably just blame someone else anyway.

But back to business. Yes an art gallery in our very working class midst,yes the delights of rembrandt, reubans, constable and all the rest. But wait a minute that is just a guess on our part. We do not know nobody does,because it is never open,thats if you can find it. We are also realibly informed it is a museum as well,how wonderful and an alladins cave of interest both historic and artistic for the art loving punters to view.

You can if you get close enough to the almost covered board  phone up to make an appointment to view these and other delights. Makes you wonder why bother just use it to store junk we are after all just a glorifed dumping ground,or so it seems.

Do you think the art lovers who congregate in the city centre would have to phone up to make an appointment to view the artistic delights on view in the national gallery ,we think not.

So what makes us any different. why cant the local punters if they so wish go and view what is on offer in the Greater Pilton gallery. We can only speculate as to the reason. But as you avoid the hole that bars your way and head down pass Lidll and Iceland on to the Gala Bingo ,pass the various disgusting carryout joints and on pass the bookies and to the end which is the glorious and delightful Anchor Inn, you may just wonder in a fleeting passing moment,what might happen if the punters had to phone up to make an appointment to visit the bingo or the bookies or our very own watering hole the Anchor inn.

Mabey if that were to happen and the delights of gambling and drinking were restricted to appointment only, would revolution be but a stones throw away. 

Friends and readers. there is to be a Waterfront Seminar on the 26th August. It is to be supported by the Pilton Partnership. We applaud this,but add one cautionary note. Do not buy into the everything is alright mentality,for as you already know it is not.

We appeal to the community to turn out for this seminar and make your voice heard in of course an orderly fashion. Ther is much need to question what the hell is going on and who is steering the ship. Where are these promised local jobs,who has them,cheap overseas labour perhaps. What percentage of housing will be affordable to either rent or buy. Why has the existing community seen little or no benifit in terms of regeneration, and what has happened to the master plan.

All this and more has to be answered. If it is hi-jacked by the polticians you will hear nothing but make believe,and fantasy. What is needed is the voices of the community,which are just as elequent and more knowledgeable. But as usual time will be limited,and while the forward thinking of the Pilton Partnership is to be applauded,they to are constrained by the limits of time.

This must be frustrating,on one hand trying to keep their political masters happy,and on the other to grasp what the community really feels about what is or is not happening.

We do have good voices in this community, not tied by party handcuffs, and this may be the way to go,but who knows,we will soon find out.

But it is important not to let the community down,they have a right to know what is going on on their own doorstep, and this might be their only opportunity for a long time to find out what they can, and to ask the awkward questions that are neccessary to open the closed shop of the Waterfront.

We are sure homework will have been done the party line will be towed and those that the people might listen to are quitely pushed into the background.

That would if true be  a wasted opportunity, for all concerned,all concerned except of course the vested interests,who wish only fairy tales to be told and everything in the garden is rosey,and those that moan and grumble are just malcontents just bent on causing trouble.

Yes we have heard it all before and we will hear it again. suppress the voices you dont want to hear and applaud the voices that tow the line without to much resistanace. Well if that is to be the case Pilton Sucks will have a reporter there and will name the party lackies and ass lickers who would sell this community short.

Silence is not an option that is the same as agreeing with something that is obviously  wrong,so speak up and let your voice be heard. You never know even the party line tower The North Edinburgh News might report it. Stranger things have happened.