Unite strike puts homeless at risk, charity warns

THE chief executive of Britain’s biggest homeless charity has accused Len McCluskey, the hard-Left union leader, of trying to seize control through a strike that could force hostels to shut.

Unite staff will go on a three-day strike at the St Mungo’s homeless charity in a bitter dispute that staff claim “puts vulnerable lives at risk”.

The charity has warned that hostels may have to shut during the strike, which begins on March 16, forcing ill people on to the streets in cold weather.

Unite is targeting the charitable sector with the RSPCA and the Peabody Trust housing association also facing industrial action.

Howard Sinclair, St Mungo’s chief executive, has written to Mr McCluskey, Unite’s general secretary, pleading for at least emergency cover.

Unite has refused to make any such guarantee.

Mr Sinclair points out that Unite is promising that animals will remain cared for during the RSPCA strike but makes no such pledge for homeless people.

Mr Sinclair writes: “I am asking [for] a similar guarantee to protect the interests of some of the most vulnerable people in our society ... Unite has set its sights on a homelessness charity. If I cannot guarantee the welfare of our clients ... I would have to give in to the strike or shut the doors of hostels.”

St Mungo’s provides beds each night for 2,850 homeless people, in 120 hostels. Its annual turnover is £112million.

It has accused Unite of opposing changes to how teams are staffed.

Unite has demanded Mr Sinclair, who has run St Mungo’s since 2014, quit immediately. It says it is trying to protect job security and reinstate a “junior staffing cap agreement” that was “torn up” by the homeless charity.

Tabusam Ahmed, Unite regional officer, said: “This strike isn’t about money, it’s about protecting jobs and defending the safety and high-quality services our members deliver.”