Veterans must be supported

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.cwu.org/news/archive/veteran ... orted.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

The increasing prevalence of ex-military personnel taking up careers in BT means more information about, and greater understanding of, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is now essential within both the company and the union, it has been agreed.

Voting hands annual conference The CWU will now seek to raise awareness about PTSD in general but also to provide specific guidance and advice for members and reps after a passionate CWU Telecoms & Financial Services Conference debate last month in which one speaker revealed a jaw-dropping example of total ignorance of PTSD that had been displayed by one of the company's human resources advisers.

"Not too long ago we had a case where a member, who was ex-services, went off sick with stress, like a lot of our members do," recalled Nigel Bailey of South East Anglia branch .

"When he went to his GP they diagnosed he was suffering from PTSD and put it on the sick note.

"The member took it to his manager, who was also thankfully an ex-serviceman, who in turn asked HR for some advice as to what to do," added Nigel. "HR turned round to the manager and said: 'Your team member cannot be suffering from PTSD because he has not suffered a head injury!'

"That is the ignorance that is out there. HR needs to be educated. We all need to be educated!"

Eddie Beese of Great Western branch, argued that it is now more important than ever that ignorance about PTSD is addressed given the recent influx of ex-military personnel into BT, especially in Openreach.

"It would naturally flow that some of those individuals would have been in action in situations where they witnessed things that would be hard for the most hardened amongst us to cope with," Eddie explained.

Pointing out that the first hint of PTSD being an issue often arises when members contact the CWU over problems that have arisen at work, Eddie admitted that branch officers are "ill-equipped" to deal with such cases. "Yet when we are dealing with discipline and attendance issues it is part of our job to listen and to identify reasons," he continued.

"What's disappointing and blatantly obvious to us is that most of our managers or case handlers have no training on this subject and very little knowledge of any of the symptoms of PTSD, and this can result in people being wrongly disciplined.

"For example, common symptoms of PTSD include irritability, impulsiveness, anger, outbursts, insomnia, nightmares, aggression, a constant feeling of being in danger and difficulty concentrating.

"This behaviour can be misinterpreted by managers as a form of aggressive behaviour, and unfortunately for the person involved, it usually ends up in a discipline case and charges of gross or serious misconduct.

"I think we owe it to our members, many of whom have proudly served their country, to raise awareness of PTSD," Eddie concluded.

The seriousness of the situation was emphasised by delegates with a military background themselves.

"Having served 15 years in the Army I know only too well how difficult the readjustment to civilian life can be," explained Nick Miley of South Wales branch.

"A person suffering form PTSD can experience traumatic and sometimes horrific flashbacks - and any one of their senses can suddenly, in their mind, transport them back to the horrors of the battlefield."

Will Le Cras of North Wales and Chester Combined added: "I joined the Army at 16 and at 18b was peacekeeping in Bosnia. PTSD is a time bomb, not only for the union but in society as a whole."

Winston Richards of Greater London Combined explained how his own awareness of PTSD had come about through representing two Falkland's veterans who ran into difficulties at work around the time of the 30th anniversary of the conflict.

"The anxiety and stresses was brought on, in one instance, to do with the punitive performance management process," recounted Winston - yet the trigger for the second member's difficulties appeared to be directly connected to the anniversary itself.

"He'd become very defensive, aggressive and uncooperative, " recalled Winston. "He opened up to me and explained it was to do with the anniversary. He wouldn't discuss with me what he had experienced and, to be honest, I didn't really want to know - but as a result of this we contacted the Executive to raise this issue, because we were aware of the drive to recruit ex-service personnel.

"At the time we were told that Openreach were going to supply information and data about PTSD," Winston added - yet that information still seems elusive.
Linda Woodings Linda Woodings of East Midlands branch agreed greater availability of information and specific training for managers was vital - but stressed that this was just part of a greater' duty of care' that was owed to BT's expanding ex-military workforce.

"We've had calls into our union office from Openreach field members who've been concerned about the pressure being put on their ex-MoD colleagues," she said. "They were very concerned about the way that line managers felt it was acceptable to speak to these people - barking orders at them, expecting them to complete seven jobs a day and putting them under intense pressure to do it.

"Our members were really concerned that these individuals were showing signs of pressure and stress and that a couple of them might snap.

"These people are just off frontline duties," added Linda. "The company has a duty of care towards them because they have given great service to our country - and we need to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace."

Nick Darbyshire Telecoms Executive member Nick Darbyshire concluded: "This is not just an Opennreach issue, it's important we do this for any ex-services people in BT.

"We need to protect everyone in our family."

[DB1100]

Nice thought,but I don't expect Royal mail to pay any attention to it,maybe a bit in the courier to look good,5 minutes during work time drivel and thats it.

[Lounge Lizard]

Nice thought,but I don't expect Royal mail to pay any attention to it,maybe a bit in the courier to look good,5 minutes during work time drivel and thats it.

Yes, looks good, but it would be helpful if the military themselves paid a bit more attention to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).