Strike action at St Mungo’s suspended

A planned four-week strike due to begin in April by St Mungo’s workers was suspended after their union, Unite, decided to ballot members on the latest pay offer from the homelessness charity.

The union is recommending rejection of the offer, which is well below the current rate of inflation, and using the ballot to ensure there is a strong mandate for further action if members choose to reject it. The dispute involves 500 workers across southern England, including in London, Bristol, Brighton, Oxford, Bournemouth and Reading.

Unite regional officer Steve O’Donnell said: “St Mungo’s workers’ pay has plummeted but in the last 10 years the pay of senior management has increased by an astonishing 350%. It’s time the charity did the right thing and paid frontline workers properly. Our members are ready for the long haul – it’s time St Mungo’s bosses woke up to that fact.”