{"id":5118,"date":"2015-08-06T16:18:49","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T15:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5118"},"modified":"2015-08-07T10:19:32","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T09:19:32","slug":"nightmare-of-the-night-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5118","title":{"rendered":"Nightmare of the night shift"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

As the second day of a two-day strike among tube workers kicks off today (August 6), many commuters may wonder what the fuss is all about.<\/p>\n

 
\nDon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tube drivers get \u00c2\u014150,000 a year? Hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t London Underground made a reasonable offer?
\nWhat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s buried beneath the headlines is that most people on strike today are not tube drivers, and the dispute isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mainly about pay.<\/p>\n

 
\nWhile the vast majority of workers complete their working day in tandem with daylight, tube staff are being forced to take on night shifts when the new all-night weekend tube service begins running in September.<\/p>\n

 
\nSome workers will be asked to staff stations all night alone \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a danger to both staff and passenger\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have little control over their shift patterns.<\/p>\n

 
\nA new TUC report<\/a> shows just how harmful night work can be. It found that family life was often negatively affected \u00e2\u20ac\u201d night workers have higher levels of marital problems and divorce, and the children of night workers often have behavioural and emotional difficulties.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut these negative effects on family life, the TUC report found, were often reduced when workers had more control over their shifts and when they were paid better, most likely because better paid workers can afford better childcare, and greater control means workers can tailor their schedules to meet their family and social obligations.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe physical and mental health toll that shift work takes on employees is also well documented. The report noted that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a significant body of evidence that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shown that shift work, particularly night work, can lead to cardiovascular problems, obesity, breast cancer, diabetes, stomach problems such as ulcers, and depression, as well as an increased risk of injury.<\/p>\n

 
\nAs shift work becomes increasingly common \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the TUC found that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been seven per cent increase in the number of shift workers since 2007, now totalling more than three million \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the need to protect these workers becomes all the more critical.<\/p>\n

 
\nFlouting the law<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nThis is especially the case as employers are also more commonly flouting the law circumscribing shift work. The Working Time Regulations stipulate that night workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 average normal hours of work cannot exceed eight hours for each 24-hour period. They also require employers to grant night workers free health assessments. But the TUC reported that both of these rules are frequently being violated.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe TUC recommended that, when night work is introduced in a workplace, workers should not be forced to take on night shifts, and when they do decide to take on such shifts, they should be given an element of control over their rotas.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe report also advised that night workers pay should be increased to cover costs such as childcare and other additional expenses that night work can often entail.<\/p>\n

 
\nTUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady argued that night workers, who often take on such critical work, must be protected.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe all value night workers, whether they are cleaning our office, caring for a sick relative or driving all night so that there are fresh goods in our local shop,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut night work is hard and it disrupts family life. So we must show our appreciation for the sacrifices night workers make by ensuring they have sensible rights and protections.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThe TUC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report sheds light on just how critical today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tube strike is \u00e2\u20ac\u201d tube staff aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t walking out lightly.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Hugh Roberts condemned London Underground management for refusing to acknowledge how destructive the introduction of night work can be.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAny reasonable employer wanting to introduce unsocial night shifts and the upheaval that brings to their workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 home life would be engaging with workforce representatives in a constructive manner,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInstead London Underground has offered nothing meaningfully new. Its refusal to give firm long-term commitments on the number of weekend and unsocial shifts expected to be worked leaves our members unable to plan their future family time.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAs David, a tube worker noted yesterday<\/a> (August 5):<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t object to night working, but these things have to be done fairly and with an awareness of the impact they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have on workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 lives. Anyone would feel the same if their boss suddenly expected them to work all night.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nFind out more about what today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tube strike is actually all about here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the second day of a two-day strike among tube workers kicks off today (August 6), many commuters may wonder what the fuss is all about.   Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tube drivers get \u00c2\u014150,000 a year? Hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t London Underground made a reasonable offer? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s buried beneath the headlines is that most people on strike today are not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[335],"wps_subtitle":"Today's tube strike shows worries over night work","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5118"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5152,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118\/revisions\/5152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}