Letters: Menopause in the workplace can be ‘pathway out of a job’

Stand Up To Racism has countered the far right’s flag campaign (X/@SUTRScotland)

I loved Judy Cox’s recent article about the menopause. It looked at the impact of the menopause on women’s lives and the inequality of access to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

It was a stark reminder of an overlooked aspect of women’s oppression.

As an NHS worker and trade unionist, I want to raise a point about medicalising a natural process and how this affects women in the workplace.

HRT is not a panacea for the menopause. It can have side effects and it doesn’t always make a difference. And many can’t take it due to other health conditions.

Women should have the choice to take HRT or not. But there can be a pressure from employers who imagine the symptoms of menopause can be swept away with HRT.

If you don’t take it, you can be considered non-compliant and find yourself on a performance or sickness pathway out of a job.

We need to demand employers and society accommodates for this natural process.

Menopause can include problems with temperature regulation, concentration, fatigue and brain fog. All of these can be made worse by the pressure at work.

I work in the NHS where most of us are women. We shouldn’t have to request an individual reasonable adjustment when we’re going through menopause.

You shouldn’t have to beg to do a 7.5 hour shift rather than 12 hours, and then be denied. You shouldn’t have to ask to work from home where you can do your job efficiently in a quiet environment, and be denied.

Let’s normalise the menopause and stop making it a problem for women.

Diana, Unison rep, East London

Mexico’s government faces crisis

On 15 November, thousands of people took to the streets of Mexico City to protest against president Claudia Sheinbaum.

The stated cause of the protest was to oppose state corruption and the dominance of drug cartels in Mexican society.

Carlos Manzo was assassinated after speaking out against the government’s policies on the drug trade.

His death has sparked loud anti-government criticism that has been harnessed by the right.

But the politics of the organisers, and the march’s content, reveal its right-wing character. The organisers were from affluent sections of society, and the language used against Sheinbaum was antisemitic and sexist.

Big business is allying with the right wing, along with politicians from the conservative PAN and corrupt PRI parties.

They are trying to create a crisis for Sheinbaum’s government. The left must articulate the issues facing the Mexican working class to act as a pole of attraction against these right wing forces and the government.

Liam Winning, Edinburgh

How we got the racist flags down in Scotland

Seven weeks after the far right put saltire flags up on Edinburgh lampposts, Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) campaigning got them down. People of colour had reported to SUTR that they felt threatened by these flags.

Below the flags was graffiti saying “Deport all Muslims”. Soon after the SUTR team began their task, a man appeared yelling, “These are my flags you—and I’ll slit your throats if you touch them.”

SUTR asked Edinburgh Trades Union Council to take the issue up. SUTR argued that a tiny far-right minority had commandeered council property to impose its vile outlook on the community. The safety of council workers was also paramount.

The resolution passed with everyone except the Tories backing it.

The flags have now been safely taken down, with an understanding that this will be repeated if they reappear. This is just one part of the wider campaign we need to isolate and defeat the far right.

Penny Gower and Keith Pender, Edinburgh

No one but themselves to blame

When left wing formations and coalitions, such as the Socialist Alliance and Respect, go into decline or implode— who gets handed the blame?

It is always the far left, including the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).

The ongoing implosion of Your Party must be the first time in the history of the British left where the above have played absolutely no part whatsoever. You couldn’t make this up.

John Curtis, Ipswich