Shelter staff walk out in 'unprecedented' strike over pay

Employees represented by the Unite agency claimed they can’t afford their rent and are worried about becoming homeless themselves.

Workers accused Shelter’s management  of being "hypocritical" and "heartless" after imposing a 3% pay increase, which the Unite union said was “a huge real-terms pay cut”, with the true inflation rate (RPI) now standing at 14.2%. 

Shelter gave staff a one-off payment of £1,500, but Unite has said the one-off payments would “leave pay rates at unacceptably low levels, and fail to take into account rampant inflation”.

The strike, which starts on Monday (5th Dec) and runs until Friday 16 December, comes during one of the busiest times of the year for the charity.

Shelter said some of its services would be “temporarily impacted” during the strike, but added: “We are making every effort to continue to serve those in need of our help.”

Unite claimed the charity’s management had “refused to enter into meaningful negotiations” with its representatives, and said talks at the conciliation service Acas collapsed last week. 

The union said Shelter’s reserves last year stood at about £14.5m, substantially higher than its target reserves of £8.9m.

One member of Shelter’s staff said: “At the very base level, absolute bare minimum, those working for a housing charity shouldn’t be experiencing housing insecurity as a result of being unable to pay rent.”
 
Another added: “I’m a single parent. I’m now in overdraft every month. I go around switching my lights off. I have turned my boiler down. I get stressed when the kids’ school wants me to pay for another school trip. The best acknowledgement my employer can give me for all my hard work is decent pay.”

The Shelter locations affected include its Old Street office in London, and offices in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Blackburn, Norwich, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Leeds, and Sheffield, said the union.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is unforgivable that workers at Shelter find themselves actually being haunted by the prospect of being made homeless. Shelter has sufficient reserves to pay its hardworking and dedicated staff a decent par rise but it has chosen not to.
 
“Our members at Shelter will receive Unite’s complete and unyielding support in their fight for a better deal.”

Tim Gutteridge, director of finance and strategy enablement, at Shelter said: “Regrettably the cost-of-living crisis is impacting both our colleagues and operational costs, and we are doing everything we can to navigate these challenging economic times. Industrial action is not the outcome we wanted after months of talks with the union, but we fully respect people’s right to strike.  

“As a Real Living Wage employer, Shelter is also implementing the Real Living Wage Foundation’s increase of 10.1% from December 2022, much earlier than required, benefiting the colleagues who receive this at the earliest opportunity.”

Shelter said that anyone who needed urgent housing advice should visit its website to access its digital advice and services information.