Shelter workers to stage two-day strike over pay » Housing » 24dash.com

Workers at housing charity Shelter are to stage a two-day strike in a long-running row over pay, it was announced today.

Members of Unite working for Shelter in England and Scotland will take action next Thursday and Friday (April 24 and 25) after the union said months of negotiations had proved "fruitless".

Unite official Alan Scott said: "Sadly, our members feel that they have no other option but to take further strike action. They are frustrated that this seems to be the only way to communicate the depth of their frustration over management's insistence that their pay and terms must alter for the worse.

"One of the main causes of this dispute is the way the Legal Service Commission funds voluntary sector organisations. The LSC's strict conditions are causing major headaches for charities and having a serious negative impact on workers such as the skilled staff at Shelter.

"We therefore urge the LSC to modify their funding structure, enabling this dispute to be brought to a satisfactory conclusion, and safeguarding essential service provision to vulnerable people."

Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said the charity had made a "final" offer, adding: "We hope the union will reconsider its position and we can move our working relationship forwards."

Mr Sampson said only one in five workers had voted to strike, which he believed was not a legitimate mandate for industrial action.

"In the interests of our service users and the whole organisation the dispute should now be concluded."

The workers have taken two previous days of strike action amid union claims that they were being forced to sign new employment contracts.