Falkirk Council: Call to back campaign to ensure pub and club staff get home safely

Labour councillor Alf Kelly asked members to back Unite the Union’s Get Me Home Safely campaign for hospitality workers. The Denny councillor also asked the council’s licensing board to look closely at the issue when it is reviewing its policies.

Mr Kelly highlighted the problems many workers in pubs, clubs and restaurants face getting home “after a shift with people whose inhibitions might be blunted with all the alcohol they’ve had”.

He told members: “A 2021 survey found that over 60 per cent of hospitality workers who responded to the survey had experienced or seen sexual harassment in the workplace. Obviously because of the alcohol.”

Unite’s campaign started after a young woman was sexually assaulted on her way home from a shift after her bus didn’t turn up.

The councillor said: “We’ve seen girls being assaulted, raped and even murdered walking home. I believe that employers have a duty to protect their staff and should make sure that their staff get home safely, preferably at no cost to the staff.”

The board will be asked to consider this issue when granting licenses with operating hours that would create difficulties for staff getting home.

The motion also asked officers to explore with transport providers how to improve transport options at night particularly at the weekend to include night buses, demand responsive transport and more taxis.

SNP portfolio holder for public protection, Councillor Stacey Devine, said: “Yes, we do need to make our streets safer when it comes to walking home at night. As a woman, I fully understand that and it’s not the first time I’ve faced abuse on the streets.”

However, she added that it would be best to refer the motion to the licensing board. The motion was agreed unanimously.

After the meeting, Kevin Robertson, deputy chair of Unite the Union’s Forth Valley activists’ committee thanked the Labour group for bringing the motion forward.

He said: “It’s a trade unions’ job to represent their members and to protect their pay, terms and conditions and, most importantly, health and safety.

“We’ll do this with or without politicians but on this occasion, credit where credit is due and we thank all the councillors who supported this. We look forward to taking this and making it some sort of legal precedent.”