Employees at the homelessness charity St Mungo’s will continue strike action after rejecting a renewed pay offer from the charity.
Workers’ union Unite said 62% of its members at St Mungo’s rejected the latest pay offer, which it described as a “paltry” 3.7%.
St Mungo’s said it was disappointing that workers had voted against the offer, which it said would have seen 90% of staff receive a pay rise of 7-14%.
Last month, the union announced that staff at the charity would extend their month-long strike “indefinitely”, starting from 27 June.
Union: Pay offer is ‘cynical attempt to divide’ staff
St Mungo’s management and Unite met on 29 June at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to negotiate the new pay offer.
The proposal would have seen an increase from 4% to 5% for staff earning £25,000 and 3.5% to 4% for those earning £30,000, the charity said.
St Mungo’s said that when combined with the National Joint Council’s pay award of £1,925 per person, the total increase for 2023-24 would have been between 10% and 14.6% for everyone up to pay point 15 and 7.4% and 11.1% for everyone on pay points 17 to 30.
The charity’s management also said it offered its staff a “10-part package” that included an increase in annual leave from 25 to 28 days, a consolidated allowance and the creation of a well-being fund.
However, Unite said that the pay offer was a “paltry” 3.7% and that it “falls short of alleviating the workers’ fear of being unable to pay their rent or mortgage on their current poverty wages”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “St Mungo’s latest pay offer was a cynical attempt to divide the workforce and break the strike. That tactic has crashed and burned. So my advice is to get real and offer a fair pay increase to help these dedicated workers make ends meet.
“The workforce continues to have their union’s total support.”
Unite regional officer Steve O’Donnell said: “It’s plain wrong that workers on the frontline of the fight against homelessness are living in fear of not being able to pay the rent.
“If management took our advice and made that additional offer, that we proposed at ACAS, people would be on their way back to work. Management need to stop wasting time tinkering and make a real pay offer.”
St Mungo’s: ‘We understand the pressures’ faced by staff
St Mungo’s chief executive Emma Haddad said that it was “extremely” disappointing that the Union’s members voted to reject the offer.
“We understand the pressures that the cost living crisis is placing on some of our colleagues and we went to great lengths to put forward a comprehensive 10-part package. This included a new consolidated pay offer designed to support colleagues and significant improvements to the wider benefit package,” she said.
“Had the offer been accepted, over 90% of colleagues would have received a minimum increase of £2,975 for the current financial year when added to the annual pay award. In percentage terms, this would have meant a pay rise of 7-14%.”
Haddad added that the charity “made a series of payments and offers that attempt to support colleagues through this difficult period”, with the offers complementing the annual pay rise.
“It is highly regrettable Unite has not accepted the latest offer at a time when the demand for our services is increasing. We need to ensure the charity is sustainable going forward so we can continue to deliver services to some of the most vulnerable people in society.
“This outcome means negotiations, through ACAS, must continue so we can bring an end to this unprecedented period of strike action. We remain committed to supporting people recovering from, or at risk of, homelessness and continue to do this vital work during our ongoing negotiations with Unite.”
