Dear friends
By now most of you will have received your ballot paper to vote on the pay dispute. If you didn’t get it, please let me know.
If you have received the ballot paper, please vote yes and send it to Civica straight away in the Freepost envelope.
Please don’t wait. You may fully intend to return the ballot paper at some point in the future, but there are risks in this strategy, specifically:
- It might get jam on it and get stuck to the wall behind the couch.
- Your kids might use it for target practice.
- At some point you might form a clear recollection of posting the ballot paper but in fact you were renewing your car insurance.
- Or something like that.
You may detect the voice of experience.
The law stipulates that a ballot is successful only if at least 50% of members vote. So we can’t afford for ballot papers not to get sent back. Please vote and put it in the post straight away.
A few key points about the issues at stake in the ballot:
- We have seen St Mungo’s financial statements and they have also been examined by Unite’s forensic accountants. We know that St Mungo’s can afford a pay rise.
- Our claim is only for the real value of our pay to be restored to what it was two years ago. That’s not unreasonable.
- We continued to work throughout the pandemic, with many workers taking risks to continue to serve their clients. That deserves recognition, not a real terms pay cut.
Around the country, workers – and especially Unite members – have been winning one pay dispute after another. Our comrades at Shelter were told there was no money left, until they went on strike. Their £750 cost of living payment was increased to £1250 and they got a 7% indefinite payrise. This repeats a pattern that has recurred again and again.
Unite pays generous strike pay – most workers will get the lion’s share of their wages replaced by strike pay, and some will even get more while on strike than their net pay when working.
If the strike ballot outcome is strong enough, bosses will see we mean it and we may even get agreement without having to go on strike.
Please, get the ballot paper sorted. And if you let me know you have done so, St Mungo’s Unite will benefit from a somewhat less stressed convenor.
As always, if you have any questions, please get in touch.
Best wishes
Jacob
Jacob Sanders
Unite Convenor, St Mungo’s
- If you don’t want more emails from the St Mungo’s Unite shop, you can let us know by reply to this email.
- Please talk to your colleagues about the dispute. Encourage Unite members to vote, and others to join Unite.
- You can follow your shop on Twitter @SMUnite.
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