Community Union President Keren Bender moved a motion in support of betting shop workers in 2008. Her speech is transcribed here
(The full text of the motion is included below)
Congress, last week, my union, Community, held a national action week.
A week focused on recruiting new members into the union.
Many of us spent the week visiting betting shops around the country.
In every shop we visited the story was the same.
Endless tales of verbal abuse.
Never ending stories of physical violence.
Staff – mainly women – being forced to work alone.
Employees being made to carry large amounts of money to the bank.
Problem gamblers.
Anti-social behaviour spilling onto our streets.
And with winter approaching and the dark nights coming staff are being made to work late into the night – often on their own – and then having to travel home in the dark.
Let me share some of those stories with you.
A young woman called Katy told us that she had been the victim of an armed robbery.
She was working alone when three men burst into her shop.
They managed to get behind the protective screen – they beat her up and then ran away with the day’s takings.
Katy – battered and bruised took the following week off work.
Her employer offered her no help, no counselling, no assistance with medical treatment.
But to top it all, they deducted a week’s pay from her salary – saying that she failed to fill in the appropriate sick leave form.
Colleagues, I am pleased to say that Katy signed up to join Community on the spot.
Another example:
A young man we visited in London told us that on his first day in work he had a nail gun held to his head as his shop was held up in a robbery.
His employer told him there was nothing it could do – as crimes committed in betting shops were not really ‘crimes’ at all!
And that he just had to ‘grin and bare it’
Congress these stories are not one-offs.
Official figures show that violent crime is on the increase in betting shops.
Yet despite this evidence, betting shop EMPLOYERS are still refusing to properly protect their staff at work.
They are still refusing to talk to us.
Most are even refusing to display zero tolerance posters in their shops.
That is why my union has launched a campaign for minimum standards in betting shops.
Minimum standards on safety, training and security.
Now I don’t know about you but I was oblivious to the fear that betting shop workers feel and the dangers they face.
How many of you walk past your local bookies and wonder if the guys and girls inside are safe in their workplaces?
Congress, we are taking this campaign to the government, employers and the police.
Enough is enough. Every worker is entitled to a safe working environment.
These are men and women, like you and I, just trying to earn a decent living.
Please support our campaign.
I move.
Motion 72 Protection of employees in the betting industry
Congress recognises the wealth being generated by the betting industry in the UK and the thousands of jobs it creates. Congress is concerned about the negative effects that problem gambling and its associated anti-social behaviour can have on both betting shop employees and the wider community.
Congress draws attention to the continuing failure of employers in the industry to accept their responsibilities to protect their employees effectively in regard to shop safety, security and welfare, risks to which staff are exposed on a daily basis and the refusal of the employers to enter into meaningful dialogue on these issues with trade unions.
Congress calls on the UK Government to set enforceable, minimum standards to ensure every employee can work in an environment free from physical or verbal abuse and urges the provision of effective training for frontline staff in cash-handling, conflict management and managing problem gambling.