Shelter management accused of spreading misinformation as strike at charity enters second week

Workers asking “Where’s Polly” as highly remunerated chief executive absent from dispute

Workers at Shelter, who are entering the second week of an unprecedented two week strike over pay, have accused the charity’s senior management of deliberately spreading misinformation.

The 600 of members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, began strike action on Monday 5 December, after Shelter’s management refused to continue talks at conciliation service Acas.

The dispute is a result of Shelter’s management imposing a three per cent pay increase in 2022. This has left many of its own staff being unable to pay their rent and haunted by the threat of being made homeless. Unite is seeking a flat rate £2,100 consolidated (permanent) increase for all staff for 2022.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is appalling that staff dedicated to helping others with housing problems now find themselves unable to pay their rent. What a paradox – the workers who help the homeless are haunted by homelessness themselves.

“Unite is entirely focussed on defending our members jobs, pay and conditions and the workers at Shelter will continue to receive Unite’s complete support.”

Despite the unprecedented strike action, Shelter chief executive Polly Neate, who is paid a highly lucrative £135,000, has not been involved in any of the pay negotiations.

Although it was Shelter that refused to continue Acas talks, management has issued deliberate misinformation to staff and MPs, claiming that it was Unite who had walked away from talks and that the union was seeking a 10 per cent pay increase.

During the Acas talks on Thursday 1 December, management refused to increase the pay offer for 2022. Instead they proposed a pay increase of four per cent for 2023/24, with no further pay increase for staff until April 2024. This amounts to a further substantial pay cut of at least 10 per cent for its staff.

The total proposed pay cut to Shelter’s staff over two years amounts to 21 per cent.

Unite believes that Shelter is fully able to make a fair pay offer. Its reserves last year stood at around £14.5 million, substantially higher than its target reserves of £8.9 million.

Unite regional officer Peter Storey said: “Shelter’s senior management are guilty of spreading deliberate misinformation to staff and MPs. In the midst of management spreading untruths, our members are asking where’s Polly? Shelter’s chief executive has been absent from all negotiations.

“Shelter needs to stop laying a trail of misinformation and instead make an offer that meets members’ expectations and which will resolve the dispute.”

The current dispute ends on Sunday 18 December.