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Staff at Shelter begin ‘unprecedented’ two-week strike over pay
More than 600 staff at homelessness charity Shelter have started a fortnight of strike action in a dispute over pay.
Unite the Union, whose members organised the strike, said staff were walking out after a 3% pay increase this year had left some staff unable to pay rent and were concerned they may become homeless themselves.
Unite acknowledged that staff were also given a £1,500 one-off payment alongside the 3% pay offer, but the union said the pay deal was a “huge real terms pay cut” of 11% and failed to take into account rampant inflation.
It pointed out that the latest annual Retail Price Index inflation rate was at 14.2% in November.
The decision to strike followed a ballot last month, which received an 85% vote in favour of industrial action.
The strike began on Monday after talks between the union and Shelter management collapsed last week.
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According to Unite, the charity’s management refused to increase its earlier pay offer and instead proposed a pay increase of 4% for 2023, with no further pay increase for staff until April 2024.
The union described the decision by its members to take industrial action as “unprecedented”.
Shelter’s offices affected by the strike action include its head office in London, and across 13 of its other offices.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “It is unforgivable that workers at Shelter find themselves actually being haunted by the prospect of being made homeless. Shelter has sufficient reserves to pay its hardworking and dedicated staff a decent par rise but it has chosen not to.
“Our members at Shelter will receive Unite’s complete and unyielding support in their fight for a better deal.”
In response, Tim Gutteridge, director of finance and strategy enablement at Shelter, said: “Regrettably, the cost of living crisis is impacting both our colleagues and operational costs, and we are doing everything we can to navigate these challenging economic times.
“Industrial action is not the outcome we wanted after months of talks with the union, but we fully respect people’s right to strike.”
He added: “Our ambition remains trying to support colleagues through this difficult period, while being able to deliver our frontline services and campaign work. This year we gave all staff a pay rise – which for non-management staff means an increase of between 8% and 12.3% – consisting of a 3% consolidated increase and a one-off payment of £1,500.
“As a real living wage employer, Shelter is also implementing the Real Living Wage Foundation’s increase of 10.1% from December 2022, much earlier than required, benefiting the colleagues who receive this at the earliest opportunity.”
