Workers have called off strikes outside a women's aid centre, declaring a 'huge victory' amid a row over bullying claims.
More than four months ago, 13 staff members at Glasgow East Women's Aid (GEWA) were suspended for 'blowing the whistle' on alleged workplace bullying, bringing their work with vulnerable women to a halt.
Unite members from GEWA voted to strike for 21 days from December 1 to February 16, 2024.
Now, the union has confirmed the strike was shelved on January 22 and the staff will be returning to work at the Easterhouse charity on January 29 after a new board was appointed.
Linda Wilson, industrial officer at Unite, told the Glasgow Times that five staff members who were dismissed amid the industrial action were fully reinstated and two change managers were appointed to oversee their return to work.
She said: "I feel really positive, it's great.
"Hopefully, everything will go well (and fingers crossed) but I fully expect it will.
"We’ve been out for a long time and we’re just so happy to get back and be heard, be vindicated.
"Especially the five women who have been brought back to work because they didn't do anything wrong.
“Hopefully the changed board and managers can make GEWA a better place to work.
“Most importantly, we’re back providing a service that Easterhouse residents need.”
While a date hasn’t been set in stone to receive service users, workers are eager to re-open the vital centre as soon as possible.
Linda said: "We're pleased, really happy. This should never have happened but with a new board in place, we have high hopes that we can turn things around.
"It's a huge win for the workers. We achieved what we set out to do and got five workers reinstated with no blemish on their character or name because they didn't deserve it.
"The women were unduly suspended, they did nothing apart from report bullying in the workplace and they were vilified for it.
"It's a victory and the fact that all of the previous board members left tells its own story that they were wrong."
A new human resources company, Peninsula, has been assigned to investigate claims of bullying and a toxic workplace in the next four weeks. The firm declined to comment at this time.
Linda said: "The most important thing is the women are back to work and the residents of Easterhouse get the service they have been wrongly denied for so long.
"We've had several people say that it's great news they are going to get their support worker back."
A spokesperson for GEWA Board said: “We are pleased that all parties have been able to come round the table and resolve the dispute.
"As a new Board, we are committed to maintaining open and transparent lines of communication with workers and investigating any allegations.
"Both the Board and the workers at Glasgow East Women’s Aid are focused on our core mission, which is to support the women and children who need our help.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here