Dear friends
Following on from my last email, management have now provided details of their offer in writing so I’m writing to let you know what has been offered: · to release the first 6 months of the NJC Employers’ current offer: £1,925 with an additional 4.04% on London weighting. This would be pro rata depending on start date or hours worked. At whatever point the NJC agreement is reached, this will then be applied and· to increase our mileage allowance for an initial period of six months starting from 01 September 2022, to 56p per mile for cars, and 28p per mile for motorcycles
The first of the above points means letting workers have the expected NJC increase (or most of it) for 2022/23, without waiting for it to be formally announced by the NJC. It doesn’t mean you will receive more money than you would otherwise have received, but you will get some of the money sooner, instead of getting a backdated payment when the NJC outcome is officially announced.
This would be a welcome step for management to take, but it does nothing to address the central problem, which is that the 1.75% increase for 2021/22 was completely inadequate and that if nothing is done about it, our real wages will be affected in the long term. What we have seen in 2021/22 is a real terms cut in pay which, if not addressed, will undermine our living standards indefinitely.
The second point means a genuine improvement in mileage rates for people who use their vehicles for work. It is not enough to cover the increase in the cost of motoring since the last time it was increased, but it does represent a real improvement on the position so far. Unfortunately, the intention is to apply this, at least initially, for only 6 months, with the risk that it will then revert to the current rate which is only 45p per mile for cars.
You may have seen a message from Rebecca Sycamore on Mungosnet which sets out management’s position on the dispute. We are pleased that Rebecca’s article recognises the importance of the cost of living crisis. We want to point out that:
– Since March, we have repeatedly asked to see St Mungo’s management accounts. This request has been ignored or brushed off but we have not been offered a reason to withhold them.
– David Oladele and I have met senior management and listened carefully to what they have said about St Mungo’s financial position. However, when we have asked for further information or for clarification of apparent inconsistencies, they have said they will need to refer to their accountants and we haven’t heard further.
– Some accounting information has to be published by law and can be seen on the Companies House website here (tick the box for ‘accounts’ to filter out other information). It seems to us that St Mungo’s has faced particular financial difficulties due to Covid, returned to breaking even (or a small surplus) in 2021/22 and can expect larger surpluses from now on, out of which it could afford to increase wages. We can see from the published accounts that the caution about front line workers’ pay has not applied to St Mungo’s highest paid employees, who have seen considerable increases in their wages and represent an increasing cost to the organisation.
We view the above offer as an welcome indication of a willingness to engage in discussion about our concerns. However, in our view the offer is not sufficient to resolve the dispute. We will put the offer to the membership and ask you to vote on it at our next members’ meeting at 1pm on 1 September, which will be held virtually via Google Meet.
A reminder of the link you need to use to attend the meeting: https://meet.google.com/cii-qeru-aca
It would be good to see the views of as many members as possible represented in our decision, so please attend if you can.
Best wishes,
Jacob Sanders
Convenor
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