Dangers for lone wardens

To some the term city wardens might conjure up images of eager ‘jobsworths’ doling out as many parking tickets as they can. But for wardens in Aberdeen it’s about so much more than just parking.

 
“They walk about 12 miles each day, they assist the public whenever they can, they build relationships with young people in the local housing schemes, and they’re the eyes and ears of the police and the local council – they’re a central part of maintaining community safety,” Unite officer Tommy Campbell noted.

 
But their role is not always one that’s appreciated. In fact, they’re often the targets of verbal and physical abuse.

 
Being clipped by a moving car or having a firework set off in your direction for simply doing your job may not be ‘all in a day’s work’ for most of us, but for Aberdeen city wardens, the hazards come with the territory.

 
A recent Freedom of Information request reveals a catalogue of abuse that Aberdeen city wardens have endured over the past three years, with nearly 100 reports of assault, ranging from swearing to being physically attacked.

Shocking

 
As shocking as the list of assaults may seem, Campbell pointed out that the reports were only the tip of the iceberg.

 
“What’s in the freedom of information request is only what’s being recorded,” he explained. “Many city wardens won’t log on smaller incidents, because the more incidents you record, the worse it looks.”

 
To keep city wardens safe, it has long been a policy that they work in pairs. But in 2010, management proposed that the wardens begin working alone – some of them were asked to work as late as 3 am without a partner.

 
Unite challenged the proposals and won the dispute, after which city wardens could only work alone during the day in the city centre, and would only do so voluntarily.

 
Five years on, management has again proposed that city wardens work alone, igniting a fresh dispute.

 
“We’re not going to back down on this one,” Campbell said. “The latest reports are shocking enough, but if city wardens begin working alone it will only get worse.

 
“Are we going to wait until we get a phone call saying one of our colleagues has been stabbed and left for dead while they were on their own?

 
“When you’ve got a co-warden with you, you’ve got a witness,” he said. “And the chances of someone being abusive to two people are a lot less than the chances of being abusive to one.”

Impossible pressure

 
Attacks on the streets form only part of the harrowing story of a day-in-the-life of an Aberdeen city warden. Behind closed doors, city wardens must also contend with impossible pressure from management.

 
In a separate ongoing dispute, the handheld technology wardens use to issue parking tickets has been turned against them – it’s been discovered that management has allegedly used the devices to spy on wardens as well.

 
Last year, two wardens were suspended after their reported location while on duty failed to match their position recorded on their handheld device.

 
It never occurred to city wardens that their bosses might be spying on them electronically, Campbell explained, until the evidence began to stack up, with management knowing very precise locations of each warden’s whereabouts.

 
“This was a blatant breach of the Data Protection Act,” he said.

 
It was later discovered that city wardens were also being allegedly monitored via their handheld technology during each and every break they took, including using the toilet. One warden claimed that he had been reprimanded by management for taking too many breaks, despite the fact that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had to use the toilet frequently.

 
Although the wardens were later reinstated and breaks are reportedly no longer recorded, Campbell argues that there has not yet been a satisfactory investigation into the extent to which bosses have been electronically monitoring the wardens.

 
“There’s a whole situation brewing at the moment of disrespect, bullying and victimisation against wardens by management,” he said. “It’s something that we will continue to challenge.”

 
Stay tuned on UNITElive as these disputes develop.