Staff at Bristol’s largest homelessness charity are being balloted for strike action, with union leaders saying they are at risk of becoming homeless themselves because they are so poorly paid.
The Unite union is balloting workers at St Mungo’s, which is one of Bristol City Council’s official providers of homeless outreach and emergency accommodation for rough sleepers, saying workers are ‘fed up with greed’ at the top of the national charity.
More than 500 workers for St Mungo’s across the country are being balloted by post with the poll ending on March 31. In Bristol, St Mungo's are one of the homelessness charities that benefit from the contactless donation points dotted around the city centre.
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Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham claims the pay for St Mungo’s chief executive has gone up by 77 per cent since 2013 - from £107,000 a year to £189,000 - but the real value of wages of workers has ‘plummeted by 25 per cent’ over the same time, with a frontline worker for the charity earning £26,000.
“St Mungo’s frontline workers are on the streets every night helping the homeless but many can’t afford to pay their own rent,” said Ms Graham. “Now the workers are rebelling - they have no other choice.
"While charity bosses live the good life, frontline staff are facing the full force of the cost of living crisis. The charity can easily afford to give workers a fair pay deal and Unite is firmly on their side,” she added.
Back in 2021, there was a dispute after St Mungo’s imposed a 1.75 per cent pay rise, and in 2022, they offered a £700 one-off payment for the cost-of-living crisis, but ‘refused to budge’ on a pay rise, Unite said.
A St Mungo’s spokesperson confirmed it has received official notification from Unite that it is balloting its members about potential strike action over the nationally agreed pay increase staff received for the year 2021/22.
“We are disappointed that our efforts to conclude this matter – which include early adoption and implementation of the 2022/23 pay rise of £1,925 (an average increase of 5.5 per cent) and an additional cost of living payment of £700 for the majority of our staff – have so far been unsuccessful,” he said.
“We will continue to do all we can to avoid a strike, for our colleagues, for our partners and most importantly for our clients.
“Whatever the outcome of the ballot, our focus remains the safety and welfare of our clients – including those experiencing street homelessness – and running the vital services which support them,” they added.
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