Staff at a homelessness charity will stage a month-long strike in a dispute over pay. Members of Unite at St Mungo's will walk out from May 30 to June 26 after rejecting a pay offer. The charity increased a 1.75% pay offer to a "pitiful" 2.25%, the union said.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Charity workers who are on the streets helping the homeless are now prepared to go on strike for a month for a decent wage. This shows what they think of the way they've been treated by St Mungo's management.
"The pitiful pay offer has just made everyone in the union angrier. So if the management at St Mungo's want to avoid a month-long strike they have the answer in their own hands.
"Make Unite members a decent pay offer. Their indifference to the financial pressures facing their own staff is quite frankly astonishing."
A St Mungo's spokesperson said: "We are naturally very disappointed our new offer has been rejected by Unite's members and that an unprecedented 28 days of strike is due to commence from May 30. We have compromised and tried everything possible to reach a reasonable negotiation and avoid strike action, and we believe our new offer was fair and appropriate.
"Our lines of communication with Unite will remain open as we continue to try to resolve the dispute. Our priority is to continue supporting our clients and people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
"We have contingency plans in place to minimise the risks to our clients; however, we are concerned about the impact prolonged strike action will have on our service users, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our communities."
