Unions welcome Welsh social distancing rule

forwarded to NV by Joe Bailey

UNIONs have welcomed the decision by the Welsh Assembly to enforce new social distancing rules at work. Peter Hughes, Unite Wales regional secretary, said: “Unite in Wales applauds this move. We have been repeatedly raising our members' safety concerns during this health crisis, and airing our fears that some employers are not respecting the two metres distance, so it is good that the Welsh government is listening.”  He added: “We hope that employers will understand the intention behind this law and act now to take every possible step to keep workers safe at work, rather than wait to be hit by a fine. Unite will work with our members to promote this new law and with employers to ensure that they adhere to these new regulations.”    

Howard Beckett, Unite's assistant general secretary for legal affairs, added: “This law will send a clear signal to bosses that they are now required by law to put their workers’ safety first.  Our members are putting themselves on the line to keep public services and businesses functioning during these extraordinary times, so we say to employers, keep them safe, provide them with the protective and sanitation equipment they need, or find yourselves in legal conflict with Unite because we have vowed to do whatever it takes to keep our members safe.” 

Dan Shears, GMB health, safety and environment director, said many employers have been ignoring the 2-metre stipulation.  “Those companies will now need to fall into line or fear the consequences,” he said.  Nick Ireland, a divisional officer with the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said:  “Our communities need shops, but we need to keep all workers in the food supply chain safe so they can stay open. So we are pleased that the Welsh government recognises the heroic efforts our members are making and have introduced these new social distancing rules.” David Evans, Wales secretary for the teaching union NEU Cymru, said “we would urge our members to stick as closely as possible to the 2-metre rule where practicable.  It will be difficult, but ultimately, we need to ensure educators and learners are as safe as possible, and of course we should continue to ensure that as few students and staff as possible are in school.”

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