Hundreds of staff at the Housing Corporation, the government's housing agency, are to go on strike next Monday over pay, as relations between staff and management reach a new low.
Union representatives confirmed today that the 24-hour strike will go ahead after a 77% vote by union members in favour of the action. They are also planning a 48-hour strike to start on the March 24.
Most of the corporation's 400 members of both Unison and Amicus are expected to take part. Work at both the corporation's London headquarters and its eight regional offices is expected to grind to a virtual halt.
The staff are unhappy with last year's overall pay award of 4% and an increase in the cost of living allowance of 2.7%.
The walkout was called after negotiations with management broke down. A similar one-day strike was averted last April after 11th hour negotiations.
The new strike indicates the scale of the problems that the corporation's new chief executive, Jon Rouse, will face when he takes over part-time in April and full-time in June.
The vote to walk out comes after a damning staff survey revealed the extent of frontline discontent at the agency.
The survey, which was completed by 330 staff, found that 91% felt the corporation did not listen sufficiently to the views of staff.
It also found that 79% were unhappy with the increased cost of living allowance and an increase in performance related pay of 1.3%.
Last year senior management at the agency, including the current chief executive Norman Perry, received bonuses of 12%. Similar increases are understood to have occurred this year.
The poll, which was carried out in December, found that 97% thought the bonuses were either 'not at all justified' or 'too high' given management's performance.
It also revealed the extent of discontent over the management's handling of a troubled project to outsource the corporation's information technology. Of those that responded 96% said they had no confidence in the handling of the contract.
The contract to introduce a new operating system has been delayed for months as staff struggle almost daily with IT problems.
In a statement, the corporation said: "We are very disappointed that the union members are being asked to take part in this pointless strike."
It added: "This [pay] package was at the limit of what we could afford and that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister would accept. It is also one that the trade unions felt they could accept back in August. There is no more money available for pay this year."
The statement said those who actually voted to strike represented 20% of the total workforce.
On the staff survey the corporation dismissed it as "one sided" and claimed it made inaccurate suggestions.
"We take the views of our staff very seriously and while the pay of senior staff is always likely to be an emotive issue in the context of failed pay negotiations, the message that senior staff received pay rises in excess of the uplift made to other staff is incorrect," the corporation said.
"We cannot be complacent or ignore the results but they do belie the positive working relationship we work hard to engender on a day-to-day basis with nearly 600 staff," it added.
