Update on One Housing Group Dispute: Referrel to ACAS

Some positive news today about the ongoing union dispute over wage cuts and compensation in One Housing Group. 

After a strongly worded request by the majority union UNISON to management, the 15,000 homes landlord and care provider,  One Housing Group has agreed to talks at ACAS "to try and resolve our current union disputes’ and also attempt ‘to improve our overall trade union relations" (Inside Housing) .

To be fair, Unite members who have been on strike for 11 days in recent months on this issue have asked in the past for the dispute to go to ACAS.

I understand that a meeting will take place soon and I hope that a settlement acceptable to all parties can be hammered out. 

See previous posts on dispute and picket line here and here.

(my picture from a past unrelated meeting looking out from the ACAS London office) 

One Housing Group Strike Picket line

During lunch time today I went to show solidarity with other members from my employer at the Unite picket line outside One Housing Group headquarters in Chalk Farm, North London.

It was rather damp from the rain but a very lively and colourful picket line with even its own PA music system.

One Housing Group (click on the label below for the various posts I have made over the years about this organisation) have a surplus (aka "profit" in the housing association world) of £35.8 million this year. Their CEO has taken a £31,000 pay increase while at the same time they are making their front line care and support workers take pay cuts of up to £8,000. One Housing claim that they are being forced to slash wages due to government cuts. I get this - but the pay and privileges of the Senior Management Team remains the same or even increases? Why can't vulnerable low paid staff have decent protections?

They have now had 9 days of strike action and the last day (so far) of strike action will be on Monday 9 September. The picket line is less than 3 minutes walk from Chalk Farm underground station (Northern Line).

Picture of Unite Executive Council member, Kingsley Abrams, speaking to the picket line.  

UNISON REFERS DISPUTE WITH ONE HOUSING GROUP TO ACAS

UNISON is demanding One Housing Group (OHG) agree to formal talks with ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) to resolve the ongoing dispute over their proposals to substantially reduce the pay of many Care and Support staff.

UNISON had a binding agreement with OHG after the majority of members voted in favour of a ‘buy-out’ settlement in return for (reluctantly) accepting the new proposals.  OHG Management has since reneged on this agreement, without consultation, and reduced the settlement figure which has angered our members.

Colin Inniss, UNISON Regional Organiser said “All staff members in OHG deserve better than this.  Relations between the Trade Union side and management have become farcical with the Joint Negotiating Committee no longer fit for purpose.

“To add insult to injury a bonus payment has arbitrarily been given to all staff except those working in frontline Supported Living (the same staff facing drastic reductions in salary).

“If management will not agree to meetings with ACAS as a matter of urgency, UNISON will have no other option other than to begin balloting our members for industrial action.”

For Further information or comment please contact:

UNISON Regional Organiser, Colin Inniss 

C.InnissATunisonDOTcoDOTuk

Notes for Editors

1.    UNISON’s represents over 60,000 members in the Community and Voluntary sector.

2.    UNISON’s Housing Association Branch represents 3,500 members in the Greater London Region and the South East.
 One Housing Group is a major provider of care and support across London and the South East and manages 15,000 properties across, 26 boroughs.

3.    One Housing Group’s net surplus for 2012/13 was £35.8 million.

Ends

One Housing Group Strike - this Wednesday, 19th, Thursday 20th and Friday 21st June London

This week there will be a 3 day strike by Unite care and support workers at One Housing Group in London against plans to cut their wages by up to £8000 per year (averaging £2000).   This according to their press release is at the same time that its Chief Executive accepted a £31,000 increase in pay and bonuses.  One Housing Group is in surplus and is winning new contracts with local authorities.


Due to 3 years of pay freezes staff wages have already been reduced in real terms by 13%. Their new proposed salaries are often lower than rates paid 15 years.

Unite members voted by a margin of 83.7 per cent in favour of strike action.

One Housing are refusing to accept any referral to ACAS.

PICKET LINES FOR ONE HOUSING STRIKE

19th, 20th 21st June 2013

OHG Head Office
100 Chalk Farm Road (next door to The Roundhouse) NW1 8EH Picket Line 8.15-17.30

Lincoln House, Corner of Hertford Road & Lincoln Rd, Ponders End, Enfield, EN3 4AH, Picket Line 8.15-11ish

The Chocolate Factory
Palmer House, 3rd Floor, Unit 304, Clarendon Rd, (off) Coburg Rd, N22 6UJ, Picket Line 8.15-11ish

Arlington House
220 Arlington Road, Camden, NW17HE, Picket Line 7.30 -10.00 ,13.30-15.30 ish

13 A Great Chapel St, W1F 8FL, Picket Line 8.15-11 ish

 2A Agnew Road, London, SE23 1DJ and literally around the corner 20 meters

Honor Lea, 103-117 Brockley Rise, Lewisham, SE23 1JW, Picket Line 7.30-10.30

737 Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, SW17 0PD Picket Line 7.30-10.30

One Housing "defends" the indefensible

This is the 3rd recent post on Housing Association, "One Housing Group". First was in August this year in response to their plans to "Shape Communities" while at the same time slashing the pay and conditions of already low paid care and support staff.

The second was early this month about this post by Cllr Marc Francis, Tower Hamlets Labour Party, on housing blog "Red Brick" about "One Housing" going back on a deal made with residents about them having a majority on their local housing management board. This deal was in return for their support for an estate transfer.

"One Housing" have now come up with a rather silly defence of their action in this "Inside Housing" report. They attack the previous Board, Tory Cllrs and the local Labour MP and appear to claim that residents are just incapable of running housing services.

Which must be a bit of a surprise to the many successful co-operative housing organisations here and abroad. 

This is just an excuse. They could have compromised and still had an effective Residents Board but have chosen not to do so.

No wonder many attack Housing Associations as being unaccountable with poor or non existent governance, run in the interests of the senior management executives and their advisers, not ordinary residents.  This may be unfair to some but thanks to the behaviour of "One Housing" (and others) you can understand why many residents and politicians think so.

"Isle of shattered dreams" ("One" Housing Group)

Check out this post by Cllr Marc Francis Tower Hamlets Labour Party on Housing Group blog "Red Brick". One Housing Group is trying to get out of an undertaking it made to residents and the last government to have resident led "governance" on the management Board of its subsidy "Island Homes" in the Isle of Dogs, East London.

This attempt to back track on promises is the sort of thing that gives the whole housing association movement a bad name amongst ordinary residents and politicians from all political parties. Good governance in many parts of the whole so called "not for profit" sector is frankly non-existent. Residents, clients and individual staff have little or no power and many very large organisations are run by self perpetuating oligarchies with no effective accountability or oversight.

While there is still many cases of good practise there is a huge difference between being "consulted" (but - we are going to do it anyway) to being part of the actual management process. You need people on Boards who have a real long term interest in the organisation since they live its homes, work for it, receive its services or are local elected Councillors. They are the ones who can challenge and ask the difficult questions that are needed to be said.

Huge amounts of public money has been spent on investment in these bodies and despite the cuts will continue to be spent on benefits and social care.  Who is making sure that this money is being well spent and that Housing Associations are being properly run? The Housing Regulator is now pretty toothless and will only step in when organisations have already failed and are going to the wall.

Unless Housing Associations get their act together and reform their governance practises and become more democratic and accountable to their stakeholders then they have in my view no long term future. While the Tories will try and turn them into quoted companies (even more of a disaster) I am sure a Labour government will one day have no choice but to get rid of them.