Dear comrades
You should have received an email this morning with details of a consultative ballot on possible industrial action.
We recommend that you vote Yes.
For months, we have tried to negotiate with St Mungo’s management. We have pointed out that it is not fair to expect workers to take a real terms pay cut. We have said that reduced real wages are causing difficulties with retention and recruitment. We have reminded them that the organisation is bleeding money to commercial agencies for staff, when it would cost less just to maintain the real wage rates of their own workers.
We have asked to see St Mungo’s management accounts – we have been offered the financial accounts, which have to be made public through Companies House anyway. After months of asking for the management accounts and getting no response, we were told that they are ‘commercially sensitive’ – as if we were a competitor organisation, instead of representing their own workforce.
We have been told that a real terms pay cut is unavoidable, because the NJC rates are sacrosanct. But when we asked for a mileage rate that actually reflects the cost of using a car for work, we were told that the existing rate must remain, even though it’s less than the rate advised by the NJC!
At the members’ meeting on 20th June, St Mungo’s Unite members made it very clear to us that they expect us to take a strong negotiating stance on the issue of pay.
Unless management’s position changes soon, we believe that we now need to go into dispute mode. This is the start of a process which will last for months, and we very much hope that it does not result in strike action. If this ballot is successful, we will again seek to persuade management to negotiate with us, with the strength that a consultative ballot win gives us. If all efforts ultimately fail, there will still have to be a paper ballot before any industrial action can take place.
We are negotiating on your behalf and will be guided by your views. If you have any questions or any points you want to raise, you are always welcome to contact either of us.
The email you received from Unite this morning includes the link you need to vote. If you didn’t receive the email, please let us know. And please cast your vote now, while it is on your mind.
In solidarity
Jacob Sanders
Convenor
David Oladele
Deputy Convenor
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