St Mungo's: Charity staff continue 'poverty wages' strike

St Mungo's staff have been striking for 11 weeks

Workers at a homelessness charity are continuing their strike after rejecting a pay increase of 3.7%.

Employees at St Mungo's, who describe their current pay as "poverty wages", gathered outside the charity's headquarters in central London.

The charity was recently barred at the High Court from recruiting agency staff to fill in for striking workers.

A St Mungo's spokesperson said it was "doing everything" to work with Unite, which represents the striking staff.

The spokesperson added that the charity had "made a new offer aimed at resolving the pay dispute and we will be discussing the detail with Unite representatives over the coming days".

St Mungo's say the new pay offer, which was rejected by United, meant over 90% of staff would have received a pay rise of 7-14%, depending on their salaries.

Unite has warned St Mungo's that it can "no longer rely on agency labour to run a skeleton service while paying dedicated homelessness workers a pittance". It said employees at the charity had been on indefinite strike since 27 June.

Leigh Fontaine says his clients are "on our side and are telling us not to return until we win this dispute"

Leigh Fontaine, a manager at St Mungo's, told the BBC: "I've taken a large financial hit striking but it's an important cause.

"I used to be a St Mungo's client 10 years ago accessing services myself, so for me there's a personal interest in the work we do and difference we can make."

Talking about the financial pressures his team members are facing, Mr Fontaine said: "Never in my four years as a manager have I sat in a supervision with a staff member who is in tears over whether they can afford to eat next week."

He said he had referred colleagues to food banks in recent months.

At the scene

Ayshea Buksh, BBC London

Close to the luxury yachts and the calm waters of St Katharine Docks are the head offices of one of the UK's best-known homeless charities.

St Mungo's has been working with rough sleepers and the homeless for many years, offering them practical support to help them turn their lives around.

Today, many of the people who work directly with the homeless on the streets were outside head office on strike - again - over pay.

Holding placards calling for fairness, blowing whistles and vuvuzelas, St Mungo's staff and their supporters were making a very loud noise - no doubt hoping their bosses on the fifth floor could hear them.

Some of the strikers tell me their colleagues are struggling with the cost of living, while others say they are having difficulties paying their rent - and are themselves at risk of becoming homeless.

On Monday, both sides are due to meet representatives of the Acas negotiation service in the hope of resolving this long-running dispute.

Stuart Curlitt says workers will leave if they aren't paid enough, which will affect the support offered to clients

Stuart Curlitt, an outreach worker at St Mungo's, said: "Our pay has gone down 30% in the last 10 years and senior management pay is up 300% in the same time period.

"We are doing a vital service looking after vulnerable people and sometimes risking our own health."

Mr Curlitt said workers were asking for a 10% pay rise and that what was being offered was "paltry".

Unite told the BBC that the charity's bosses had "failed to make any attempt to improve its pay offer" despite the CEO's pay rising in 2022 to £189,000, a 5% increase on the previous year.

It said St Mungo's had £16m in cash and substantial reserves.

In June, the charity offered staff a pay increase of 2.25%.

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