Maintenance workers at the St Mungo’s homeless charity are going on strike amid claims of "bullying and an anti-union culture".

Twelve Unite members in the property services department will strike from April 22. The department carries out repairs at the charity’s 3,200 units including one in Oxford.

The strike was called after a number of staff grievances against property services senior management were dismissed, said Unite.

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The union said the claims had not been properly investigated and that a workplace rep was now being unfairly subjected to disciplinary proceedings as a result of raising the initial grievance.
 
Unite, which has more than 500 members at St Mungo’s, warned in March that a 'bullying and anti-union culture' among management at the London-based charity needed to be addressed. 
 
St Mungo’s staff staged walk-outs last year in part due to the charity’s use of disciplinary procedures. 

Unite pointed to the targeting of the 44 per cent of workplace reps, who are currently engaged in formal processes concerning their employment, as evidence of an anti-union bias by management. 
   
Unite regional officer Steve O’Donnell said: “At the moment, strike action is contained to one department. But unless there are significant efforts from St Mungo’s management to improve staff relations and halt the targeting of our reps, staff anger could grow to levels that caused mass walk-outs last year. 

“Unite is keen to work with St Mungo’s to resolve this dispute, but that can only be done if management acts on staff concerns and stop targeting union reps.” 

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The charity said it took all allegations of bullying and harassment seriously and had strong policies and procedures to investigate them.

A St Mungo’s spokesperson said: “This year, 90 per cent of our staff who completed an independent survey – which protects the anonymity of those who take part – said they have not experienced bullying or harassment, and since 2013 we have seen a continuous decrease in the proportion of staff who have.

“St Mungo’s recognises both Unite and Unison, and will always work with both of our unions on any issues of concern.”