Strike's off, as Centrepoint and union settle dispute

Governance | Celina Ribeiro | 16 Nov 2011

Following a seven-month tussle between the union and management, Centrepoint staff have agreed to a new pay and restructure offer and called off planned strikes.

The dispute, which was over redundancies, salary cuts and increased working hours, came to an end yesterday after staff “overwhelmingly” accepted a new deal brokered by Acas.

Centrepoint first presented its proposals to Unite, which has 88 of the charity’s 212 staff as members, in April. The original proposals included 34 redundancies, increasing the working week to 40 hours and salary cuts of up to 36 per cent for some staff. The new agreement sees the charity commit to no compulsory redundancies, a cap on salary cuts of 5 per cent for the next 15 months (rising to a maximum of 10 per cent after that) and an agreement to leave the working week at 37.5 hours.

The dispute had become bitter, with the union having to ballot its members twice over strike action after Centrepoint disputed the legality of its first ballot in which a greater majority of union members voted in favour of industrial action.

Unite claimed the new deal as a victory. “We are pleased that Centrepoint’s management listened to Unite and stepped back from the brink,” said Matt Smith, Unite’s regional officer.

“We have negotiated the best possible deal for our members under the auspices of the conciliation service, Acas. At our members’ union meeting, we received overwhelming support for the recommended offer. We believe this was the best deal possible we could have achieved for our members working for this iconic charity.”

Centrepoint, while welcoming the dispute resolution, reiterated that restructuring is necessary in light of severe local government spending cuts.

Charity chief executive Seyi Obakin, said: “We regret the need to restructure but are pleased to have reached an agreement with Unite and its members. We can now ensure the long-term existence of Centrepoint and continue to help homeless young people.”

Directory: Centrepoint

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