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Staff at North West housing association threaten to strike over changes to work hours
Customer service staff at Riverside have raised the prospect of carrying out industrial action after bosses announced a new shift pattern and changes to working hours.
Unite the Union said the shift pattern change would be detrimental to 100 customer service staff who mostly work mornings and early afternoons and have been told they may be asked to do shifts between 2pm and 9pm.
The management also wants to alter the number of hours worked, with some employees being made to work more hours and others made to work less. This could mean loss of income for workers, Unite said.
Staff at the Liverpool-based social landlord – some who have worked there for 15 years – have objected on the grounds that the new system will disrupt childcare and health needs.
Unite said that the proposals, announced in January, show a lack of consideration for the employees’ work-life balance and will lead to permanent uncertainty of both their hours of work and income.
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The union warned that industrial action is “very much on the cards” if conciliation via the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) falls through.
Unite has roughly 1,000 members working at Riverside, which owns and manages 56,000 homes.
John Sheppard, regional officer at Unite, said: “The cost-saving aspect of this plan is minor compared with the major changes to our members’ lives and bank balances.
“So far, informal consultations have failed to resolve the issues regarding this attack on their long-established terms and conditions.
“We have tried to negotiate in a constructive manner but to no avail. The next step is to involve the conciliation service Acas and if that fails we will consider a ballot for industrial action.”
A Riverside spokesperson said: “We are working with Unite and their members to come to an agreement which will help ensure our customer service centre is operating as effectively as possible and improve our standard of service to customers when they call us.
“Talks with colleagues are ongoing, therefore no changes have been implemented at this stage, and we are continuing to operate as normal.”
