Dear colleagues
If you are at work on 30 May, you should go home.
The workforce is engaged in a struggle for the soul of the organisation. Does it exist to serve its clients and therefore respect the staff who work for them, or – well, what exactly?
We have a CEO who is paid more than the Prime Minister, and every Director – each one of them – is paid more than the Leader of the Opposition. These are the people who claim St Mungo’s does not have enough money to pay wages that keep up with inflation.
We have asked the leadership team again and again for basic accounting information. The request has been refused without explanation. The annual reports which St Mungo’s has to file with Companies House are available online, and they show the opposite of what our bosses are telling us about the accounts. The Chair of St Mungo’s Board reports: ‘As a charity cash is our primary financial indicator, at £22.5m it is above the Trustee set range of £14-£18m.’
I wrote to Emma Haddad on 19 May to remind her that we are ready to negotiate, as we have been throughout. I have received no reply. I wrote again on 26 May – I am waiting to see if there’s a response this time. We are still ready to hold talks with management so we can reach an agreement.
The strike has been called legally and the law says that any worker can take part. It is illegal for St Mungo’s bosses to take action of any kind against any St Mungo’s worker – union member or not – who joins the strike. The more people take part in the strike the sooner it will come to an end.
You can join Unite instantly online. Here’s a link https://join.unitetheunion.org/
You may have found that today you’re working with agency workers providing cover – at great – expense for your striking colleagues. St Mungo’s leadership team is spending more on its effort to try to break the strike than it would cost to reach a settlement. It’s ridiculous, but if enough of us stand up for what is right, it will have to stop.
For your own sake, for the sake of your colleagues and your clients, please stand up and walk out.
Best wishes
Jacob Sanders
UNITE Convenor
St Mungo’s
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