West Dunbartonshire social workers overwhelmingly renew strike vote

Unison members in the children and families unit voted overwhelmingly for a strike as they continue to fight for more staff and space to work on both sides of the local authority.

West Dunbartonshire Council said “significant progress” had been made since the union first voted to strike back in May.

Unison said 98.8 per cent of those balloted voted for a strike. The union said this supported a Scottish survey recently that found 76 per cent of workers claimed they didn’t have enough staff, and 90 per cent were considering leaving their job.

A 2016 report by Audit Scotland estimated social work services needed a 16-21 per cent increase in funding to meet growing demand.

A spokesperson for Unison’s West Dunbartonshire branch said: “This is a stronger mandate from our members in comparison to the first industrial action ballot earlier this year where our members initially voted to take industrial action, which is evidence that members feel further dissatisfied with progress made.

“Management must heed this crystal clear message from our members, who are at breaking point, beyond goodwill and at-risk children remain unsupported. Unison calls on all parties to work together with a view to seeking an acceptable resolution timeously.”

Concerns were raised repeatedly in 2019 warning that there could be “child tragedy” with resources stretched.

A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council responded: “Significant progress has been made working with our trade union colleagues to jointly identify and implement measures to enhance social work services through increasing staffing and addressing workloads.

“In addition, we have created new interim office and contact space in Dumbarton and have also now identified a permanent base within Hartfield Clinic.

“We remain committed to resolving the matter and our focus remains on providing every support to the children and families in our community who need our help most.”