Achi news desk-
GMB Scotland has lodged a complaint saying Glasgow City Council forced the move to merge the 20-strong team into the general shelter and homelessness service from Glasgow City Council.
The team have helped settle thousands of families fleeing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to build new lives in Scotland but have been told their specialist role is no longer needed at a meeting with management.
The city council said the resettlement team will now be used to strengthen other parts of the homelessness service, as they struggle to deal with the housing crisis.
The employees were only informed of the wide-ranging changes to their role in December.
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Now the majority of the team is going to be subject to a consultative vote over the possibility of striking over the move.
The vote asks if the workers were prepared to act on the council’s failure to meaningfully consult or hear a valid grievance appeal.
It also says it could “differentiate and de-skill” existing job roles.
He said: “GMB considers your current treatment by your employer to be appalling. There has been an appalling failure to consult on an issue which could mean a fundamental change to your job role. The use of a highly controversial ‘not eligible’ ruling has have denied you the opportunity to address your legitimate concerns about proposed changes to your service”.
GMB Scotland says council managers have “torn up the rulebook” to centralize homelessness services and ignore standard human resources procedures.
Council managers have now been accused of breaching standard complaints procedures to enforce the changes and ensure councilors do not hear staff concerns.
Glasgow City Council made a symbolic housing emergency declaration in December, amid concerns about social unrest following moves to speed up the process of clearing a backlog of asylum claims from the Home Office.
Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) – a combination of Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which provides community health and social care services – said alternative temporary accommodation needed to be found with the use from rest centres. to be able to cope.
The uncertainty surrounding the resettlement team comes after research suggested Ukrainian families across Scotland were facing homelessness and deprivation.
The British Red Cross said that Ukrainians in the UK are four times more likely to face homelessness and warned that 335 families will have applied for homelessness help in Scotland by the end of March.
And even more families will be caught up in more immediate “core homelessness” such as couch surfing, staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation and sleeping rough.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to the displacement of millions of people, both in Ukraine and across Europe.
By October 17, 25,891 displaced people from Ukraine had arrived in the UK with a Scottish sponsor – one of the three ways that displaced people from Ukraine can obtain visas for the UK.
The Scottish Government played a key role in the implementation of the Sponsorship Scheme by acting as senior sponsor.
John Slaven, the GMB organizer at the council, said that a grievance procedure raised by the union on behalf of team members in Ukraine had been ruled incompetent by management rather than, as usual, being “upheld”. or “reject” it.
Management insisted that there was no need to discuss the complaint which alleges a lack of proper consultation and the changes were set on Monday.
Mr Slaven said: “It is worrying that council managers believe they can ignore procedures whenever it suits them.
“Our members do not believe that there was proper consultation regarding these changes and they made a complaint as they are entitled to.
“For management to simply decide that the complaint should not be heard, never mind being discussed and adjudicated, raises much wider issues and is in no way acceptable.
“It raises questions about the council’s commitment to good industrial relations and it is not only a major concern for our members but it should be equally a concern for councilors as well.
“Our members are very concerned about the changes to their service and the impact it will have on Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum in Glasgow.
“There has been no proper consultation on these changes and for the council to disregard a complaint raised by their own staff is unprecedented and a cause for serious concern.
In June 2023, there were approximately 3,900 Ukrainian nationals, who registered for active employment in Scotland. In 2002 there were only 50.
The council’s specialist team of 20 has settled thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the Russian invasion but, despite being a template for services across the country, council managers have decided it cannot continue as an independent support service.
A survey by the Scottish Government indicates that, as of September 29, 2023, 2,843 Ukrainian children were enrolled in primary and secondary schools across Scotland.
In order to create temporary accommodation capacity, the Scottish Government used hotel rooms and chartered two passenger ships – docked in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The ship docked in Glasgow, the MS Ambition, provided accommodation for almost 1,500 people until March 2023 and the ship docked in Edinburgh, the MS Victoria, accommodated almost 2000 people displaced from Ukraine until July 4.
By the end of 2022, Glasgow was said to be home to 2000 Ukrainians living across six hotels and the MS Ambition, a repurposed cruise ship, but the specialist resettlement unit helped find them longer-term homes.
Of passengers disembarking from the MS Ambition since January 5, 2023, in October, Scottish Government estimates show that 33% went to alternative temporary accommodation, 7% went to guest accommodation, 29 % went into social housing and 30% went into “unknown or other accommodation”.
Of passengers disembarking from MS Victoria since April 2023, 72% went to alternative temporary accommodation, 1% went to guest accommodation, 3% went to social housing and 23% went to “unknown or other accommodation” “.
A spokesperson for Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We have been working tirelessly with Trade Unions and staff since December regarding their reintegration into our wider asylum and refugee team. This has included a series of meetings and engagement sessions with staff and that dialogue continues.
“Our focus is now firmly on the future, as we assess how best to use our limited resources to support all asylum seekers and refugees in Glasgow, including Ukrainians living here.
“The workload of our resettlement team in Ukraine has reduced significantly, reflecting changes in national visa schemes, including the pause on new applications to the Super Sponsor Scheme. Meanwhile the overall demand for asylum and support to refugees has increased We encourage our staff to continue their excellent work supporting those who have fled Ukraine alongside others, seeking similar assistance It is essential that we pool resources to help all asylum seekers and refugees.”
