Friday, April 27, 2007

Council Homeless Persons Unit to ballot for Strike Action over Safety?


UNISON and GMB members of Tower Hamlets Council “Homeless Persons Unit” (HPU) are carrying out an indicative strike ballot of members over health & safety. The Council have decided that there should be no safety screens in the HPU reception desks and most interview facilities. A building in Roman Road Bethnal Green is being refurbished as the new home for the unit. In the past there have been a number of violent incidents at the HPU. It is one of the most difficult and demanding jobs in the Council.As branch health & safety officer I attended an “open air” joint trade union meeting of about 50 staff yesterday in Millharbour, Isle of Dogs, E14. Staff was very worried out the prospect of screens being removed. As a last resort strike action is being contemplated although an urgent meeting with the head of adult services responsible for the unit, is being held next week.

The vast majority of “homeless” applicants are of course perfectly ordinary people who are undergoing a housing crisis and pose no danger. However, there are some people who will vent their frustration on staff, as well as those who abuse alcohol or drugs or suffer from certain mental health illnesses.

Staff do want to give the best possible service however, there has to be a trade off with staff safety. What is being currently proposed would mean that staff can be easily be hit or thumped across the counter and assailants can jump over it and prevent staff from escaping to a safe area. These sort of things actually happen. Not everyday, but often enough (and potentially serious enough) for staff to walk out and strike. Hopefully, we can resolve this without confrontation. Ironically, this is happening on the eve of Workers Memorial Day!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have lived in temporary accomodation & been to that office.
The large majority of people that go there in my personal opinion, I have seen are largely bengali & a large majority of people that go there feel they can abuse there way physically up the housing ladder. I think bengalis need to be educated on the fact that there is a huge shortage of council homes. So everyone will just have to paitent & wait! Councils should also stop allowing people bring husbands/wifes using council homes unless the tenency is in the applicants name not parents as they will eventually end up on the housing list once they get there indefinate leave to remain.

John Gray said...

Hi Rahana
Although I respect your views, I don't think there is any widespread abuse of the system. Also, that the Council does not have very much discretion over who they can refuse to accept applications from. The government makes these decisions. Thank you for your comments though.