Petition to the Board of Trustees of Centrepoint


We the undersigned are concerned at the unprovoked and unnecessary attack on trade union members at Centrepoint by suspending the lead Unite shop steward Phil Rose and Unite member Maxine Campbell for acting as trade unionists to prevent the unlawful recording of staff by CCTV cameras at a Centrepoint project.

The cameras had been installed without consultation or notice in a private staff area and were aimed at where staff were working and no clients were normally present. Furthermore Centrepoint have not registered for the use of CCTV with the Information Commissioners Office. This installation was in contravention of the Data Protection Act 1998 including sections 17 and 21 which make it an offence to not register for the use of CCTV.

Upon discovering that the unlawful recording of staff was happening, Phil Rose advised  that the camera in question should be covered whilst he wrote to management of their mistake and sought to correct it. As a result of this, rather than investigate the unlawful installation of CCTV, management suspended both Phil and Maxine on 3 counts of Gross Misconduct.

In brief, the 3 counts are;

     1. Maliciously damaging Centrepoint property.

     2. A wilful breach and serious disregard of Health and Safety provision.

     3. Failing to follow management instructions and carrying out a serious act of          insubordination.


We the undersigned believe that such blatant discrimination and double standards is the result of  effective representation of members interests by Phil and other Unite Shop Stewards in Centrepoint.  Clearly, management wish to prevent this continuing in the future as public spending cuts result in job losses and cuts in terms and conditions. Discriminating against and suspending trade union members can only waste resources better used elsewhere.

We the undersigned call on the Board of Trustees to instruct senior management to end the attack on Unite members and instead focus on using their resources to provide a much needed service to homeless young people.