Staff have threatened strike action over plans to scrap protective glass screens at council housing offices.

Unions have accused Lambeth Council of a "cavalier" attitude to the safety of workers by removing screens which protect them from violent members of the public.

One screen has already come down and the others are due to follow soon. Lambeth says the aim is to create a "customer-friendly" and professional environment.

Lambeth Liberal Democrats have leapt on a leaked report prepared for the ruling Labour group outlining contingency plans in the event of a strike. They claim it shows that Labour is deliberately risking a staff walkout.

The leaked report also acknowledges that there is one violent incident a month at housing offices and one each year which results in hospital treatment, such as acidic water thrown in a member of staff's face.

Lib Dem Councillor Roger O'Brien this week claimed a lack of consultation was to blame.

"If there is a strike, Lambeth tenants will be the first to suffer. Labour has approached this with all the sensitivity of a bull in a china shop."

A UNISON union spokesman said he was disappointed by the council's "cavalier attitude to our members' health and safety".

"We are calling for an independent assessment of safety hazards before any more screens are removed. Indus-trial action has not been ruled out and UNISON has contacted the Health and Safety Executive to ask them to intervene."

A decision on strike action was due to be made following a meeting between councillors and union representatives last night (August 19).

But Lambeth Council's housing chairman, Councillor Tom Franklin, said that staff had been consulted on the proposals. He added that CCTV, panic buttons and higher counters had been installed and risk awareness training given.

And he said he believed UNISON was "stuck in the past" and that most staff supported the "revolution in customer service."

"I sincerely hope the strike threat is a bluff but at the end of the day unions are not running Lambeth," he said.

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