A disgrace that somebody should be sacked for expressing an opinion about an issue local to them in a free society.
At the risk of being shouted down no surprise to me though really as one of the modus operandis of the authoritarian left is to stifle debate in my opinion and has been for many years.
No you have a point Len. All I would say is that the other lot are no better now. Fag paper between the main parties on almost everything these days.
The arrogance of power, Algarve. The problem with Greenwich I think is not that it is Labour, but that it hasn't been anything else for ages.
We're going to have to return home and sort them out all over again, mate :-)
Those were the days mate! :-)
You've got enough problems with bureaucracy to sort out where you are Perry before you start sorting things here.
Editor Hilary Bryan and asst ed Rod Kitson told to leave the Woolwich Centre this morning after refusing to meet asst chief exec Katrina Delaney and head of comms Stuart Godfrey without a Unite rep (the advice they got from the union). They were accused of refusing to work and refusing to attend a meeting but it was nothing of the sort. They were there for work but not to be bullied. PC
Sounds like Greenwich Council and the Charlton hierarchy of Messrs Jiinez, Slater & Protheroe are taking the same courses on man management and how not to run a business.
No wonder Employment Law and Litigation are booming in this country now!!
There are also some interesting things going on in Bexley regarding public access to and reporting of council meetings, with the police getting involved, which given the large Tory majority I don't think can be put down to the authoritarian left ...
Yes I read with alarm the nonsense that you could not film a public meeting...... being a council meeting, I think even Eric Pickles thought this was a breach of council control. If the people ask for permission, and do not cause a lot of noise and annoyance, why should they not have a right to film this?. Are these people not public servants?. Seems more like a star chamber to me? Regarding Peter, the guy is very fair and open. Not quite sure of the councils policy here,? Seems very muddled. He interviewed me at his home just before the trust launch and came to the launch, so I regard him as a mate, and we have worked together on a football magazine, so personally upset to hear this. Cannot comment on his status, but perhaps he will apply as the communications manager at CAFC now that Matt has left, hope so he would be a great asset.
The reasons that we have been given ( sorry, excuse) is that some members of the public don't like being filmed and it will deter them from going to meetings. No evidence has been put forward to back up this assertion. In my experience, the opposite is true and people get offended if you don't deem them worthy of being filmed. To me, it's all quite illogical and seems to be little more than old fogeys expecting the electorate to doff their caps and do what they're told. Assertive women are completely beyond the pale, doubtless because they're all lesbians ;-)
Darryl @darryl1974 Editor of Greenwich Council's weekly paper thrown out of the council's HQ as Greenwich Time sacking row rumbles on http://wp.me/plVfU-4lS
Greenwich Time editor thrown out of council HQ
Greenwich TimeThe editor of Greenwich Council’s weekly newspaper Greenwich Time has been thrown out of the council’s Woolwich HQ following the sacking last week of the paper’s chief reporter, Peter Cordwell.
Hilary Bryan and assistant editor Rod Kitson were turfed out of the Woolwich Centre today after they refused to attend a meeting with council director of culture, media and sport Katrina Delaney and communications head Stuart Godfrey without a representative from the Unite union, according to a post from Cordwell on Charlton Athletic fans’ site Charlton Life.
“They were accused of refusing to work and refusing to attend a meeting but it was nothing of the sort. They were there for work but not to be bullied,” he said.
Cordwell himself was given the boot last week for writing letters to the News Shopper and Mercury newspapers congratulating Lewisham Hospital campaigners on winning their legal action against the closure of the A&E at the hospital.
He also called for more action against Boris Johnson’s fire service closures, and against zero hours contracts.
All three are sensitive issues at the council, which has been accused of a lack of action over Lewisham and the fire stations, and of hypocrisy in employing people on zero hours contracts.
Yeah agreed. That article is 1) very impressive considering it is the news shopper and 2) a really quite distasteful account of the corruption of power. I am getting on a bit now, but in my lifetime Greenwich Council have always been pretty dodgy, and I don't expect it to change. Glad I live in Loosham bruv.
Yeah agreed. That article is 1) very impressive considering it is the news shopper and 2) a really quite distasteful account of the corruption of power. I am getting on a bit now, but in my lifetime Greenwich Council have always been pretty dodgy, and I don't expect it to change. Glad I live in Loosham bruv.
'Mr Tuckwell's job was simply to lay out the paper'...... I really do love these people who come out of the woodwork, with no name given and dismisses someone who would have played a key part in producing a publication. Layout is never 'simple', let alone the politics involved one imagines in this scenario. Having designed a few dozen publications myself I must declare, I had better shut up, and let the expert have her say.
'Mr Tuckwell's job was simply to lay out the paper'...... Yes I noticed that too. Condescending and patronising, and a sign they are probably in the wrong.
Darryl @darryl1974 Editor of Greenwich Council's weekly paper thrown out of the council's HQ as Greenwich Time sacking row rumbles on http://wp.me/plVfU-4lS
Greenwich Time editor thrown out of council HQ
Greenwich TimeThe editor of Greenwich Council’s weekly newspaper Greenwich Time has been thrown out of the council’s Woolwich HQ following the sacking last week of the paper’s chief reporter, Peter Cordwell.
Hilary Bryan and assistant editor Rod Kitson were turfed out of the Woolwich Centre today after they refused to attend a meeting with council director of culture, media and sport Katrina Delaney and communications head Stuart Godfrey without a representative from the Unite union, according to a post from Cordwell on Charlton Athletic fans’ site Charlton Life.
“They were accused of refusing to work and refusing to attend a meeting but it was nothing of the sort. They were there for work but not to be bullied,” he said.
Cordwell himself was given the boot last week for writing letters to the News Shopper and Mercury newspapers congratulating Lewisham Hospital campaigners on winning their legal action against the closure of the A&E at the hospital.
He also called for more action against Boris Johnson’s fire service closures, and against zero hours contracts.
All three are sensitive issues at the council, which has been accused of a lack of action over Lewisham and the fire stations, and of hypocrisy in employing people on zero hours contracts.
More on this to come later this evening.
I look after a number of law firms and the following came through to my in-box this afternoon from one of them. Just struck a chord re this thread...
Right to be accompanied at grievance and disciplinary meetings
Most employers are now fully versed in the right of their employees to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance meetings. In Toal v GB Oils, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered what an employer can do if they don’t want to allow the chosen companion to attend, for example because they consider that the individual’s presence will result in a conflict of interest or might prejudice the meeting. The EAT ruled that an employer cannot refuse a particular companion because they consider their presence is unreasonable. This ruling is inconsistent with the ACAS Code of Practice.
However, it confirms that provided an employee makes a request to be accompanied by a trade union official or fellow colleague, the employer should agree to it. The employer cannot question whether the particular chosen companion is reasonable in the circumstances.
Grievance procedures
The EAT has recently considered whether an employee who is offered an appeal to her grievance with the same manager who made the original decision should be allowed to claim constructive dismissal.
The ACAS Code confirms that an employee should be entitled to an impartial appeal of a grievance decision. This should be heard by an independent person who was not involved in the original decision. Failure to provide such appeal was held to amount to a breach of trust and confidence, allowing the employee concerned to claim constructive unfair dismissal.
Employers should check that their grievance procedures all contain a right of appeal. It is also important at the start of any grievance or disciplinary matter to decide who will hear an appeal if the employee raises one. That person should not then be involved in the original hearing or decision.
Shocking. Of course you cannot expect too much good journalism from a Council-paid newspaper, but the behaviour, and what it tells us about the politicians concerned...really shocking.
Peter Cordwell's case against Greenwich Council is due at the tribunal in Croydon on Wednesday. It's a pre-hearing to decide whether they were employees - and therefore whether they could be unfairly dismissed. If the judge agrees they were then there will be a separate hearing to determine whether they were treated fairly. Or more likely, IMO, the council's position will collapse. Fingers crossed.
Do you know if Greenwich Council are implying the sacking was anything to do with Pickles's crack-down on council-run newspapers?
No. My understanding is that they dismissed PC because he wrote a letter to the News Shopper supporting the campaign to save services at Lewisham Hospital, although if he wasn't an employee as they now claim it's hard to see how that was any of their business.
A disgrace that somebody should be sacked for expressing an opinion about an issue local to them in a free society.
At the risk of being shouted down no surprise to me though really as one of the modus operandis of the authoritarian left is to stifle debate in my opinion and has been for many years.
No you have a point Len. All I would say is that the other lot are no better now. Fag paper between the main parties on almost everything these days.
Really? I see only one party consistently channelling money to those that already have it, vilifying the poor for being poor, and turning the NHS into a cash cow for their mates.
A disgrace that somebody should be sacked for expressing an opinion about an issue local to them in a free society.
At the risk of being shouted down no surprise to me though really as one of the modus operandis of the authoritarian left is to stifle debate in my opinion and has been for many years.
No you have a point Len. All I would say is that the other lot are no better now. Fag paper between the main parties on almost everything these days.
Really? I see only one party consistently channelling money to those that already have it, vilifying the poor for being poor, and turning the NHS into a cash cow for their mates.
Comments
No wonder Employment Law and Litigation are booming in this country now!!
If the people ask for permission, and do not cause a lot of noise and annoyance, why should they not have a right to film this?. Are these people not public servants?.
Seems more like a star chamber to me?
Regarding Peter, the guy is very fair and open. Not quite sure of the councils policy here,? Seems very muddled.
He interviewed me at his home just before the trust launch and came to the launch, so I regard him as a mate, and we have worked together on a football magazine, so personally upset to hear this. Cannot comment on his status, but perhaps he will apply as the communications manager at CAFC now that Matt has left, hope so he would be a great asset.
Editor of Greenwich Council's weekly paper thrown out of the council's HQ as Greenwich Time sacking row rumbles on http://wp.me/plVfU-4lS
Greenwich Time editor thrown out of council HQ
Greenwich TimeThe editor of Greenwich Council’s weekly newspaper Greenwich Time has been thrown out of the council’s Woolwich HQ following the sacking last week of the paper’s chief reporter, Peter Cordwell.
Hilary Bryan and assistant editor Rod Kitson were turfed out of the Woolwich Centre today after they refused to attend a meeting with council director of culture, media and sport Katrina Delaney and communications head Stuart Godfrey without a representative from the Unite union, according to a post from Cordwell on Charlton Athletic fans’ site Charlton Life.
“They were accused of refusing to work and refusing to attend a meeting but it was nothing of the sort. They were there for work but not to be bullied,” he said.
Cordwell himself was given the boot last week for writing letters to the News Shopper and Mercury newspapers congratulating Lewisham Hospital campaigners on winning their legal action against the closure of the A&E at the hospital.
He also called for more action against Boris Johnson’s fire service closures, and against zero hours contracts.
All three are sensitive issues at the council, which has been accused of a lack of action over Lewisham and the fire stations, and of hypocrisy in employing people on zero hours contracts.
More on this to come later this evening.
http://853blog.com/2013/08/30/thought-greenwich-council-was-too-skint-for-fireworks/
I am getting on a bit now, but in my lifetime Greenwich Council have always been pretty dodgy, and I don't expect it to change.
Glad I live in Loosham bruv.
I really do love these people who come out of the woodwork, with no name given and dismisses someone who would have played a key part in producing a publication.
Layout is never 'simple', let alone the politics involved one imagines in this scenario. Having designed a few dozen publications myself I must declare, I had better shut up, and let the expert have her say.
Yes I noticed that too. Condescending and patronising, and a sign they are probably in the wrong.
I look after a number of law firms and the following came through to my in-box this afternoon from one of them. Just struck a chord re this thread...
Right to be accompanied at grievance and disciplinary meetings
Most employers are now fully versed in the right of their employees to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance meetings. In Toal v GB Oils, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered what an employer can do if they don’t want to allow the chosen companion to attend, for example because they consider that the individual’s presence will result in a conflict of interest or might prejudice the meeting. The EAT ruled that an employer cannot refuse a particular companion because they consider their presence is unreasonable. This ruling is inconsistent with the ACAS Code of Practice.
However, it confirms that provided an employee makes a request to be accompanied by a trade union official or fellow colleague, the employer should agree to it. The employer cannot question whether the particular chosen companion is reasonable in the circumstances.
Grievance procedures
The EAT has recently considered whether an employee who is offered an appeal to her grievance with the same manager who made the original decision should be allowed to claim constructive dismissal.
The ACAS Code confirms that an employee should be entitled to an impartial appeal of a grievance decision. This should be heard by an independent person who was not involved in the original decision. Failure to provide such appeal was held to amount to a breach of trust and confidence, allowing the employee concerned to claim constructive unfair dismissal.
Employers should check that their grievance procedures all contain a right of appeal. It is also important at the start of any grievance or disciplinary matter to decide who will hear an appeal if the employee raises one. That person should not then be involved in the original hearing or decision.
http://ow.ly/rm14m