More than 600 employees at housing and homelessness charity Shelter have accepted a 7% pay offer, ending a long-running pay dispute.
The workers, who are members of trade union Unite, took part in a fortnight of strike action in London, Blackburn, Norwich, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Newcastle, Sheffield and Scotland, starting on Monday 5 December. This followed an initial 3% pay rise offer from their employer.
During the strike action, talks with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) took place and an improved pay offer of 7%, along with a one-off payment of £1,250 for each worker, was made. Following a ballot of members, this was accepted.
Tim Gutteridge, director of finance and strategy enablement at Shelter, said: “We are pleased that, after reaching an agreement with the union, members of the union have voted to accept the pay offer, and the dispute has been resolved.”
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, added: “This was a significant result; our members were prepared to stand together in unity and by doing so were able to secure a greatly improved pay increase. This is further proof of how Unite’s unflinching focus on jobs, pay and conditions is delivering substantial financial benefits for its members.”