Workers from a women's aid charity will strike over the course of three months amid bullying allegations, a mass 'suspension' of staff and unfair dismissals.

Unite confirmed today that members from Glasgow East Women's Aid (GEWA) will strike on Mondays and Fridays (excluding holidays) between 8am and 5pm from December 1 to February 16, 2024.

The union announced last week that every member they represent at the Easterhouse charity voted to support strike action.

Legal claims have also been submitted by the union amid allegations the board of GEWA "unfairly" dismissed five workers during the ballot period for industrial action.

Because the five staff members worked at the organisation for less than two years, the board was not required to provide a reason for their dismissals.

READ MORE: Glasgow women's charity under fire after 'mass suspension' of staff

Unite claims the dismissals are unfair because they were "specifically linked to workers trade union activities and an apparent drive to undermine the union which supported members after they were 'suspended' amid bully allegations.

We previously reported that the board of GEWA came under fire for sending home 13 workers with full pay after they reported claims of systemic bullying within the organisation.

A spokesperson for the board of GEWA said staff were sent home with full pay while an external human resources company carried out investigations into the claims.

Glasgow Times:

Linda Wilson, industrial officer at Unite, said the events at Glasgow East Women's Aid "have turned from bad to worse".

She added: "We believe our members have been targeted for attempting to raise legitimate concerns about the service, and for exercising their rights by involving their union in this dispute."

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Unite will not tolerate any of our members at Glasgow East Women’s Aid being targeted and dismissed due to raising legitimate concerns about their workplace.

"These dismissals shockingly took place during an industrial action ballot, and there is no doubt this move was designed to undermine the ballot process.

“Unite has launched unfair dismissal claims on behalf of our five members.

"Be in no doubt we will be holding the organisation’s management to account for its disgraceful behaviour and potentially illegal attitude to its staff.”

The Glasgow Times made repeated attempts to contact the board of GEWA for a response which went unanswered.

In a statement to STV News last week, a spokesperson for the board claimed an employee who is a member of Unite raised a complaint with the union that has not yet been resolved.

They also claimed all employees, including those going on strike, "are the very individuals who have been the subject of those grievances which Unite refer to as being about bullying."

The spokesperson added: "Understandably, this is an extremely complex situation.

“Similarly, Unite and employees have claimed they are going on strike due to the board not investigating internal HR issues. Again, this is completely wrong.

"In actuality, the Board instructed an external HR investigation in September that is still ongoing.

"The employees are now expressing that the investigation is not moving as fast as they would like despite it only having been around two months.

“This may seem like a while; however, it needs to be understood that it will take time to complete a comprehensive independent HR investigation into over 15 individuals, over a course of complaints that they have brought to the forefront, referring to alleged behaviour that is many years old.

"Strike action is not justified and ironically could delay the investigation.

“The Board has made every possible effort to resolve issues and continue to support employees through external counselling, but employees are ignoring our attempts at resolution.

“We are now at a highly regrettable stage where we are trying to resolve matters with our employees, but they refuse to communicate with us directly.

"Therefore, we are at a loss as to how else we can resolve matters with these valuable workers.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We continue to work with GEWA and relevant partners in order to maintain a level of service for women and children seeking support. 

"We continue to monitor the service being delivered to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the women and children in receipt of service.”