Unison, representing 4,000 Town Hall staff, says that figure conceals a larger number of bullying victims who suffer in silence and hold back from complaining.
But a council spokesman said a range of help and support is offered to staff in managing stress, and any bullying complaint is taken “extremely seriously and thoroughly investigated”.
Angela Blundell, secretary of Unison’s joint trade union committee, criticised how the council dealt with bullying, and said managers were not adequately trained in how to field complaints. Last night, she said: “I would have thought a higher figure on that. It’s an everyday occurrence that we get complaints – it’s a problem within the city council, bullying and harassment; we get calls repeatedly.
“We have formal cases and in most instances the council never find that bullying’s happened. I can’t recall one where they have found in favour of the person who’s been complaining. The usual thing for the council to do is to move them away from the area where they have been, then label them as troublemakers.”
News RSS Feed