WE SAY END THE CULTURE OF FEAR AT ST MUNGO’S

The Property services industrial action has been called off after the management agreed to an independent review into bullying grievances raised by staff. But the fight cannot end here.

Staff were forced to take industrial action because management refused to take the accusations of senior management bullying seriously and punished one staff member for raising concerns by suspending them.

This creates a culture of fear, where staff don’t feel they can bring issues to the organisation – especially if the issues lie with senior management – and this puts our clients and staff at risk.

 Introduce zero tolerance of bullying within Mungo’s

Accusations of bullying must be taken seriously regardless of who those accusations are against. This means using robust, unbiased, independent, and fair processes to come to conclusions.
Senior managers who have close, long-term working relationships should not be investigating each other. This is because unconscious bias is real, and the stakes are too high for mistakes when it comes to accusations of bullying, especially at the top of our organisation. 

Create the Freedom to Speak Out without repercussions

There should never be the fear that you will be disciplined or suspended for speaking out about bullying or concerning and inappropriate behaviour.
What does it say when a senior manager accused of bullying is not suspended, pending the outcome of the investigation, but their accuser is? There is one rule for senior managers and another for the rest of us.
A culture where staff feel too disempowered and vulnerable to speak out creates a culture of silence, where safeguarding issues may go unaddressed. This is unsafe for our staff and it is unsafe for our clients. 

Lift the Suspension & Disciplinary Action against our Unite Rep for raising a grievance

A Unite rep was suspended for raising a grievance about the behaviour of senior managers. To many this will look and feel like ‘victimisation’.
 This is absolutely unacceptable, and the suspension must be lifted immediately. It is dangerous to send a message to staff members that says raising concerns puts you at risk of punishment.
Add your voice and sign this petition! Send the link on to your colleagues to raise awareness of this issue so we can collectively say bullying will not be tolerated and we will fight back against the culture of fear.

St Mungo’s Unite