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RSH and ombudsman staff announce co-ordinated week-long strike action in dispute over pay and workloads
Hundreds of union members at the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) will begin a week-long strike next week.
Unite union members at the RSH were balloted about the industrial action in March and will begin their co-ordinated protests on Monday 19 June.
The union, which represents hundreds of workers across both organisations, said the decision had been taken as neither group had yet been formally offered a pay increase.
Both employers have said that they will not pay above the Treasury’s figure of a 4.5% pay increase for the current year. This is despite inflation according to the Retail Price Index (RPI) running at 11.4%.
Unite said this amounts to “a substantial real-terms pay cut”, which follows a 2% pay increase last year, which it said was also a real-terms wage reduction.
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The workers at both organisations have reported a huge increase in workload and an expansion in work as a result of new regulations coming into effect.
Workers report that they are being required to undertake two jobs, continuing their existing workload and also training and mentoring new starters.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “Our members play a critical role in resolving disputes and ensuring the highest standards in social housing. It is unforgivable that they are facing yet another real-term pay cut, when the employers here clearly can afford to commit to a fair pay rise.
“Unite is now entirely focused on the jobs, pay and conditions of its members. The workers at the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing will receive the union’s complete and unstinting support.”
Unite said that both organisations have substantial reserves but are declining to use them on increasing wages, claiming that to do so would result in them being required to submit “a qualified audit”.
In response, an RSH spokesperson said: “Unite is one of the unions representing RSH staff, and we are aware of the planned industrial action by its members in relation to RSH’s 2022 pay award. We are putting plans in place to ensure our key regulatory services continue to operate during this period.
“As a government arm’s-length body, we must set our pay within the civil service limits, and our 2022 average pay award of 3% is in line with those limits and consistent with other arm’s-length bodies and government departments.
“The government recently announced that organisations covered by those limits could make an additional one-off £1,500 payment to most staff and we expect to pay this shortly. We are aware of the pressures facing all our staff and we continue to offer support where we are able to during this challenging time.”
A Housing Ombudsman spokesperson said: “The amount we can increase salaries by each year is dictated by the annual Cabinet Office Civil Service Pay Guidance. We are obliged to follow this guidance and, to date, have always paid the maximum amount possible.
“We are continuing to engage with the union and hope to reach a satisfactory agreement soon. We are putting plans in place to ensure key services continue to operate during this period.”
