Brighton workers strike over pay (From The Argus)

Brighton workers strike over pay

5:28pm Wednesday 19th August 2009

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Dozens of homeless service workers went on strike over pay cuts.

About 40 staff from Brighton Housing Trust and their supporters staged a rally outside its headquarters in London Road this morning before marching to Brighton Town Hall in Bartholomew Square.

They were protesting about the trust issuing new contracts which include longer working hours and pay cuts of up to £4,000 for some.

Alex Knutsen, branch secretary of trade union Unison, whose members staged the strike, said alternatives had been put forward but were rejected by the trust.

Brighton Housing Trust chief executive Andy Winter said it had been forced to cut its budget because its funding had been hit by the recession.

He said: "We were faced with either making redundancies, reducing services or doing this. It is not something we want to be doing, I know this affects people's lives, but I think it is better than leaving people without jobs."

Unison has demanded a reopening of negotiations.

Mr Winter said: "It is too late now. We've held consultations with the unions since we announced this last November. It is a done deal now."

Only seven staff have not signed the new contracts, which also gave some pay rises. Mr Winter said only a handful faced cuts of more than £4,000, which left them with salaries which were still competitive with equivalent employers.

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