[Cyclist]

Johnson's Britain

At least 170 branch managers have been told that they may not be repaid money wrongly deducted from their wages in what has been described as “the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history” because they were unaware of the scheme, which was launched for just three months during the 2020 lockdown...


https://amp.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ion-scheme

We took all this money off you wrongfully, now we won't give it back

...The Historic Shortfall Scheme (HSS) to compensate those left out of pocket was set up in 2020 after the Post Office admitted years of failings, but claimants were only given three months to apply. The scheme was extended for a further 15 weeks following pressure from campaigners, but those who missed the deadline face an indefinite wait to hear whether their claims will be considered...

The money taken from employees was extra money - they still had the money the software said was missing. So what happened to this extra money? Why are taxpayers left to foot the bill?

...The Post Office said it wrote to thousands of post operators when the scheme was launched and is aware of at least 170 late claimants, including Hammond. It said it was reviewing how it might assist them, but pointed out that it lacks the financial resources for appropriate compensation and is reliant on government funding. ..

The whole thing stinks.

[Yug]

TUC warns of ‘mass exodus’ of public sector workers
The union organisation said its research suggested around 1.8 million workers are seriously thinking about quitting their jobs because of pay.


https://www.standard.co.uk/business/bus ... 36305.html

And I'm one of them.

Five years ago there were there people in this office. One left. There was a ban on recruiting so two of us were doing three people's jobs. While I was off in July the other one left. I have just been told they're not allowed to advertise her job for the foreseeable future. The government expects me to do three people's jobs, one of them a higher grade than me, for no extra pay.

The government can fuck right off.

[davidjay]

TUC warns of ‘mass exodus’ of public sector workers
The union organisation said its research suggested around 1.8 million workers are seriously thinking about quitting their jobs because of pay.


https://www.standard.co.uk/business/bus ... 36305.html

And I'm one of them.

Five years ago there were there people in this office. One left. There was a ban on recruiting so two of us were doing three people's jobs. While I was off in July the other one left. I have just been told they're not allowed to advertise her job for the foreseeable future. The government expects me to do three people's jobs, one of them a higher grade than me, for no extra pay.

The government can fuck right off.

Ditto. Three doing the work of eight and being told that what we're doing isn't good enough. But it's all bone-idle lefty public sector employees leaving because government.

[Yug]

This must be puzzling the gammons. Why on earth would the Institute of Directors and the TUC be in agreement about something?

Business groups and unions are urging the government not to go ahead with plans to ditch a wide range of EU laws, warning the move could cause "confusion and disruption" in the UK.

In a joint letter, groups including the Institute of Directors and the Trades Union Congress called on ministers to withdraw its Retained EU Law bill.

They warned the bill would put vital protections at risk.

Downing Street said it wanted to take "advantage of the benefits of Brexit"...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63741465

The main benefit of Brexit being, of course, turning Britain into a third-world sweatshop when the monied minority rules the roost.


Step one

...Leading Eurosceptics, such as former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, have given their support to the Retained EU law bill, which passed its second reading last month.

Crucially, the bill contains a "sunset clause" that means that, by the end of next year, some laws could simply expire automatically.

The letter, which was addressed to the new Business Secretary, Grant Shapps, said: "We are concerned that if passed into law, [the bill] could cause significant confusion and disruption for businesses, working people and those seeking to protect the environment.

"The bill would automatically sweep away thousands of pieces of legislation and established legal principles."...

So far so Tory.

But what's this?

The groups warn that the bill could endanger important worker, consumer and environmental rights derived from EU law, including holiday pay, safe working hours and protection from discrimination.

Laws on the labelling of meat and eggs and the ban on the slaughter of seals are also at risk, according to the groups.

The letter also warns that scrapping the laws could put the UK "in breach" of the trade deal with the EU, which could in turn lead to additional tariffs that will negatively impact UK exporters.

"Making these changes will prove costly and bureaucratic and would undermine the certainty and stability workers and businesses need if the economy is to prosper," it adds.

Other signatories include human resources body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the Employment Lawyers Association, Greener UK, Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Civil Society Alliance.

Why aren't the business fat cats happy with this?


Oh, it's an exercise in the creation of red tape, and placing more obstacles in the path of doing business, and guarantees the erosion of such things as food safety standards and workers' rights.

Ben Willmott, head of policy at the CIPD, told the BBC the bill risked creating "a huge amount of additional and unnecessary work" at a time when the focus should be on getting the UK economy growing.

A government spokesperson told the BBC: "The government is committed to taking full advantage of the benefits of Brexit, which is why we are pushing ahead with our Retained EU Law Bill.

"This will allow us to ensure our laws and regulations best fit the needs of the country, including making sure we continue to protect and enhance workers' rights and support jobs."

Translation:

We are ideologically locked in to doing this. We wish to ensure our laws and regulations are the best fit for J R-M and his ilk, and that the meddling greasy foreigners across the North Sea cannot interfere when we shit all over the filthy British proles.

[mattomac]

Definitely is a government that is effectively already planning for opposition.

[Yug]

Privatisation will bring greater efficiency and reduced costs

Royal Mail has been referred to the industry regulator by a committee of MPs which has accused the company of failing in its duty to deliver letters six days a week and questioned whether its management is negligent.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee declared that the company had "systematically failed to deliver" the universal service obligation for letters, finding that it had prioritised more lucrative parcels instead.

It said it had asked Ofcom, which has the power to impose penalties, to open an enforcement investigation following the publication of its report into activities at Royal Mail.

The committee also took aim at chief executive Simon Thompson, who was recalled to give evidence a second time during the course of its probe after an outcry among postal workers about the accuracy of his original testimony.

The report accused him of being "not wholly accurate" in answers he gave them on the use of technology to track and discipline workers, following numerous complaints on the issue raised by staff.

"Royal Mail denied having any knowledge of the tracking of postal workers using technology and said evidence of this practice, and of managers disciplining postal workers using such data, was due to non-compliance with Royal Mail policy," the committee said.

The MPs determined that they "did not believe that such widespread errors could happen without direct or indirect approval of management" and asked the company's board to review the situation on the grounds of "negligence" if they knew nothing about the practices...

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/royal-ma ... s-12835437

Why does none of this shit surprise me?

[mattomac]

Darren Jones has been excellent as BEIS chair on this.

[Yug]

The Post Office crap software scandal is in the news again. This time it's the lawyers contracted to investigate the alleged frauds.

Lawyers investigating post office operators in the Horizon computer scandal used a racist term to categorise Black workers, according to documents released to campaigners.

Investigators were asked to group suspects based on racial features, the results of a freedom of information request found.

The document, which was published between 2008 and 2011, included the term “negroid types”, along with “Chinese/Japanese types” and “dark skinned European types”.

The Horizon scandal, described as “the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history”, resulted in more than 700 post office operators being prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 for theft, fraud and false accounting because of faulty accounting software installed in the late 1990s.

The operators were filing shortfalls in their returns, which led to the Post Office suing them for the difference. Some spent time in prison, and it has been linked to four suicides, the Daily Mail reported.

Of the language used on the document, one former operator, Teju Adedayo, who was given a one-year suspended sentence for false accounting in 2006, told the Times: “It’s absolutely disgusting. I cried when I saw this document, they were collecting this data to obviously distinguish how they were going to treat people. It’s unbelievable.”

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ments-show

I suppose that racial categorisation was necessary to determine how to proceed with individual cases. White = possible computer error. Various shades of brown= probably a thieving scumbag.

I can't think of any other reason to do this.

[Yug]

Is there anyone in England over the age of six and not a member of the Conservative Party who didn't see this coming?

Train drivers have announced two more days of strikes and an overtime ban across England, timed to bring services to a halt at the start and end of the Conservative party conference.

Members of Aslef will strike on Saturday 30 September and Wednesday 4 October, when the Tories’ conference is taking place in Manchester, meaning virtually no national rail services will run in England on those days.

The overtime ban will be in effect the rest of the week from Friday 29 September and will disrupt trains across England and cross-border services into Scotland and Wales.

The industrial action directly affects 16 rail companies contracted to the Department for Transport in England.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: ‘While we regret having to take this action – we don’t want to lose a day’s pay, or disrupt passengers, as they try to travel by train – the government, and the employers, have forced us into this position. Our members have not, now, had a pay rise for four years.”

Whelan called on ministers, who ultimately dictate the contracts and pay offers made by train companies, to negotiate an end to the long-running pay dispute. He said the union had had no contact with the transport secretary, Mark Harper, since December, adding: “The train companies have told us … they cannot act without his say-so. But he’s hiding.”

He added: “Do you remember Where’s Wally? Well, what we want to know is where’s Harper?”...

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... conference