By NOEL MURPHY
CITY Hall workers are afraid to speak out about bullying to an in-house inquiry for fear of further recriminations against them.
Workers have told the Independent they do not believe their complaints will remain confidential and cite earlier incidents of payback.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one worker said staff would prefer an independent inquiry into the bullying allegations – not one run by the organisation that has promoted and entrenched the bullies.
“They’ll already have a list of who’s who,” the worker said.
“They’ve done that before during EBA talks, an unwritten list, and people have been intimidated and bullied.
“I know of at least two people who would definitely say something to the inquiry if they believed there would be no repercussions but they’re just not sure.”
Australian Services Union (ASU) last week called for State Government to oversee a fully independent inquiry into allegations of institutionalised workplace bullying.
“Serious bullying is rife…it starts from the officers and goes right through the organisation,” ASU Victorian and Tasmanian branch coordinator Billy King said.
Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins has demanded a council-run mediation and a review of its code of conduct.
“The funny thing is an email was sent out by the CEO (Gillian Miles) but there’s no mention about the State Government or reporting back or anything,” another worker told the Independent.
“It’s like they want to keep it all in-house.”
The Independent has been told of confidential settlement in which workers claim they were denied WorkCover care and harassed from their jobs.
Bully victims have included councillors, complaining of bullying incidents including “eye-rolling”, “snide remarks” and loss of responsibilities for portfolios.
