STAFF at Scotland’s police college are suffering “systematic bullying and intimidation” from managers, union officials say.
Unison says civilian staff at Tulliallan in Fife are being treated with contempt and having their concerns ignored.
The base is set to become the HQ of the new single Scottish police force in April next year.
Unison is worried police staff is put under pressure not to speak out
One worker complained of “back-stabbing” at the base, where there was “an atmosphere of fear and intimidation”.
The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) have strongly denied all of Unison’s allegations.
Alex Duncan, of Unison Fife, also says civilian staff at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency face similar problems.
Mr Duncan, who represents 65 of the 118 civilian staff at the Scottish Police College, said: “I have been raising my concern about the systematic bullying and intimidation and poor management at the police college for some time.
“And my request to meet with senior management about this, including to the police college director, has fallen on deaf ears.”
He added: “The whole ethos at the college concerns me and I worry that it’s going to get worse when there’s a single Scottish force because there will be massive pressure on civilian staff to make sure it works.
“We’re worried that our members will be put under even more pressure not to speak out.”
He continued: “I am running shortly a survey for all our members to give them an opportunity to air their views, but many have simply left because of the way they have been treated.
“It is Unison’s view that there must be immediate dialogue with senior management to deal with the culture of intimidating staff and poor management, so that morale is restored among our members who are carrying out work of vital importance.”
One worker affected, who did not want to be named, said: “There is a of bad feeling, back stabbing I would call it.
“You’re constantly being undermined.
“They try to get you into trouble, try to make you lose your job.”
The worker continued: “The SPSA are bullies, they really are. Certain managers that are in the SPSA should not be in these positions.
“There’s bullying and there’s intimidation and there’s a lack of support from senior managers.”
But the SPSA said it had a good track record in supporting staff.
Gillian Campbell, director of human resources, said: “We are surprised and disappointed that Unison Fife has voiced these claims locally, but has provided no evidence to support the allegations, nor have such concerns been raised through the national forums we have in place with the union.
“We absolutely reject the suggestion that a culture of bullying is tolerated in any part of our organisation.
We suggest that Unison Fife provides evidence to substantiate these local claims as a matter of urgency and we would be happy to meet face-to-face to discuss them.”
