Hundreds of homelessness charity staff begin 2-week strike in UK

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) – More than 600 staff at the UK's housing and homelessness charity Shelter began a two-week strike on Monday over a pay dispute.

The Shelter staff are staging the strike action as they are offered a 3% pay rise while they are struggling to pay their own rent.

In a video posted on Twitter, the Unite union said that Shelter’s workers are offered a 3% pay rise and "... those working for a housing charity shouldn't be experiencing housing insecurity as a result of being unable to pay rent."

On Nov. 10, 85% of Shelter staff voted in favor of an industrial action between Dec. 5 and 18 in response to the charity's management attempting to impose a real-terms pay cut on its staff.

"Shelter’s workers are absolutely dedicated to the organisation but they have been forced to take strike action as management refused to listen and understand their financial plight," Unite head Sharon Graham earlier said.

Additionally, Unite said that Shelter’s reserves last year stood at about £14.5 million ($331.8 million), substantially higher than its target reserves of £8.9m, and that it was "fully able to make a fair pay offer," according to a Guardian report.