On 14th of April 2022 Stephen Delahunty wrote in inside housing about the insulting pay offer as the members of union ballot for strike getting defended by the association. According to him,
After rejecting a “insulting” 3% wage hike, staff at a housing association in the North East and Yorkshire are being balloted for strike action.
Staff at Thirteen Housing Group rejected the pay offer after a consultative poll, according to Unite the Union, since it comes at a time when the cost of living, as measured by the retail price index (RPI), is currently at 9% and expected to grow.
Workers are being granted an extra day of vacation on their birthdays, according to the union, although it comes at the same time as increased pension contributions.
According to Unite, the combined effect of the planned wage and pension adjustments will cost members of the pension system around £1,000 per year.
The 35,000-home landlord claimed it had provided “the greatest wage and benefits arrangement imaginable” and was sad the union had chosen this path.
Members of Unite are now being polled on whether or not to take industrial action, including a strike. The voting period begins on Tuesday, April 19th, and ends on Thursday, May 5th.
“It is just outrageous that Thirteen Housing Group is asking our members to take a salary cut while paying more money into their pension,” said Mark Sanderson, Unite’s regional co-ordinating officer. Unite will not agree to these plans since they will leave many people out of pocket by £1,000 this year.
“The employer should reconsider and put up a more acceptable offer to our members, who have Unite’s full support in their campaign for a fair contract.” In sum, our members have earned little more than a 2.8 percent wage raise since 2019.”
He was also critical of Ian Wardle’s salary package as the CEO of Thirteen.
Mr Wardle earned £215,000 in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, according to Inside Housing’s 2021 chief executive compensation survey.
“The disparity between his team’s compensation offer for our members is disgusting,” Mr Sanderson stated.
“We’ve offered colleagues the best pay and benefits deal possible – one that is affordable, realistic, and sustainable when weighed against the additional costs we’re seeing as a business due to external factors beyond our control,” a Thirteen spokesperson said, “so it’s disappointing that Unite has decided to pursue this course of action.”
“Our wage raise offer of 3% this year is both generous and practical in contrast to other companies in our industry, and it has been positively received by many employees.”
“We’re also improving several of the perks of working at Thirteen, such as paying apprentices more and increasing pension payouts, which amounts to a 14.8 percent salary increase.”
The organisation stated that it is coping with rising financial difficulties outside its control, and that although rewarding employees for their efforts is important, it also recognises its obligation to customers and colleagues to invest in homes and services.
“We remain dedicated to the negotiation process, and we remain confident that the union would retract its decision to call a poll for industrial action in order to continue talks,” the representative continued.
“We’d also like to reassure customers that we’ll keep services running for them and do everything we can to mitigate any negative effects of potential Unite members’ industrial action.”
Unite also demanded earlier this week that Optivo and Southern Housing Group ensure that no jobs will be lost as a result of their intentions to merge to form a 77,000-home landlord.
The G15’s two landlords have yet to make such a commitment.