Bully Watch
Friends and readers. Our group of Social Work friends have been in touch with our associate George and have held a meeting with him to discuss the way forward. Our campaign against workplace bullying has now reached the ears of the Scottish Government,and we hear that very soon an MSP will be raising a question which will include what measures are being taken by employers to deal with workplace bullying.
Pilton Sucks has been lobbying for some time to get action on workplace bullying providing information on workplace bullying and it’s concequences for the victims and to the economy.
We now have two people working full time to raise awareness on bullying. George has been in touch with a number of large employers and he has received a positive responce from all of them regarding the action they would take if bullying was suspected. Several of them are forwarding to George their written policy which includes the action which would be taken both to prevent bullying and deal with any existing problems.
Midlothian Council who George visited recently have also said that any employee who is found to have taken part in any type of bullying whether it be while employed by them or while employed in another district before they came to Midlothian would be immediatly suspended pending a full outside investigation,as in Midlothians own words,-They take the threat of workplace bullying very seriously indeed-
It’s a great pity Edinburgh Council does not take the same view,but as the continuing pressure mounts to take action against bully’s in the workplace Edinburgh may indeed decide to move towards a bully free workplace.
The Social Workers group that met with George have drawn up an outline for a leaflet to be distributed City wide discribing in detail what to look for in your workplace,and how to spot bullying wheather it be overt or covert bullying. One of the Social workers within the group spent some time within the infamous Muirhouse Social Work Centre and has first hand experience of workplace bullying in action.
She was sickened by what she witnessed and has pushed for this leaflet to be distributed as soon as possible. Pilton Sucks has sent off the outline of the leaflet to a friendly printer who will play around with it a little and send it back to us for approval. Once we have the finished article and everybody involved has agreed distribution will start, and every city department will get one as will as many individual employees as possible.
We will also make available several places where they can be picked up. Already we have the agreement of the Housing department at West Pilton Gardens to put up leaflets on their public notice board,and that’s just the start of what will be an intensive leafleting campaign. We have also costed a short film which will be in DVD format approximatly 5 minutes long giving details of the effects of workplace bullying on the victims and how best to deal with this hidden workplace disease. Again this will be made available to any interested parties.
So our campaign has jumped up a couple of notches as we become even more determined to rid the workplace of this evil which destroys lifes and careers. Remember bully’s are cowards who will covet favour with their superiors while targeting their chosen victim/s allowing then the freedom to strike and then deny and lie and hide behind others who are unaware or have closed their eyes to what’s going on.
Pilton Sucks and friends will continue to press for direct action against bully’s and demand that they be removed from the workplace. Workplace bullying is completly unacceptable in what ever form it appears in. Remember the bully has usually struck before and there may well be more than one victim,so the bully is well versed in lying and deceiving others into believing all is well.
Remember as well that when you report bullying,that is only the first step. You may well be up against more than the bully as few will want to admit to having a serial bully in their employ. The concequences for an employer who does nothing and takes no action against the bully can be wide and costly.
You may well be fed claptrap that action has been taken normally put as management intervention,this is a spin which is normally something which is said to replace, nothing has been done but we are covering our own asses.
So as we say watch out a bully might be about, be vigulant and protect yourself and your colleagues. A bully will not strike if you stick together, the bully will only strike while the victim is vunerable and alone allowing them an escape route.
Our leaflets will be available soon. in the meantime if you or any of your colleagues suspect ill treatment is going on report it,and name and shame the bully.