The three-day strike planned by Unite members at Shelter has been averted at the eleventh hour after the charity’s management made a fresh pay offer.

Up to 300 of the charity’s 1,300 employees had voted to walk out for three days from today, with action affecting offices in London, Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester and Bristol.  During last week’s ballot just over two-thirds of those who voted opted to strike, according to Unite.

The union had warned its members that the changes proposed by management could lead to pay cuts of up to £5,000 for new starters and £3,000 for existing staff.

But the strike was called off yesterday afternoon after the management offered a new pay deal which, according to the union, includes higher rates for new starters and the withdrawal of an unpopular proposal top review existing staff pay in 2015.

Staff will be balloted on the new offer shortly.
Peter Storey, Unite’ regional officer, said the new deal represented a “significant improvement” on previous offers.

Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb (pictured) said in a statement: “Both sides have been working up to the wire to try to avert this week’s strike action and are delighted that the efforts made on all sides have proved successful.  We very much hope that union members will respond positively to the new offer now on the table.  

“We have more people coming to us for help than ever before at a time when we are facing greater competition for donations and cuts to government funding for services. Therefore we increasingly face a simple but awful choice: continue to pay some new jobs above the typical salary, as we do currently, and face cutting some of our services and making some roles redundant, or pay the median salaries for new staff and maintain the number of people we are able to help.

“Decisions on these issues are tough and not ones any of us wants to make. Along with the package of measures we were able to agree with the union, we were also pleased to reaffirm that we have no plans to review the pay rates of existing staff.

“Christmas is a crucial time of year for us, both in supporting people facing homelessness and raising the money to fund that support. We are delighted that as an organisation we can now ensure we are all fully focused on this vital work as we approach the festive season. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank those involved for the way these difficult discussions have been handled – that staff have respected each other’s views and remembered that whatever happens we share the same mission to end homelessness and bad housing is a great credit to the organisation.”