UNI P&M group has launched its Work-Life Management fortnight of action to challenge the long hours and short breaks culture that is being taken for granted in many workplaces around the world. The ASU is an affiliate of UNI and supports this action.
You can view this article on the UNI website here.
UNI Professionals and Managers group has launched its Work-Life Management fortnight of action to challenge the long hours and short breaks culture that is being taken for granted in many workplaces around the world.
Not only is this unhealthy practice leading to millions of workers giving away an estimated 10-20 per cent of their salary in unpaid overtime every year, evidence also shows that poor work-life management can cause stress and ill health, can wreck relationships at work and at home, and can make it difficult to care for children, friends and family.
UNI P&M is calling on all affiliates to raise awareness of the need for better work-life management policies and practises by getting involved in two weeks of action from 7-20 October.
The theme for this year's fortnight of action is Depression: A Global Crisis. This connects the global financial crisis that has in many cases triggered the additional burden of depression which affects 350 million people across the globe. One recent study of European workers found that an average of 36 working days were lost per employee each year due to depression.
Use the resources on the specially designed Work Life Management campaign website, which includes a step-by-step toolkit, to guide you through the reasons why work-life management is a serious issue and to highlight what activities unions can undertake to organise workers, negotiate policies, and transform theory into practice.
UNI has also designated 8 October as Work Your Proper Hours Day, and we are encouraging everyone to take a proper break and to go home on time.
Throughout these two weeks of action, UNI affiliates can help to change the rules of the game and ensure that all workers have access to decent work conditions by negotiating and implementing better work-life management policies and practices.
For more information and to share your case studies of good practice and details of the work-life management activities you are organising, please contact: pav.akhtar@uniglobalunion.org