Glasgow City Council workers subjected to thousands of assaults

GMB Scotland said the figures - obtained under the Freedom of Information Act - show council employees stand a one-in-three chance of suffering from violence at work.

Their comments come after learning almost 9000 aggressive incidents towards those working for the local authority were reported between January 1, 2019 and October 9, 2020.

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The union - which represents all council employees - has dubbed the figures as a “disgrace” that should “shame our city”.  

GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith, said: “These figures are utterly shameful. On this information, a council worker in Glasgow faces up to a one-in-three chance of suffering violence at work, and it’s low-paid frontline staff that will be the most affected. 

“And while it is evident there is public anger that many of the services we need have been underfunded to the point of crises, that’s certainly no excuse. Every instance of violence against a frontline worker is a disgrace that should shame the city.”

Council staff in education, health and social care, culture and sporting, community safety, roads maintenance, cleansing and construction suffered from 3777 physical attacks during the same period.

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The figures also include a total of 1480 verbal assaults towards the public service employees while 3669 incidents that included both verbal and physical violence at the same time were reported. 

Mr Smith added: “It is clear to GMB the safety and value of our members have not been prioritised for this council and this has left workers, ‘heroes’ applauded only months ago, as sitting ducks for the worst elements of society and the public ire over the state of a city in decline. 

“But they have also been left to front up the wider political failure of the last decade - austerity that has left Glasgow a place where overworked home carers walk the streets alone at night to look after service users, and where refuse workers routinely encounter rats while struggling against a mounting waste crisis that will only get worse with further collection cuts.” 

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One home care worker, who wished not to be named, revealed how she felt “small and worthless” after being on the receiving end of a verbal attack from a client’s family member.  

She said: “I haven’t been hit, but verbally abused by family members of my clients on multiple occasions. 

“Not an awful lot gets done about it apart form we won’t visit that client again which isn’t their fault. 

“Family members of our clients can often be very aggressive and will try to tell us how to do our job, which can be very frustrating as we are trained and qualified to provide the care. 

“The comments can really make you feel small and worthless, which is a knock to your confidence as it makes you feel like you can’t do your job.” 

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has described alarming figures as “wholly unacceptable” while he encouraged the local authority to take direct action on behalf of its employees. 

He said: “Public servants, including council workers across Glasgow and Scotland have worked tirelessly over the last year to provide and maintain essential services to the public, often in very challenging conditions. Any assault, whether physical or verbal against them is wholly unacceptable at any time. 

“While overall levels of violence have fallen significantly in Scotland over the last decade, no-one should be the victim of abuse or violence at work, and employers should take appropriate action against those responsible. 

“These figures will cover a wide range of incidents - none of them acceptable.“ 

He has encouraged victims of assault within the workplace to report such violence to the police, who will investigate any allegation of criminal behaviour and take appropriate action.  

Glasgow City Council has since outlined it takes a “zero-tolerance approach” to attacks on its staff.

Employees working for the local authority have the opportunity to disclose acts of violence to line managers via a designated online portal before an incident report is filed and investigated by the employer. 

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “Nobody goes to work to be assaulted or abused and the council takes a zero-tolerance approach to attacks on staff. 

“While training and guidance on dealing with aggression is available, a big part of our Unacceptable Actions policy is about challenging the dangerous idea that abuse is something that workers should be expected to put up with – and we strongly encourage staff to report all incidents.

“While some of our colleagues often deal with people in difficult or stressful situations, they are neither the cause of nor a justification for aggressive behaviour.

“All incidents are different and the action taken depends on very many factors – however, the guidance for staff and managers is clear that any potentially criminal matter should be reported to the police.”