St Mungo’s staff on strike earlier this month
A WOMAN has spoken out about the “prison- like” conditions and lack of support at a St Mungo’s homeless hostels that has worsened since the charity’s senior management allowed an “indefinite strike” to drag-on for three months.
She has stayed in the charity’s 53-bedroom mixed hostel in Endell Street, Covent Garden, for the past two years after being in temporary accommodation since 2018.
The union Unite has led homelessness workers at the charity out on strike, warning staff are dangerously stretched and working in horrific conditions in Camden hostels.
They have been calling for a significant pay-rise in a strike that has been going for three months – but this week was rumoured to be under threat of “caving in” with officials calling a vote on whether to accept a pay offer of £1,200 a year.
The Endell Street hostel resident said since the strike there had been “less resources coming in” to the hostel, including a weekly visit from a woman who gave art and cookery courses.
She said: “I do get why they’re striking. I do get the other side of it but at the same time the service users are suffering. We are not given the one-to-one support, which was hard to get anyway.”
She described the building as a “a very hostile environment” where addicts with complex needs struggled to stay clean and could be seen to “degrade” after years of being in there.
She said when she moved into her room, her shower was broken and wasn’t fixed for nine months – and she had to use one on a lower floor.
“I felt vulnerable as I got a lot of unwanted attention from men – unwanted comments and sexual innuendos. So I would lock myself in my room and not shower and not feel happy with myself,” she said.
Last week, a staff member at the charity warned of terrible working conditions in the Endell Street hostel.
A St Mungo’s spokesperson said: “We can’t comment on specifics of what an unnamed client has said. However, St Mungo’s takes the welfare of our clients and the conditions of our accommodation seriously.
“We try to ensure the building is a psychologically informed environment and staff are responsive to resident feedback and we have continued to do this throughout the strike.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
