Walking home in fear should not be part of any job. Unfortunately, most hospitality workers are left with the choice of either spending sometimes a couple of hours wages on a taxi or walking home alone in the dark. For women and precarious workers in particular, this can be dangerous, and there have been alarming reports of hospitality workers being attacked or sexually assaulted in both Glasgow and Edinburgh in recent month.
That’s why I fully support the Safe Home campaign, spearheaded by Unite, the STUC, Better than Zero and others. They are calling on licensing boards across the country to making free transport home for workers a requisite for employers who want to obtain late licenses. East Dunbartonshire Council has already taken the step of introducing this proposal by amending their existing licensing policy. I have written to every other licensing board in West Scotland to call for the same as we enter this busy Christmas period.