David Cartwright, Unite union member, Glasgow
All across the UK, over 600 workers employed by the housing and homeless charity Shelter are in the middle of a two-week strike over pay. Members of Unite, which represents the workers, had a turnout of over 80% in a ballot to reject the latest pay offer from the management and to go on the longest strike in the charity’s history.
The dispute over pay has been long and drawn out. Earlier in the year, the Union put forward a pay demand of 3 per cent plus inflation (which was running at about 7 per cent at the time). The management just came back with a rise of 3 per cent, which they imposed without further discussion. The union continued to push for a decent pay rise. Some of the lower-paid members of staff told Unite that they were worried about being able to pay their rent and potentially becoming homeless themselves.
A pay cut of 21 per cent over two years
The dispute went to ACAS and the management came back with no additional pay for 2022 and just 4 per cent for 2023/24. According to calculations by Unite, this would represent a real-terms pay cut of 21 per cent over two years. The talks broke down and the members voted for the strike. In their press statement about the strike, Unite gives quotes from members about how such a pay cut would impact them. For example, one member of Shelter’s staff said: “At the very base level, absolute bare minimum, those working for a housing charity shouldn’t be experiencing housing insecurity as a result of being unable to pay rent.”
On the picket line, the word “intransigent” is used to describe the position taken by management. As the chief negotiator, Peter Storey, says “This dispute has been caused by the heartless, hypocritical attitude of Shelter’s management who have refused to enter into proper negotiations. Shelter needs to take an urgent reality check and return to the negotiating table with an offer that meets our members’ expectations.”
Shelter reserves of £14.5 million
In the face of the current cost of living crisis, many people are having to rethink how much they can donate to charities. More than half of food banks have seen a reduction in donations, and at the same time demand is increasing. Shelter cannot be immune from these trends, but they are sitting on reserves of £14.5 million when their target was just £8.9 million.
There has been no comment of support to the workers from the Board of Trustees. That includes Kezia Dugdale, who was leader of the Labour Party in Scotland between 2015 and 2017, but who left the party in 2019. She is director of the John Smith Centre for Public Service at the University of Glasgow but can’t bring herself to come out against low pay in Shelter. Contrast this with the response of 58 fellows of the Royal Society of Arts who wrote an open letter calling for the management to progress union recognition discussions with the IWGB union which they ultimately won.
Support the Shelter strikers
There are picket lines at the Shelter offices which are in most of the major cities in the UK. Motorists, bus drivers etc beep their support as they pass by, like they do for the postal workers and other workers during this major strike wave. Go along to your local office and express your solidarity with the Shelter strikers.
Post script: Shelter fundraisers who are part of the charity workers branch of the IWGB attended the Old Street picket line where they received a good response for backing the strike and seeking support from the in-house workers for their own campaigns on pay and conditions.
Featured image: Picket line at the Shelter offices in Glasgow, credit: David Cartwright
