Strike called off

When the staff of homeless charity, St. Mungo’s Broadway (SMB), were told their wages would be slashed, their collective bargaining rights crushed and their jobs deskilled, their subsequent anger transformed into action.

 
A remarkable seven-day strike followed in October, one which was supported by nearly all of the charity’s Unite members. The strike saw almost 700 members form 19 picket lines, with additional protests at town halls of councils who were responsible for employing SMB’s services.

 
The coordinated action from SMB’s courageous charity workers came as a management sought to impose pay cuts of 19 per cent for new project workers, the removal of pay from collective bargaining and draconian changes to other policies and procedures.

 
The threat of pay cuts came even as SMB’s CEO Howard Sinclair cashed in on a £34,000 pay rise this year.

 
As another 10-day strike loomed on the horizon, management acceded to nearly all of the union’s demands on Tuesday (November 4) after 10 hours of talks at Acas.

 
Management agreed to reverse the cuts it had first sought to impose when Broadway, a “struggling” organisation of 200 employees making year on year deficits, merged with the highly successful 1,000 strong St. Mungo’s.

 
The agreement includes paying new starters nationally agreed St Mungo’s terms and conditions and upwardly harmonising former Broadway workers to St Mungo’s terms by April 1, 2015. Management also assented to honouring all collective agreements made with Unite prior to the merger.

 
In response to this latest Unite victory, Unite regional officer Nicky Marcus said, “This is a significant victory not just for staff, but for the service users our members work so tirelessly to help.”

 
“It is a testament to what can be achieved when workers stand shoulder to shoulder and say enough is enough,” she added. “Going forward we will be working with the management of St Mungo’s Broadway to ensure that the charity honours its commitments and that the workforce is treated with the respect it deserves.”

 
The charity workers and their supporters gathered in celebration of their victory yesterday (November 4) outside SMB headquarters in Hammersmith.

 
Unite regional secretary Peter Kavanagh addressed the crowd, emphasising that their win went beyond the workers’ demands and helped preserve a vital community service.

 
“The job you deliver seven days a week, all through the year, is about mitigating against one of the worst crimes of capitalism – homelessness and despair,” he said.

 
“You work with society’s most vulnerable people, and you are saying to your employer, that you will work with your employer to maintain the dignity of the people you alongside and the people you work for,” he added.