The leader of Brighton and Hove City Council has written to the chief executive of St Mungo’s urging the homelessness charity to resolve its current national pay dispute.
Labour councillor Bella Sankey said that the strike by St Mungo’s staff affected support services for some of the most vulnerable people in Brighton and Hove.
When a month-long strike at the charity ended late last month, staff started an indefinite strike.
Councillor Sankey has written to St Mungo’s chief executive Emma Haddad.
This afternoon (Thursday 13 July) the council leader said: “I am concerned and disappointed that over six weeks into strike action, this dispute remains unresolved.
“St Mungo’s is responsible for supporting some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our society, including contracted services for homeless people in Brighton and Hove.
“I’ve written to urge St Mungo’s to broker rapid negotiations to conclude the dispute and ensuring a fair wage is paid to those who undertake this important work.
“Speaking to some of the striking workers last month, I was concerned to hear of the acute impact of the ‘cost of living crisis’ on them.
“As a homelessness prevention charity, I’d hope St Mungo’s understand better than most the importance of fair pay during a time of high inflation.
“I look forward to hearing back about action being taken to resolve the dispute and see St Mungo’s return to delivering the vital support services for homeless people here and around the country.”
Unite, the union, announced last month that staff would go on indefinite strike and said: “This momentous decision has been provoked by the ongoing indifference of management and trustees who callously refuse to acknowledge the struggle frontline workers face to pay the bills.
“After tax and deductions, frontline workers take home less than £20,000 a year.
“Many of the workers are now in fear themselves after being unable to pay their rent or mortgage on their current poverty wages.
“The indifference of the management and trustees to their own staff smacks of the corporatisation of the charity sector.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “St Mungo’s workers are taking indefinite strike action because management and the trustees are displaying astonishing callousness.
“This attitude is corporate Britain meets the charity sector.
“The workers know St Mungo’s can afford to improve frontline workers’ pay. That’s why the blame for this indefinite strike lies with St Mungo’s management and board.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that the workers have Unite’s ongoing support.”
The union added: “The charity has stubbornly refused to improve its pitiful 2.25 per cent offer despite St Mungo’s having £16 million in cash and substantial reserves.
“The homeless charity still hasn’t resolved a pay dispute going back to 2021 in the midst of falling pay and a ‘cost of living crisis’.”
A recent job advert for a £135,000-a-year executive director of transformation at St Mungo’s said: “We are seeing high attrition among our colleagues and difficulties in recruiting.
I support these strikes personally. The skills and knowledge required to comprehensively support someone of no fixed abode are huge and highly specialist to the area they work in. Many workers who choose this line of work do so because of their history, and that experience resonates strongly with those who are needing this help.
If a Charitable Organisation cannot recognise that, then one should question if they are truly worth supporting any more so a new organisation can be put into place from its ashes.
It is somewhat ironic that we have a member or a local authority urging the resolution of the dispute. How do they suggest this is done? If all local authorities increase their funding of the services to realisitc levels, then I am sure this can be resolved.
Did Bella Sankey also include a promise to St Mungos to increase the funding of the services to enable the increase in salaries that are being demanded?
That’s disingenuous Bilbo. According to their own financial statements, St Mangos are in a very strong financial position already and ahead of their targets.
The accounts for 2023 are not published so how do you know what the financial situation is? Do you think that the charity has by some miracle not been
impacted by inflation and increased costs?