Around 150 workers are expected to stage a protest outside St Mungo’s London headquarters at midday today (29 January), timed to coincide with planned talks between union representatives and the charity’s management at conciliation service ACAS.

The protest is being staged by Unite the union, amid a two-year dispute over pay that involves 500 union members at the homelessness charity.

The union members are currently striking indefinitely, with Unite saying it has boosted its membership among charity workers by a further 300 amid the dispute.

Today’s protest is set to focus on “wage disparity” at the charity, according to the union, which says chief executive pay stands at £189,000 a year while “the lowest paid workers get just £20,000”. It has also labelled the charity’s base as “corporate style headquarters”.

The meeting at ACAS today follows a break down in talks last week, amid allegations that St Mungo’s chief executive Emma Haddad lost her temper and shouted at workers. The charity has confirmed it is taking the allegations “seriously in line with our existing procedures”.

“Unite members are taking a stand against the corporatisation of this charity,” said the union’s general secretary Sharon Graham.

“Inside St Mungo’s corporate style headquarters the numbers of senior managers grow and so does their pay.

“Meanwhile, the people on the frontline doing the real work, supporting the homeless, are struggling to pay the rent. The talks at ACAS are a window of opportunity to end this indefinite strike.

“The management don’t have to perform miracles as told in the tales of St Mungo, they just have to negotiate a fair pay deal for their loyal and dedicated workers.”

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