One Housing Group staff campaign for £1000 corona bonus
2% increase looks like insult
Unite members at One Housing Group (OHG) are campaigning for every member of staff to receive a Corona Bonus of £1000. Many OHG staff have worked throughout lockdown and have risked their lives in doing so. Staff have been praised by the employer for their efforts during the current crisis but the paltry pay settlement of 2% for 2020 shows how the employer really values worker's efforts. This now looks like an insult.
London Living Wage still not paid
To make matters worse many of the concierges were promised the London Living Wage as this was a lot more than 2% (far from demonstrating OHG's generosity this shows how poorly paid these workers were before and they deserved the 2% on top!). It is a scandal that these front-line workers are still waiting for their pay rise to date despite complaints to management. Unite is raising this matter separately. The corporate plan refers to “improving the offer to our employees so that we can continue to recruit and retain talented and committed people - for example by reviewing salaries regularly and achieving the London Living Wage.” Now it is time to put that in to practice.
Do the right thing
OHG proudly boast on their website, "we don't do the easy thing, we do the right thing". Many other employers such as Marks and Spencer, Lidl and Aldi have offered bonuses of up to 12%, Centrepoint have offered their workers £750 so OHG should now "do the right thing" which is to reward their staff with a real show of appreciation and pay the £1000!
June 19th 2020