Ruba, Saif, and their family had lived in overcrowded and mouldy temporary housing for years. The Council had offered them homes that were unsuitable for their disability. First, we contacted George Norval, head of South West locality, who basically ignored us.
The situation became more urgent when the family was targeted by vile racist abuse. We escalated to Derek McGowan, head of housing in the Council, who replied "there is no need to write to us and demand that we do something." So we showed up at his offices, and phoned him until we had to leave. Apparently, after we left, he came running down to meet with us.
He was furious that we dared to call him whilst he was in a meeting, or show up and ask for one, but this collective action worked,! The family have today accepted an offer for a home that is adequately sized, accessible, and far away from the abuse they suffered!
Union tenants have perseverance, integrity, and discipline, and it's what wins us material change like this over and over again. If you want to see more wins like this, come to your next member defence meeting!
