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Regulator of Social Housing faces possible strike as workers balloted over pay
Union members at the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) are being balloted over pay and conditions at the non-departmental public body.
Unite has told the RSH that the ballot process will begin today over what it called a “pitiful” 3% pay award in 2022.
The union said the increase would mean a real-terms pay cut, as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation currently stands at 10.4%.
Unite has called for a minimum increase backdated to July 2022, where inflation at that time was 10.1%.
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“Recruitment, retention and current staff vacancies add to ever-increasing workloads, stress levels and pay disparity [at the RSH],” Unite said in a statement.
The English regulator is being given extra powers by the government to cover consumer regulation as part of a number of post-Grenfell safety and satisfaction measures to ensure better treatment of tenants.
However, Unite said the expansion puts the RSH “at risk of not attracting high-quality staff as salaries aren’t competitive”.
It added: “Unite at RSH see no alternative but to seek a yes vote for strike action.”
An RSH spokesperson said: “We are aware of Unite’s ballot for industrial action in relation to RSH’s 2022 pay award. As a government arm’s-length body, we must set our pay within the civil service limits, and our average pay award is in line with those limits and consistent with other arm’s-length bodies and government departments.
“We are aware of the pressures facing all our staff and we continue to offer support where we are able to during this challenging time.”
Amid a general wave of industrial action, other walk-outs in the housing sector have seen maintenance workers at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive go on lengthy strikes and action at Wirral-based Magenta Living over asbestos safety fears.
In January, strike action at the charity Shelter was abandoned early after staff accepted an improved pay offer.
