Time for Change’ in Mental Health – Royal Mail Group, CWU and ‘MIND’ Sign The Pledge.

Time for Change’ in Mental Health – Royal Mail Group, CWU and ‘MIND’ Sign The Pledge.
 
Further to articles in CWU Voice, Royal Mail Courier and on both the Royal Mail and CWU Websites this is to confirm that CWU and Royal Mail have jointly pledged their full support for ‘MIND’ mental health campaign Time for Change last week, and promised to “challenge stigma and promote positive well-being in the workplace within Royal Mail Group.”
 
Time for Change is a nationwide initiative by leading charities ‘MIND’ and ‘Rethink Mental Health’ and its key aim is to “empower people with mental health problems to feel confident talking about the issue”.
 
With funding from the Department of Health, National Lottery and the Comic Relief organisation, this project has opened up a wide range of activities, engaging people in all sectors and communities, all parts of the UK and among every age group.
 
 
Signing up to Time for Change on behalf of Royal Mail was chief executive Moya Greene, while CWU national health, safety and environment officer Dave Joyce represented the CWU.
 
 
This represents joint commitment backed up by a robust action plan. From a CWU perspective, this joint pledge marks a significant step towards the aims set out in this year’s General Conference Resolution 37, which set our union’s policy on stress and mental health in the workplace.
 
 
The current estimates by experts in the field indicate that as many as one-in-four of the UK population suffer, or have suffered some form of mental health disorder – and that 70 per cent of these may be work-related. Indications are that the numbers are moving nearer to 1 in 3.
 
The agreed action plan, seeks to raise awareness and create a culture of allowing people to speak openly about mental health issues including stress, anxiety and depression and get help and support.
 
The CWU wants: 

– Royal Mail to meet the Terms of Motion 37(2015), 

– A concerted awareness raising campaign, 

– Mental Health First Aid Training for CWU Area Health and Safety Reps, Managers and
 
First Aiders, 

– Support and compassion not persecution and victimisation, 

– Reasonable adjustments, 

– Rehabilitation not medical severance, 

– and an effective Employee assistance programme (EAP) with Mental Health treated 

more like Physical Health.
Motion 37 General Conference 2015:
 
“The pressure and cumulative effect of an increasingly demanding work culture in the UK continues to generate high levels of work-related stress and mental ill-health.
 
It is estimated that nearly three-in-10 employees will experience a mental health problem in any one year.
 
Conference instructs the NEC to campaign and support:
 
· The promotion of messages about better work-life balance
· Acknowledgement of the association between work and related stress and mental 

health.
· Mechanisms to support staff who experience mental health problems
· A culture of openness about time constraints and workload.
· Better training of managers on the identification of work stress and its effects.
· Promoting a culture of ‘working smart, not long’ as outlined above
· Manageable workloads
· Workplace and work environment monitoring, audits and inspections
· Monitoring performance indicators and sickness absence
· Improvements in staff satisfaction
· Provision of time to attend counselling and support services
· Activities that promote good mental health
· Raising awareness and combat the stigma of those who suffer from mental ill- 

health/workplace stress
· Utilisation of expert advice/help either through the NHS of UK charities”
Find out more about the campaign by visiting Time for Change: http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/

Yours sincerely

 
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety& Environment Officer