Union members at Amnesty International UK are calling for the organisation’s director, Kate Allen, to resign over what Unite says are “poor strategic and financial decisions” which have led to 40 jobs being put at risk.

The union’s call today comes after 70 staff this week were delivered ‘at risk of redundancy’ notices and following two days of industrial action by union members at the charity in the past few months.

Amnesty International UK is looking to implement £2.5m of cuts and union members have claimed the cuts are being implemented without adequate consultation.

Unite spokeswoman Sally Kosky said that the organisation’s staff had lost confidence in its leadership. “Staff are concerned that Kate Allen’s proposed cuts will seriously damage the UK section’s ability to operate effectively and to provide strong campaigning and fundraising support for the global movement in the long term,” said Kosky. 

Unite represents 145 of 200 employees at Amnesty International UK. 

In a statement, the organisation said that the disquiet among staff is "completely understandable".

"Kate, the senior management team and the board all understand the impact of the cost-saving programme on staff. They are determined to make the consultation over restructuring and redundancies genuine and will ensure that the process is fair and transparent," Amnesty International UK said.

"Unite says the cuts are due to the speed at which senior management intends to increase contributions to Amnesty’s international headquarters, yet it was the highest decision-making body of the Amnesty movement, the International Council Meeting, that made decisions on how much national sections like Amnesty International UK should contribute."