'Common sense prevails'

The decision by Attleborough town council last night (Thursday 27 February) to uphold a complaint that staff were bullied by a minority of councillors has been welcomed by Unite.

Unite, which represents the majority of the council’s employees including ground staff and secretaries, had complained about the behaviour of a small number of councillors towards staff in the historic Norfolk market town.

It is understood that eight of the 15 councillors were at the meeting where the decision was made to uphold Unite’s complaint.

The meeting was held in private with police and security guards on stand-by to prevent a repeat of a previous council meeting which was abandoned after members of the public shouted down councillors with whom they disagreed and refused to leave when asked to do so by police.

Unite regional officer Miles Hubbard said, “We welcome that common sense has prevailed and that the town council, after receiving legal advice, has upheld Unite’s complaint that our members were bullied and badly treated by a small minority of councillors.

“We want to put this behind us and work with the town council in a constructive fashion to provide the best possible service to the citizens of Attleborough,” he added.

“As a result of last night’s decision, the threat of an industrial action ballot by our members has been withdrawn.”