Housing Workers Branch 1/1111
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The Housing Workers Branch (which is part of Unite the Union) is made up of members working for homeless organisations, housing associations, specialist housing providers and umbrella organisations.
Unite which is Britain's biggest trade union, has a combined membership of one and a half million people working in a diverse range of industries, sectors and workplaces.
It was formed after a merger of the Transport & General Workers Union and Amicus in May 2007.
Latest News
Strike At Homeless Charity Centrepoint Called Off
Branch members at homeless charity, Centrepoint - whose patron is Prince William - have settled their dispute and called off planned strike action.The Acas-brokered deal has been accepted by Unite's members. The dispute centred on the loss of pay and proposed compulsory redundancies.
Unite Regional Officer, Matt Smith said: "We are pleased that Centrepoint's management listened to us and stepped back from the brink. We have negotiated the best possible deal for our members under the auspices of the conciliation service, Acas. At our members' union meeting, we received overwhelming support for the recommended offer. We believe this was the best deal possible we could have achieved for our members working for this iconic charity."
The main points of agreement include a "no compulsory" redundancy policy; an agreed job restructuring policy; a five per cent reduction in salaries, capped for 15 months, raising to no more than a 10 per cent after that date; and confirmation of a 37.5 hour week. Centrepoint management's original plans were to increase the working week to 40 hours; make 34 redundancies; and cut some employees' salaries between 15- 36 per cent.
In September, Unite members voted overwhelmingly for strike action. However, Centrepoint called in top international law firm, Eversheds to halt the proposed strike on legal technicalities contained in the UK's tough industrial relations legislation.
Unite then re-balloted its members who voted by 55 per cent to 45 per cent for strike action this month.
