600 St Mungo's housing workers to strike for a week

Unite members at the homelessness charity St Mungo's Broadway will strike for an initial seven days from Friday 17th October. A new executive, installed following a recent merger, has imposed changes to staff terms with what they call "retrospective consultation". They have announced their intention to stop negotiating with Unite on pay, while the new boss talks of the possibility of working with notorious private contractors such as Serco.

A packed Unite members' meeting voted unanimously for the seven-day strike following a ballot in which a massive 95.8% voted to strike on a 68% turnout. There are just under 600 members of the Unite housing branch at St Mungo's. Members spoke of years of frustration with repeated restructurings and their determination not to be treated with contempt.

Staff fear that the new managers are about to "rip the heart out of the organisation", transforming a high quality organisation with a reputation second to none into yet another low quality, minimum standards, 'race to the bottom' business.

The HR director has written of the potential advantages for housing organisations of people being 'hoiked' out of work as a result of the crisis. She explains that it could be good for organisations such as St Mungo's Broadway because of increasing numbers falling behind on their rent or mortgage, sinking into depression, taking up substance abuse and requiring homelessness services! She is very clear about what lies in store for the victims of the crisis:

"...the government's notion that all the people about to be flung out of public and voluntary services will miraculously become employed in and promote the growth of a newly booming commercial sector is laughable. Get real. A significant proportion are UNEMPLOYABLE (capitals in original) because they've been allowed to get away with murder for years, unchallenged in the absence of firm and consistent management within their employer organisations and protected to the hilt by an employment law regime which has pretty much scotched the concept and practice of personal responsibility for anything in the workplace" (Inside Housing 20/10/2010).

UK employment law gives workers less protection than most European countries and staff feel it is inappropriate that someone who expresses such views is leading an organisation working with the homeless.

Unite branch secretary Suzanne Muna commented:

"Unite is campaigning to defend standards of pay and service standards in the sector. We appeal to responsible employers to talk to us about a national agreement such as already exists in Scotland to prevent a competitive race to the bottom".

Please donate to the campaign as follows:

By BACS. Account name: Unite Housing Workers Branch LE1111, Account No: 20040639, Sort Code: 08-60-01.
By cheque, made out to the Unite Housing Workers Branch LE1111, Unite LE1111, and sent to PO Box 66701, London E11 9FB.

Please mark all donations 'St Mungos Broadway Campaign Funds'.

The strike will begin at 8.00am on Friday 17th October. Please send solidarity messages to [email protected]

The Unite LE1111 website will carry updates on the dispute: http://www.housingworkers.org.uk/page/5/news.html

Paul Kershaw

Unite press statement on St Mungo's

Unite members at housing charity St Mungo's Broadway have unanimously voted to take seven days of strike action starting at 08.00 on Friday 17 October in a dispute over cuts to pay for new starters and changes to policies and procedures governing working conditions for all staff.

The workers, members of the UK's largest union, Unite, are furious at changes imposed by the new management team imported from Broadway, the junior partner in the recent merger.

Unite's members have clearly stated that they will not stand for these profoundly detrimental changes that downgrade salaries for new starters and existing staff in restructures. Further impositions include the removal of pay negotiations from collective bargaining; procedural changes which compromise employees' ability to defend themselves in disciplinaries and grievances and make it easier for management to force through redundancies, re-grade roles to de-skilled lower paid versions, and side-line the union entirely.

Unite regional officer Nicky Marcus said:

"The sheer arrogance of Howard Sinclair, the new CEO, is simply intolerable to our members. Our members have given us a clear mandate that they will not stand for these significantly detrimental changes.

"Burying their heads in the sand, stating that they don't accept that we are in dispute, is simply not good enough. This will be demonstrated on Friday when almost 600 staff walk out for a week.

"Our members feel so strongly that have voted to strike for a full seven days; losing a whole weeks pay because they insist that the changes imposed by this management are wrong; wrong for the staff, wrong for the organisation and wrong for the future of the vulnerable people in their care.

"It is not easy for workers to take strike action. No one takes that decision lightly, least of all those who spend their careers looking after the most vulnerable people in our society. But Howard Sinclair, who recently told the press that he keeps a wolf mask hanging in his office for use at union meetings is about to find out that Unite is no Little Red Riding Hood."

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 13 October 2014 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.

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