Southwark Council housing repair workers will conduct a series of strikes after rejecting the government’s national pay offer – prompting fears of “chaos” for tenants and leaseholders.
Out of 130 housing repair workers, who are responsible for tackling issues like mould, damp and leaks, 120 are expected to down tools for 24 hours on September 25 and October 2, 9 and 16.
The strikes are another blow to Southwark’s housing department, which was today singled out by the Housing Ombudsman for failing to handle residents’ complaints.
The Tenants’ and Residents’ Association (TRA) chair of one of Southwark’s biggest housing estates warned the disruption could mean “chaos” for residents.
In a bid to restore tenants’ faith in the housing system, Southwark Council recently announced plans to revamp its housing repairs system, including a pledge to answer complaints within ten days.
Southwark Council announces plan to fix its housing repairs service
Speaking ahead of the strikes, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members provide critical frontline council services. Despite the essential roles they undertake, their employer thinks it is acceptable to propose what amounts to yet another real terms pay cut, at a time when they increasingly can’t make ends meet.”
Southwark Council’s housing repair workers are being offered a flat increase of £1,925. With inflation currently at 6.8 per cent, that’s a below-inflation pay rise for those earning more than £28,308.82.
Salaries for council workers are recommended by the Local Government Association, the national membership body for local authorities in England and Wales.
However, local councils are not legally bound by the recommendation and can choose to pay employees more if they wish.
Cllr Stephanie Cryan, the council’s cabinet member for finance said Southwark had “respect” for the strikes but did not indicate the council would improve workers’ pay.
Instead, she said the council hoped pay negotiations between the LGA and union members could be resolved.
She said: “We recognise the impact that the cost of living crisis has had on many of our staff and respect their right to strike action.
“Strike action is very often the action of last resort and is seen as the only way forward for some. We hope negotiations can be resolved swiftly and positively for our staff in these services.”
Tenants and leaseholders, many of whom already say Southwark’s repair service is inadequate, will fear that 96 hours of strikes will only make things worse.
Lara Daniel, TRA Chair on Dulwich’s Kingswood Estate, which contains 733 households, said: “It’s going to cause more anguish for people. It will be chaos, more despair.
“The jobs which have already been booked in are going to be delayed which is going to impact people’s mental health.”
She expressed disappointment that she hadn’t received any communication from the council about the strikes.
Cllr Stephanie Cryan said: “We expect some disruption to services, but will do everything we can to limit the impact on residents.”
Earlier this year, some families’ homes became so severely riddled with damp and mould that schoolchildren marched on the council’s offices to demand improvements to the repairs system.
‘Mould is making us sick’: Southwark school students demand a stop to insufferable living conditions
On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, a damning Ombudsman report found that Southwark Council was failing to properly handle resident’s complaints.
“The landlord often…disputed timescales responding to complaints, despite evidence showing its position was incorrect,” the report said.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove recently said he was “appalled” by Southwark Council’s complaints handling.
Southwark Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain said: “Southwark has been singled out as one of, if not the, worst landlords for responding to residents’ complaints.
“People coming to the council with very serious housing issues are being treated with utter contempt. Criticism of Labour’s record on housing in Southwark is getting louder every month.”
Michael Gove ‘appalled’ by Southwark Council’s poor response to housing complaints
Responding to the Ombudsman’s latest findings, Council Leader Kieron Williams said: “We take full responsibility for the things that went wrong and will continue to work with residents to improve our services.
“That job would be greatly helped if the government stopped reducing the money we have to spend on our housing services.
“Decisions made by government ministers have taken hundreds of millions of pounds out of the funds councils have to maintain our tenants’ homes.
“Yes we need to get things right, and we are working hard to do that, but the government need to play their part too.”
On September 12, Southwark Council pledged to improve its housing repairs service.
The action plan included promises to answer calls within five minutes, give vulnerable residents priority support and recruit dedicated neighbourhood repair managers.
Southwark Council brought its repairs service in-house in 2018 and has admitted centralising the service hadn’t resulted in “as much progress as we wanted”.