Hundreds of staff at Shelter will go on strike next month, Unite the Union has announced.
More than 500 staff at the housing and homelessness charity plan to strike for two weeks in December, in the latest escalation of a pay dispute.
Unite said the charity’s existing offer represented a “huge real-terms pay cut” for employees. Shelter said it was “trying to support colleagues” during the cost-of-living crisis.
Staff will strike from 5-18 December, the union said, which it admitted would create “substantial disruption” to Shelter’s housing services.
The timetable comes days after Unite confirmed that its members at Shelter had voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action.
The charity has offered staff a 3 per cent pay rise as well as a one-off £1,500 payment, but the union said the charity had been “arrogant and high-handed” during negotiations.
Unite argued that higher pay was essential at a time when inflation was more than 10 per cent, and said increases could be funded using Shelter’s reserves, which stand at £14.7m.
Peter Storey, regional officer for Unite, said: “Strike action will inevitably cause substantial disruption to the services that Shelter provides.
“However, the organisation has created this dispute through the arrogant and high-handed manner in which it has treated its loyal workers.”
Tim Gutteridge, director of finance and strategy enablement at Shelter, said: “Industrial action is not the outcome we wanted, but we fully respect people’s right to strike.
“Some of our services and shops will be impacted when industrial action takes place, but we will make every effort during this very busy time of year to continue to serve those most in need of our help.
“Regrettably the cost-of-living crisis is impacting both our colleagues and operational costs, and we are doing what we can to navigate these challenging economic times.
“This year, we gave all staff a three per cent consolidated pay increase, as well as a one-off payment of £1,500. As a result, non-management staff are receiving an increase this year of between 8 per cent and 12.3 per cent.”