Branch Secretary : info@housingworkers.org.uk
  

Stop the Rot! Open Meeting

We are demanding an end to frontline cuts and restructures.

 

The Unite Housing Workers Branch has teamed up with the Social Housing Action Campaign, bringing together tenants, residents and workers affected by frontline cuts and restructures.

 

We will plan a collective challenge to the trend of cutting and deskilling neighbourhood teams, with a consequential negative impact on staff and service users.

 

Key speakers include Emma Dent-Coad MP (invited), plus housing reps and tenants from Peabody, Notting Hill Genesis, One Housing Group, Catalyst and others.

 

 

 

Open Meeting

Monday 14th October 2019

6.30pm – 8pm

Unite HQ, 128 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8TN (map)

 

You must register here for your place.

 

In the wake of feverish merger activity, we have observed a worrying rise in cuts and restructures, all with the same outcome:

 

  • Reduced team sizes and extended patches give less time for resolving tenant and resident issues. Unmanageable workloads for staff mean that members are unable to deliver the service properly, and service users wait longer to get a response. It drives up stress and physical and mental health problems all round. 

 

  •  Removal of specialist teams means highly specialist workers, such as those with expertise in domestic violence or anti-social behaviour interventions, are being cut. This work requires intense neighbourhood engagement, leaving little time for routine work. We have seen evidence that removing specialists also jeopardises client data confidentiality.

 

  • Frontline roles are downgraded and thus filled by staff who do not have the necessary skills, training or experience. The increased risk of errors leaves tenants and staff vulnerable.  

 

In a sector with extremely healthy balance sheets, there is no financial justification for this trend. Yet we have seen it emerge in one association after another. It often follows merger activity and takes place under the guise of harmonising services and improving efficiency.

 

Unite members working in multiple housing associations are now working together to challenge the new corporate approach. Together, we can extend our collective power, reaching out to other associations, and their tenants, residents, and service users.

 

Please join us!

 

26 September 2019. 

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