Dear friends
Just like Father Ted, St Mungo’s management don’t like being reminded about the money that’s having a good long rest in their bank account.
According to a statement made by the Chair of St Mungo’s Board of Trustees in the annual report for 2021/22, regarding the financial position as of 31/3/2022:
As a charity cash is our primary financial indicator, at £22.5m it is above the Trustee set range of £14m -£18m
All over Mungosnet, the talk is of financial difficulties as the executive tries to persuade workers not to support the union’s campaign for a pay rise. But let’s be clear about what the above figures mean. The Board of Trustees set a target range for cash of between £14 million and £18 million. The amount in the bank is £4.5 million above the top end of the target range, and £8.5 million above the lower end of the target range.
So, what is St Mungo’s offering workers?
It would cost about £0.8m for St Mungo’s to make a one-off payment of £500 to each employee. The offer the Directors have made is for a one-off payment of £500 to some employees, so we don’t know how much it will cost, but definitely less than £0.8m. Perhaps in the region of £0.5m. We think they should spend more than that.
At the end of 2021/22, as inflation soared past 10%, the employers’ side at the NJC imposed a pay rise of 1.75%. In real terms, that’s a pay cut. That’s why those millions were left in the bank. But inevitably, there is a downside. As fuel bills go through the roof and general inflation remains in double figures, St Mungo’s workers are struggling. It’s having a bad effect on staff morale, recruitment and retention. It’s unfair on workers and bad for clients.
An improved pay offer that protects living standards into the future will boost staff morale and make it easier to recruit and retain workers. With difficulties in recruitment creating problems across the sector, commissioners are looking for reliability from service providers. We believe that St Mungo’s should focus on demonstrating quality and reliability in the services it provides. This will enable it to demonstrate that it provides best value when competing with other providers.
Are pay rises always a bad thing?
Sometimes St Mungo’s understands the importance of maintaining – and indeed improving – the real value of people’s wages. As the attached leaflet explains, pay rises for the best-paid people in the organisation have been rather generous. We think St Mungo’s directors should acknowledge that frontline workers also have bills to pay and that the value of our work should be recognised.
We are not asking for miracles or even a free trip to Lourdes.
All we are asking for is that our wages keep pace with inflation, so that we don’t have to cut back on food or shiver in the dark.
If you have any questions, you are welcome to ask me or any of the Unite reps’ team. If you don’t want any more emails from me, please just let me know.
Best wishes,
Jacob Sanders
Unite convenor, St Mungo’s
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