New `insulting` shift rotas could see officers sleeping at stations says TSSA

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) could take industrial action after new extended working hours mean they are unable to get home at night by public transport.

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) has warned British Transport Police (BTP) not to implement new shift rotas which will “force staff to sleep at stations”.

TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said the new clock-off time of 1am will be introduced as part of a cost-cutting exercise, which aims to reduce night shift allowance payments by five per cent – meaning PCSOs will lose around £1,000 a year.

PCSOs expressed their concerns about the practicality of the new shifts at the BTP’s staff consultation, but the TSSA said the majority of proposals for shifts to start earlier and finish at 12am have all been rejected, and the BTP has now issued new rosters for April with a third of all shifts ending at 1am – after most public transport has stopped running.

“BTP has made a sham of its own consultation process by ignoring the valid concerns of their staff who simply can`t get home at 1am. Are they supposed to sleep at the station? No employer should turf their staff out at 1am onto the streets of London with no way to get home,” Mr Cortes said.

“But that`s what BTP, the very people charged with ensuring the public travel safely, are now doing to their own staff. Frankly, it beggars belief and it`s causing a lot of unnecessary upset.

“Our PCSO members are professional police support staff dedicated to keeping commuters safe. So a failure by their bosses to protect them is insulting as is their unwillingness to negotiate with our reps over this easily resolvable issue.

“I`ll also be asking London`s Mayor Sadiq Khan to review the situation and bang heads together if necessary. He is BTP`s paymaster when it comes to security on our Tube and I`m sure he too will be as shocked as we are at the way these safety-critical group of staff are being treated.”

BTP Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock said he was disappointed by the proposal by TSSA to ballot PCSOs on plans for industrial action and insisted the new rotas are not part of a cost-cutting exercise.

He added: “The current review of BTP’s shift arrangements was launched following feedback from our staff survey. We listened to our officers and staff when they asked the force to introduce a more reliable and consistent shift pattern that reflected more accurately demand and therefore the days they would be expected to work.

“In addition we have sought to ensure fewer officers and staff are working on their own across the national network, as well as build in sufficient capacity to minimise the impact of abstractions when officers are absent through training, court appearances, sickness and annual leave.

“As the demand has changed, invariably it means the times of day we must be available to respond to incidents and manage large volumes of people travelling around the country must also change.

“We have a comprehensive flexible working policy available and have undertaken to work together with individual members of staff and their managers to identify a solution that satisfies any challenges they face, whilst maintaining their operational role to protect the travelling public.”