I have been asked by the Legal Sector Workers United (LSWU) to share their mental health survey on this blog, which I am more than happy to do as an LSWU member myself!
For those who aren't aware of LSWU, it is a branch of United Voices of the World (UVW), a well-known union which has made headlines around its campaigning for workers' rights. LSWU is a union devoted to raising awareness of and protecting those who work in the legal sector. Workplace protections in the sector have gained increasing importance within a context of devastating legal aid cuts and unmanageable workloads, which I have posted about on this blog before.
One of the founders of LSWU, Franck Magennis, spoke at an event for Young Legal Aid Lawyers on mental health and well-being in the legal sector which I chaired way back in February 2020. The minutes of that event are available and set out a summary of Franck's impassioned contribution. He emphasised the value in thinking about wellbeing in the sector as a collective, not just individual, struggle (TLDR; join a union!!).
Of course, to know how to tackle a problem, we need to know what the problem is. To that end, LSWU has launched a mental health survey to map the mental health condition of the sector, identify any structural factors contributing to mental ill-health and campaign for better provision.
That's where you come in.
If you work in the legal sector (lawyer, paralegal, admin assistant, cleaner - whatever it might be), then LSWU needs your help to gather robust evidence.
Fill in this survey so that meaningful strides can be made towards tackling the mental health problem in the sector.
P.S. If you haven't become a member of LSWU yet, give their website a scroll. To find out more, there is also this great piece by Thomas Lewis for Chambers Student.
Comentários