{"id":18345,"date":"2019-06-28T12:41:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T11:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=18345"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:56:03","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:56:03","slug":"housing-association-staff-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=18345","title":{"rendered":"‘Profoundly disturbing’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new survey of housing association workers has revealed an epidemic of work-related stress among staff who feel burned out, undervalued and poorly paid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The survey commissioned by Unite of more than 300 housing association workers found that a strong majority, 62 per cent, reported that their pay had not kept up with the cost of living.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An astonishing 80 per cent said that they had experienced work-related stress in the past year, while nearly half \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 44 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c said they believed their work was bad for their mental health. Almost just as many, 41 per cent, said they felt that they worked for a poorly managed organisation, while 42 per cent reported not feeling valued at work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The publication of the Unite survey comes at a time of ongoing upheaval at housing associations. Unite housing workers branch chairman Paul Kershaw says bosses have ruthlessly pushed through cost-cutting measures at the expense of workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay and conditions, despite organisations regularly booking record surpluses and margins.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Runaway executive pay<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest housing associations, L & Q, for example, has seen their margins rise year on year. They posted a record surplus last year of nearly \u00c2\u0141350m. When their surplus fell this year to \u00c2\u0141190m \u00e2\u20ac\u201c still a record-breaking bumper surplus \u00e2\u20ac\u201c L & Q slashed staff bonuses against a backdrop of year-on-year pay freezes and paltry pay rises.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the same time, executive pay has soared \u00e2\u20ac\u201d L&Q CEO David Montague has seen his pay rise by a massive 74 per cent since 2010 to nearly \u00c2\u0141350,000.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Montague isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the only housing association chief executive who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s raking it in either \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Peabody boss Brendan Sarsfield had an increase of 17 per cent bringing his pay to \u00c2\u0141278,750.\u00c2\u00a0 David Cowans of the giant HA Places for People received a salary of \u00c2\u0141528,870 in 2018 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a rise of 9.8 per cent on the previous year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd the list goes on,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kershaw said, adding that the widening gap between housing association bosses\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and ordinary workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay is stoking anger among the workforce, some of whom are paid as little as \u00c2\u014118,000 a year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An investigation by Inside Housing<\/em><\/a> found that low pay in the sector has fuelled housing problems among social housing workers themselves \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some have even reported homelessness and rough sleeping. The majority of social housing workers spend more than a third of their income on rent alone, with nearly 1 in 10 spending more than half of their income just to keep a roof of their heads.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprised if many housing association workers themselves are in a position where they would struggle to afford housing association rents,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kershaw said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is a sad indictment of the sector that staff are on the one hand trying to help people navigate the housing crisis but on the other hand are facing a housing crisis of their own.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Relentless cost-cutting’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The squeeze on housing association staff pay and conditions has also happened at the same time as workloads have skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bRelentless cost cutting \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or as management calls it \u00e2\u20ac\u0098efficiency savings\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c means in practice having fewer people do more and more work for less pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kershaw explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis has created the conditions for stress and mental ill health to fester in our workplaces.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd when changes are pushed through without consultation, as is often the case, this further fuels the sense of feeling undervalued and working for a mismanaged organisation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bCost cutting also has a detrimental impact on housing association tenants and their local communities. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t provide a good service on the cheap.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany housing associations have sadly moved far away from their commitment to social housing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c executives these days mostly come from a finance background and expect salaries in line with hedge fund managers. They care less and less for the people they are meant to serve and are more concerned about keeping lenders and investors happy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer Siobhan Endean called the results of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s housing association staff survey \u00e2\u20ac\u015bprofoundly disturbing\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe survey shows that members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay and conditions have not kept pace with the cost of living, while job insecurity, poor management and long hours are high on the list of concerns,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is clear workplace stress is at epidemic levels in housing associations and the working environment is damaging the mental wellbeing of staff,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added as she highlighted that poor pay and working conditions often go hand-in-hand with anti-union employers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the other hand, Endean pointed out that staff reporting high levels of satisfaction at work was strongly correlated with working for a union-friendly organisation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Concerted fight’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In response to the survey, Unite is now stepping up its efforts to ensure that its representatives have the tools to tackle stress and mental health problems in the workplace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The union has produced guide for reps to help them challenge employers on workplace issues that cause mental health problems and stress. Reps are also being encouraged to sign up for mental health awareness training.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is imperative that senior management in housing associations takes a long hard look at their organisation and make dramatic changes to alleviate stress and mental health problems,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Endean noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She added that Unite is standing ready to take action against employers who fail to address low pay and poor working conditions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will not allow members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 financial wellbeing to continue to be eroded,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kershaw agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite will convert growing anger into a concerted fight if employers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become considerably more realistic over the next year,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he warned.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out the latest news on Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s housing workers by visiting their branch website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new survey of housing association workers has revealed an epidemic of work-related stress among staff who feel burned out, undervalued and poorly paid.   The survey commissioned by Unite of more than 300 housing association workers found that a strong majority, 62 per cent, reported that their pay had not kept up with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[131,939,404,424],"wps_subtitle":"Survey of housing association staff reveals shocking levels of stress and low morale","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25174,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18345\/revisions\/25174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}