The government in Westminster have blocked a plan previously agreed by management and the union to allow DVLA staff to work from home in an effort to safeguard the staff from Coronavirus. The latest Covid / Omicron wave has seen infections pass 1,700.
Geraint Davies, Labour MP for Swansea West told the Commons: “A year ago, Phil Grant of the DVLA tragically died of coronavirus. He was a man in his 60s with a heart condition, who was previously allowed to work from home in the first lockdown and was forced to go to work. A year on, just pre the last Christmas, the unions and the management agreed after 700 cases of coronavirus at the DVLA that there should be new arrangements for people to work from home and a rota system to allow safety, and the Government intervened and stopped that being reinstated on the grounds Omicron wasn’t as dangerous. But since then, we have now got a cumulative figure of 1,700 coronavirus cases in the DVLA.”
In June 2021, hundreds of DVLA staff went on strike in protest against the lack of Coronavirus safety measures.
A video posted by Geraint Davies:
Covid infections at DVLA Swansea hit 1700 yet UK Govt intervenes to block plan agreed by management & @pcs_union for more working from home to safeguard workers & productivity pic.twitter.com/5oHn3YTI2l
— Geraint Davies (@GeraintDaviesMP) January 13, 2022
