Unite members at the homelessness charity St Mungo’s started a month-long strike from 30 May with Socialist Party members visiting picket lines across London, as well as in Bristol, Oxford and Brighton.
Workers are on strike over pay, after seeing wages fall while over the last decade the charity has increased its spending on senior managers by 350%.
Pickets, many on strike for the first time, came together in London to rally at St Mungo’s head office. There was a lot of anger about how the charity used its funds. Workers said that there always seems to be money for a new fancy head office, and pay increases for those at the top, but never for the frontline staff supporting clients in difficult conditions and in often understaffed services. In Bristol pickets said that housing workers are so poorly paid in some cases they fear homelessness themselves!
At the rally, Unite national officer Onay Kasab spoke, telling members they have the full support of the union and that members are in control of the dispute. Jeremy Corbyn highlighted his 2019 Labour manifesto and what it would have done to tackle the homelessness and housing crisis.
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