Domestic abuse workers call off strike as talks continue

Planned strike action by Tower Hamlets domestic abuse support workers has been paused while further talks take place.

Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) from the charity Solace Women’s Aid were due to start strike action over proposed redundancies today.

Solace has also decided to pause the redundancy process until Monday 3 March so the charity can continue discussions with staff, the United Voices of the World (UVW) union and Tower Hamlets Council to try to resolve the dispute.

The workers, who are members of UVW, had returned a 100 per cent vote in favour of strike action following a 92 per cent turnout – marking the first time in history that IDVAs would have gone on indefinite strike in Britain.

UVW previously said the proposals would potentially see the team cut by a third and warned that it would have a “catastrophic impact”.

Last week (6 February), hundreds of people gathered for a rally outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall in support of the workers.

The crowd heard from IDVAs, union members, local councillors, Sisters Uncut and Apsana Begum, MP for Poplar and Limehouse.

One anonymous worker told the Citizen: “It’s heartbreaking because we should be building services, we should be investing in these services rather than taking them away, crime is going to go up and we’re going to have more deaths.

“It’s going to have an effect on the workers who will be burnt out because you’re setting up a system where we’ll be failing and we won’t be able to provide the best standard of support to the victims.”

The service, which receives funding from the council, provides free emotional support to high-risk survivors of domestic violence, which includes advocating, referring and providing them with information.

Workers help to tackle systemic barriers faced by victims, such as navigating immigration restrictions, and financial and legal challenges.

Tower Hamlets is the second-highest ranked borough for domestic abuse cases in London.

Between April and December 2024, Solace workers managed 1,139 referrals and supported 227 victim-survivors.

In an official statement, Solace said: “Following discussions with our Tower Hamlets staff, the union and Tower Hamlets Council over the last few days, we are pleased to confirm that the planned strike action by our Tower Hamlets team has been paused. Solace has also paused the redundancy process.

“During this pause, Solace will continue discussions with all parties to help us resolve the dispute. We continue to focus on solutions as this is in the best interests of our survivors and staff.”

They added: “Solace remains committed to supporting survivors in Tower Hamlets and across London, and we urge survivors to continue to reach out. You can call us on 0808 802 5565 or email advice@solacewomensaid.org.”

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: “Solace have confirmed they will be pausing their ongoing redundancy process until Monday 3 March.

“The union has confirmed their members have decided to suspend planned industrial action for this period of time, while talks take place to try to find a resolution.”