Union poll shows incidents of sexual harassment at Welsh council

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

A number of employees at a Welsh council were sexually assaulted at work, according to a major union.

Trade union Unite claimed Cardiff Council was affected by an epidemic of workplace sexual harassment after carrying out a survey.

The union said one in five people who responded to its poll claimed they’d been victims of sexual assault while at work.

Some workers also claimed in the poll that they’d been victims of sexual coercion and that when incidents were reported, they were not taken seriously.

Zero tolerance

Cardiff Council said it operated a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment in the workplace and that any reports were acted on and investigated in line with policy and procedure.

One Cardiff council worker said all of the comments they had received were from members of the public using council services.

“I have reported it to management, but the answer I get is ‘we can’t discriminate in case they have a disability’ or ‘we can’t tell them they can’t come in as service users’.

“I feel they are more worried about numbers than their employees.”

Another employee at Cardiff Council said: “Only once have I witnessed sexual innuendo from a supervisor to a female colleague, but it has been witnessed by other staff on numerous occasions – so much so that another supervisor built a partition around her workstation so she couldn’t be viewed by the one casting the innuendo.”

Sexual remarks

According to Unite’s figures from the poll it undertook, 35% of workers at Cardiff Council had been inappropriately touched without their consent and 34% had been the recipient of unwanted flirting, gesturing or sexual remarks.

Unite also said its poll showed 27% of respondents had been shown porn at work.

The 22% who said they’d been victims of sexual assault said the incidents happened at work, while travelling to work, or at a work-related event like a conference.

They said they’d been assaulted by either a colleague, a manager or a third party such as a Cardiff Council service user.

More than two thirds of respondents (69%) said incidents were not addressed or tackled by management.

Unite is one of a number of unions that supports workers at Cardiff Council. It said it received almost 76 responses to its survey.

Shocking

Unite regional officer, Michaela Gilroy, said: “The results are shocking. We are now calling on Cardiff Council to take a clear and uncompromising stance – sexual harassment in any form is unacceptable and must be tackled.

“Addressing sexual harassment is not optional; it is a matter of dignity, accountability, and basic human rights for its workers.”

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “Cardiff Council operates a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment in the workplace and any reports are acted on and investigated in line with strict policy and procedure.

“A comprehensive mandatory training programme is in place in Cardiff Council, including training on tackling sexual harassment.

“Cardiff Council and GMB, Unison and Unite have a long established trade union partnership in place, where issues and concerns are discussed collaboratively and constructively.

“The council will seek discussions on the matters Unite has raised through that trade union partnership.”