Dear Emma
This is an open email and will be shared with most of St Mungo’s workforce.
You have said on Mungosnet that you are talking to Unite to try to resolve the dispute.
You have told the Evening Standard that you are talking to Unite to try to resolve the dispute.
You are not talking to Unite.
We know that you like to tell workers that St Mungo’s is floundering financially. But St Mungo’s last annual report said
“As a charity cash is our primary financial indicator, at £22.5m it is above the Trustee set range of £14m -£18m”
and
“St Mungo’s budgeted for a small deficit but has achieved a small operating surplus position due to lower than anticipated staff costs.”
The report was uploaded to the Companies House website on 14 December 2022, and it does NOT include a warning that there had been a significant change in the financial position since March.
The previous year’s annual report, for 2020/21, also shows St Mungo’s in a good state of financial health; likewise the year before that. If there has been a sharp downturn in St Mungo’s financial position, it has occurred extremely quickly, during a period of time which coincides almost exactly with your tenure as Chief Executive.
We know that your pay is more than that of the Prime Minister, and that every single Director gets more than the Leader of the Opposition. We think St Mungo’s money was given to help the homeless, not to fund luxury lifestyles for a small number of people. In a homelessness charity, every employee should enjoy the satisfaction of knowing they put in more than they take out, but this is a satisfaction currently denied to you and your Directors.
We know that money is spent freely at St Mungo’s, on things like Cx, Office 365 and renting more office space than is needed. There is a lot that could be done to save money without reducing real wages for staff and thereby worsening the service that St Mungo’s offers its clients.
We know that you are planning to spend a lot of money in an effort to crush the strike. It will fail because you have not accounted for the number of workers who will strike. That money could be used to reach a settlement with St Mungo’s workers.
The loss in real wages affecting St Mungo’s workers is crippling. It leaves full-time workers fearful about being able to cover their rent, and resorting to foodbanks so that their children do not go without. It disproportionately affects BAME workers, adding to the unfairness of our society. It leads to organisational failings in retention and recruitment, leaving teams understaffed and clients unsupported.
Your PR messaging claims that you are negotiating with Unite. Perhaps you know that it would be the right thing to do.
We are ready to talk when you are.
Warm regards
Jacob
Jacob Sanders
UNITE Convenor, St Mungo’s
Click Here to Join Unite (Select Not for Profit Sector)
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