1,000 Covid cases recorded at DVLA
MORE than 1,000 cases of Covid have now been recorded at the DVLA in Swansea.
The claim by the Public and Commercial Services union comes as members prepare to vote on taking potential strike action, claiming the DVLA has failed to honour a deal struck with the Department for Transport in April.
It follows a long-running dispute over coronavirus-related safety measures.
The DVLA says although the number of cases is around 1,000, most of those are from transmission from outside its offices identified through tracking community transmission rates, and that it is erroneous to link the high number to allegedly unsafe conditions.
The union first voted to strike in March after complaining the Swansea offices suffered the worst Covid workplace outbreak in the UK with 560 employees testing positive for the virus.
Since then they have been on strike on three further occasions.
Continuing unease over conditions means they are set to vote once again.
One staff member said: “When the global pandemic came to Wales we expected there would be changes at work, but one thing all of us expected was to be looked after and considered valued employees by our senior management.
“This was not the case, and it remains so today. During the initial outbreak of Covid, where 600 staff members contracted the virus and tragically our colleague Phil (Grant) passed away with the illness, management wanted to rush us back into the office.
“This was at a time before a vaccine was available and proper Covid safety precautions had not been put in place.
“Desks were not two metres apart.”
The worker added: “Our union,
PCS, has worked night and day to get proper safety measures in place, so more people can return to the office, but where other departments like HMRC and DWP have had many staff working well from home, DVLA has refused to invest in equipment that would allow this to happen.
“All of this flies in the face of the government’s own work from home default policy which is still in place across the civil service.
“The DVLA also repeatedly claimed the backlog of key worker licences which include HGV drivers is down to our strike, but the PCS wrote to the management early on to say they should prioritise key worker and HGV licences as ‘essential’ so even with a skeleton staff on site, they could be processed as a matter of urgency.
“The union has never received a reply.
“With case numbers on the increase once again in Wales, and rising faster at DVLA than last year, to now over 1,000 in total, my colleagues and I are clear that we have the right to work in a safe and Covid secure workplace.”
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka added: “It’s scandalous that DVLA CEO Julie Lennard is putting staff at risk by refusing to sign the safety agreement that has already been agreed upon between PCS and DVLA representatives until the outcome of our industrial action ballot is announced.
“There’s simply too much at stake for management to play fast and loose with the health of safety of their workers.”
The result of the ballot for strike action will be announced on November 10.
A DVLA spokesman said the agency was at alert level zero and had spent £5.7m making its sites safe with thermal imaging, zones and two metre social distancing in its offices where mask wearing is mandatory, and which has regular lateral flow tests, while those who can carry out their role from home continue to do so.
It has also utilised extra space in a newly-leased building in Swansea.
It also said the 58 days of industrial action so far has added 400,000 to the backlog and there are no delays with HGV provisional licences which are being issued in around five days.
The majority of applications are renewals which means drivers can continue to drive while they are being processed.
A DVLA spokesperson said: “The safety of our staff is paramount.
“We have worked with public health bodies throughout the pandemic who have confirmed a high level of compliance and have no concerns.
“It is outrageous that PCS is continuing to pursue unnecessary industrial action which will not only hold millions of motorists across the country to ransom but threaten the future of DVLA in Swansea.
“Covid cases among DVLA staff remain in line with cases in the local community, as they have throughout the pandemic.”