No return to work without trade union agreement, mass testing and protection

Chris Sermanni, Glasgow City Unison social work convener

It was immediately apparent as Scotland and the UK went into lockdown on March 23 that there was a hopeless lack of preparation for the Covid-19 outbreak, despite governmental research indicating that such an occurrence posed one of the most serious risks to the UK. 

Johnson’s UK government initially planned to ‘mitigate’ rather than ‘contain’, and the Scottish Government largely followed Westminster’s lead. Their sharp about turn on March 23 contributed to the confusion and left many workers isolated and at risk.

In local government, whilst many workers were able to stay at home, those in the ‘key worker’ category, such as homecarers, elderly residential workers and others in social care were not, and continued to provide services to some of the most vulnerable in society. 

Safety measures put in place to ensure the health and safety of this vital group of workers were largely derived from Health Protection Scotland (HPS) advice and then disseminated to the 32 local authorities in Scotland.

Early on, the guidance from HPS was lacking, and there was an increasing suspicion the approach was being led by resources available, as opposed to the needs of the workers. 

This became most obvious with regards to the provision of PPE. Despite reassurances at a Scottish and UK level that PPE was available and in plentiful supply, it was widely reported in the press that it was in fact in serious short supply, and many workers in health and social care settings across the country were working without the equipment they needed, or in some cases, reusing equipment designed for single use. 

Social care workers correctly pointed to the standard of PPE used by their colleagues in the NHS, where face masks and eye protection were used for hands-on patient care. This type of work is routinely undertaken by homecarers and elderly residential workers, yet public health guidance was slow to react. Initial advice was that workers in social care settings did not require face masks or eye protection. 

When workers locally asked for this, local government management simply pointed to HPS advice.  The guidance changed a number of times, and was caveated by certain conditions (evidence of symptoms etc) and ignoring the very real danger of asymptomatic transmission. 

In early April, after sustained pressure from trade unions locally, it was eventually conceded that social care workers should self-assess on the need for full use of PPE when delivering care (gloves, apron, mask and eye protection) and it would be available at all times. 

Even then, however, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) issued ‘supplementary guidance’ that appeared to allow local authorities to circumvent the initial advice given from HPS. At this point, trade unions at a national level intervened and publicly criticised the CNO for placing workers at risk. The advice, following this pressure, was subsequently withdrawn. The credibility of HPS, however, was damaged and workers were vocal in their lack of trust in those placed to protect them.

Testing 

This has continued with the issue of testing. Despite assurances from Scottish and UK governments that the NHS has the capacity to conduct widespread testing, there does not appear to be a sufficient program taking place within key workplaces.

The spotlight has been on elderly care homes across the UK, with a tragic number of deaths in both public and private homes alike. In Glasgow, there is currently a testing regime in place for staff within GCC care homes. This, however, was limited to homes within Glasgow that have evidence of a positive diagnosis of Covid-19 within them, meaning that mass testing is only taking place within certain homes. This again disregards the very real threat of asymptomatic transmission, in the most vulnerable of settings. 

Just today, May 18, Nicola Sturgeon announced that all care workers would be able to be tested. To describe this as too little too late would be an understatement. 632 care homes in Scotland have had at least one case of coronavirus up to now with 50% of all deaths coming from this setting.

The Scottish Government issued guidance on May 4 regarding their strategy of ‘test, trace, isolate’, and to date there appears to be no coherent contact tracing strategy. Whilst there is recruitment of staff to assist with contact tracing this is happening at a much slower pace than required. 

Workers again have been vocal in their mistrust of the guidelines issued by HPS, with the suggestion being that widespread testing of all workers in key workplaces is being avoided due to a fear that significant numbers would subsequently be forced to self-isolate for extended periods, causing disruption to service delivery. The lack of effective testing and tracking within society is no doubt a consequence of a decade of underfunding the NHS

With Johnson’s garbled strategy for easing lockdown being deliberately measured to obfuscate, the safety of the poorest workers in society is in serious jeopardy. Many sectors of the economy will be looking at ‘getting back to normal’ to safeguard profits for the capitalist class.

We must demand that no workers return to work without trade union agreement. This will ensure that the required measures are put in place to ensure a safe working environment for all, and that people are placed before profit.

Where the state’s intervention has found to be lacking, trade unions must demand that health and safety minimums are surpassed and not allow bosses to either hide behind public health advice designed to appease business or if this “advice” is driven by lack of resources to protect workers after a decade of cuts.