Letter: How To Handle Abuse?

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

Dear Tubeworker

Staff on the gateline in the busy station where I work face abuse from customers regularly. It can make you angry, and can get you down after a while. Although we have to learn to deal with it and carry on doing our job, I feel that we should not just 'accept' or grow to 'expect' the abuse. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels hard to know how to deal with it.

If we stand up for ourselves too aggressively (by getting angry or violent), we risk being disciplined by management. We are told to avoid confrontation by just letting aggressive customers through. But that feels demoralising, like rewarding their rudeness with a free ride and it makes you wonder, 'What's the point in me even being here in the first place?'. Management make you feel that if you get into an argument, then it is somehow your fault.

We need to remind ourselves that we should take no responsibility for assaults (verbal or physical) that we encounter on the job. Management know that we will never eliminate agressive customers, so it's management's responsibility to ensure we have a safe working environment.

I feel that dealing with abusive customers is a million times easier when there are other staff around. You feel more supported and learn from others how to deal with it. With staff levels cut back so low, it's not always easy to get that support.

I don't think all the staff are aware of what we are entitled to if we get assaulted. One of my colleagues mentioned that you should fill in an incident report form, be debriefed, etc. But that's never properly been explained to me. I would like it if all staff could know their rights, so that they can make sure the correct procedures happen. Sometimes we are made to feel guilty for making extra work for management and the supervisors. But we should not feel guilty for expecting support on the job. I feel that with extra training, we would be able to stand up for our rights more.

I would like to hear anyone's examples of how staff assaults have been dealt with well or badly. I'd like suggestions of anything the union could pressure the management for, so we can tackle violence and aggression in the workplace.

Tubeworker topics

Comments

Submitted by saeybia on Sat, 11/08/2007 - 16:33

I remember one day on a station in central london, I had a customer come running up the escilator screaming and swearing directly at me about the station and line closures that weekend for the engineering work. He got right in my face, that close I could feel his spit and his breath!

I was actually not sure what to do, so I just turned sideways making sure if he was to physically assult me I would be able to get away. On this another CSA stepped in and stood between us trying to disolve the situation.

During this entire incident, our station supervisor and DSM!! stood watching us in their goldfish style glass office, not offering to help, not calling us on the radio asking if we were ok, and not even offering to call for help!!

This situation eventually disolved of its own accourt and the customer went on his way. I felt completely unsupported by the management. I later went on to learn that was the way of most of the supervisors I had acutally worked with, they all seemed in it for theirself, go in, sit down, watch some TV, play on the internet and let the SCRA run the station while they do nothing (I understand that this is not the normal for EVERY supervisor, but for this group it WAS the norm) what is your oppion

Submitted by Tubeworker on Sun, 12/08/2007 - 20:03

What a crap thing to happen. And sadly, not too uncommon. Tubeworker wouldn't expect any better from a DSM, but a lot of Station Supervisors would have come to your aid.

Divide-and-rule is one of management's favourite tactics, and part of that is giving some workers minor privileges that give them a bit more money and comfort. Supervisors should get wise and realise that they are part of the station workforce not part of management.

Submitted by Becky on Sun, 12/08/2007 - 20:55

An accumulation of abuse and patronising behaviour from customers resulted in me bursting into tears on the gateline the other day. After taking abuse from a customer with an invalid ticket, I gave up and let them through, only to be told I was a stupid bitch. I said I would have appreciated a 'thank you' instead, as I'd just done her a favour. I got a reluctant 'thanks' but she told me I had an attitude problem. I was so baffled by this situation, where we're expected to take abuse and then if we so much as demand civility in return we are accused of 'having an attitude'. Being unable to get my head round it, I just burst into tears. My supervisors sat me down in the ops room, with the comforting advice that all customers are just arseholes and I just need to get tougher.

It was only afterwards that I questioned why I was put in the situation in the first place: working on my own on the way in gate, dealing with 5 problems at once. It was not just the abuse but the overwork which had resulted in me cracking. I don't want to feel that I can't take it cos I'm not tough enough. We need to remember that management have a responsibility to reduce the stress of the job. We need more staff for busy periods especially and we can't let supervisors and managers get round dealing with stress at work by saying it's all the customers' fault.

Submitted by Janine on Mon, 13/08/2007 - 06:07

One of management's 'solutions' to this is Assault Avoidance Training. Doubtless this is useful to some people, but it is founded on the idea that if you learn to fold your arms in a non-aggressive manner then you will not get assaulted - and worse, can suggest that if you do get assaulted, it could be your fault.

Instead, as the commenter stated above, we need more staff, more breaks, more real time away from the job and less anti-social hours. We also need a fairer, simpler and much cheaper fares system, as a big majority of assaults arise from ticketing disputes.

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