Unite housing workers branch member
Sanctuary Housing Association London maintenance workers are on strike again, and although there are hopes of a breakthrough due to management agreeing to attend talks at ACAS, workers have been angered by management announcing that they intend to scrap the retention bonus of £500 per year.
This amounts to what many workers describe as 1.5% of their salary, which made previous pay offers more palatable. Having removed this bonus, workers both in London and elsewhere are reacting with fury.
This could lead to more workers joining the ballot for strike action. Workers in London are reaching out to other maintenance staff throughout the UK and calling on Unite the Union nationally to organise a petition demanding that Sanctuary reverse its appalling decision.
Sanctuary’s announcement was communicated via video. Management stated that this bonus was no longer necessary as recruitment problems had eased post Covid. This completely ignores the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.
One Sanctuary rep said: “This is an appalling decision and shows how out of touch with staff Sanctuary is. It demonstrates further why we need a union and for Sanctuary to recognise us.”
Another responded to management’s decision by saying: “This feels like management sticking two fingers up to workers who held the fort when things were bad during Covid. They then make it worse by pretending that the decision was done with the consent of the staff council, which it was not.
“It shows the need for workers to have an independent voice. That voice should be Unite and it further vindicates our decision to take strike action.”
