Unison Members at St Monica strike again over pay disputes

Unison members from St Monica Trust took industrial action earlier in the year too

Unionised staff members at St Monica Trust care home and sheltered housing charity are taking part in further strikes over an ongoing dispute.

Carers from two sites in Westbury-on-Trym and North Somerset will participate in a 48 hour strike over contract changes and pay cuts.

It is expected some 96 union members will join the strike from 07:00 BST.

Unison members went on strike for five days in July, making this their seventh day of industrial walk-outs in 2022.

"The strike is about the employer's attempt to impose changes to their care staff's employment contracts, including cuts to pay, working hours, sick pay, and evening and weekend enhancement rates," a Unison spokesperson said.

The union claimed the trust had refused to engage with union talks in April, which it said meant they had been unable to call off the strike action.

The spokesperson added: "Many staff don't know if they'll be able to feed their families as the cost-of-living crisis bites.

"Slashing wages and threatening employees is not the way to keep experienced, committed workers."

St Monica Trust said all care home colleagues would be guaranteed two years' pay protection, leaving no-one worse off.

It would also increase basic pay on 1 September for the second time in 12 months, meaning those who work in traditionally lower paid roles in the care sector would have had an increase in basic pay in 2022 of more than 15%.

St Monica Trust staff will strike for 48 hours from 07:00 BST

Unison has asked the trust to put an end to the "fire and rehire" culture, claiming that was placing pressure on staff to sign a new contract.

A staff member* from St Monica Trust, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC News that after working there for more than a decade, the recent changes had prompted him to join a union.

He* said: "I felt like I needed a proper voice. Everything I once valued seems to have eroded."

St Monica Trust said the climate of the post-pandemic UK health and social care sector had caused them to make changes to how the charity was run.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for the trust said: "The care home restructure aims to deliver consistency in the ways of working across all of the Trust's care homes, improve recruitment and attract new workers into the social care sector.

"This will also help fulfil our ongoing commitment for the St Monica Trust to be a real living-wage employer, while offering a package of enhancements that exceed the industry standards for the health and social care sector."