The Unite trade union has announced that later this month St Mungo's staff plan to strike for three days, after the latest round of talks broke down.
The charity said it has been given two weeks' notice of the dates. It said that it will implement contingency plans, but has asked the union “to help us resolve this through more discussion”.
Last month the union said that staff at the homelessness charity voted by 83.7 per cent to strike over sickness policy and disciplinary procedures. A ballot of over 500 Unite members was the second in less than six months, after the first ballot missed the 50 per cent turnout threshold by a single vote.
The St Mungo’s chief executive, Howard Sinclair, said the charity had spent three days with the resolution service Acas, but that talks had broken down.
Unite represents more than 500 members at the homeless charity and is calling for Sinclair to step down immediately. The union said he and his team rejected “a sound and sensible solution, proposed at Acas, to settle the long running dispute over changes to the junior staffing cap agreement”.
St Mungo’s: ‘A strike is completely unnecessary’
Sinclair said: “After spending three days at Acas, I am disappointed that talks with Unite officials have broken down and that St Mungo’s has now received notice that Unite members intend to strike for three days from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 March.
“St Mungo’s went to Acas wanting to resolve this dispute with Unite, but our attempts were shut down. Unite refused to discuss seven of the eight issues balloted on and, of the one issue discussed, didn’t offer evidence to support their misunderstanding of numbers around the junior staffing cap, instead proposing unfair changes that could lead to staff redundancies. St Mungo’s remains committed to finding an agreement with Unite but we cannot go against our core values and put staff at risk of redundancy.
“A strike is completely unnecessary. We are not cutting pay, changing terms and conditions, or making people redundant. St Mungo’s is a good place to work. We ensure our staff are among the best paid in the sector and our clients say we help them make positive changes in their lives.
“Now that St Mungo’s has been given two weeks notice of a strike, we will have to implement contingency plans to ensure the interests of our most vulnerable clients and the charity as a whole is protected. No one wins in a strike. We ask Unite to help us resolve this through more discussion about all the issues in dispute and by not putting our most vulnerable clients in unnecessary risk.”
Unite: 'Our members now feel they have no option but to walk out'
Tabusam Ahmed, regional officer at Unite, said: “Unite is bitterly disappointed that St Mungo’s senior management has rejected a sound and sensible solution, proposed at Acas, to settle our long running dispute over changes senior management made to the junior staffing cap agreement.
“Our members now feel they have no option but to walk out. Their clients’ safety is their priority which is why they feel so strongly about standing up and defending the services they deliver.
“This strike isn’t about money, it’s about protecting jobs and defending the safety and high quality services our members deliver.
“Without the junior staffing cap there is nothing to stop the chief executive from bringing in a cheaper workforce on lower pay and worse terms and conditions.
“Chief executive Howard Sinclair has lost the trust of our members, who are on the frontline dealing with some of society’s most marginalised and vulnerable people. He must step down immediately.”
Email blunder
Sinclair is due to step down in autumn 2020 and take a "gap year" before looking for his next role. Sinclair became chief executive of the homelessness charity in 2014.
Unite had called on Sinclair to step down immediately after he inadvertently sent a private email to a union official.
The email stated that there is “no need to change tac (sic)”. It added: “Our strategy should be to…stop more people joining and erode support”.
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