Newsroom

Young workers demanding safe home after work

Young trade unionists from across Scotland will gather in Glasgow today to demand transport home after their shifts as the Scottish TUC call for ‘Safe Home’ policies be rolled out across the country.

The Scottish Trades Union Congress – Scotland’s largest trade union body – are set to re-launch their Safe Home campaign this weekend at their annual STUC Youth Conference in Glasgow. The news comes as a previous report from the STUC revealed that 61% of women surveyed had experienced sexual harassment in public on their way to work.

The campaign, which aims to ensure workplaces – particularly employers whose staff are expected to work unsociable hours - provide safe transport home for workers at the end of their shift. Delegates will launch a survey at the conference aiming to highlight the experiences of workers travelling to and from work late at night.

The previous STUC report ‘Silence is Compliance’ further revealed 90% of women believe that employers should introduce safe home policies.

Trade unions throughout Scotland have been lobbying local authorities to embed safe home policies as a licensing condition for business premises opening throughout their council region and have made significant wins within the hospitality sector.

Concerns had been raised by Unite the Union’s ‘Get Me Home Safely’ campaign following a young hospitality worker being attacked at the end of their shift. The STUC ‘Safe Home’ campaign seeks to build upon this campaigning and put demands on the Scottish Government to include Safe Home policies within their Fair Work agenda.

Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said:

“What we’re seeing throughout Scotland is young people becoming empowered to demand better from their employers. Quite simply, they are demanding to be treated with dignity and not have to be out of pocket or potentially put in danger when travelling to or from their work.

“Unions across Scotland have drove this campaign forward and our STUC Youth Committee will build on that momentum, seeking buy-in from every local authority and the Scottish Government.

“In a cost-of-living crisis, with endemic low pay for young people, it cannot be right that they are spending fortunes of their wages on taxis home at the end of their shift or, worse still, finding no way home with inadequate public transport. This is an immediate demand from our young workers and we need local authorities, Scottish Government and all politicians across the country to hear their voices loud and clear.

Commenting, STUC Youth Committee Chair Fred Bayer:

“Young trade unionists are gathering in Glasgow this weekend to call time on workplaces forcing their staff into potentially dangerous and costly situations when seeking just to get to or from their work.

“Late night economy workers face a grim choice. They either fork out an unaffordable amount of their nightly wages on a taxi or, inexplicably, face walking home at night due to the inadequacy of our public transport.

“Employers have a duty of care and we’re calling on them, local authorities and the Scottish Government to stand by workers, ensuring they get safe home from their work.