Oxfam GB office & retail staff set to strike over pay
Melanie May | 25 October 2023 | News
Oxfam GB office and retail workers are balloting for strike action for the first time after rejecting a pay offer.
Oxfam has made a pay offer of £1,750 or 6% (whichever is higher), plus a one-off payment of £1,000. However, according to Unite, most Oxfam GB office and retail workers earn little more than the minimum wage, and average wages at Oxfam have fallen by 21% in real terms since 2018.
The union’s members rejected the offer by 79% in a ballot. In response, Unite will ballot its members for strike action from 26 October to 16 November.
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A recent survey of nearly 150 Oxfam workers found that in the last year: 8% had used foodbanks, 22% had not been able to pay their rent and 34% have had to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families.
Oxfam’s total income for 2022 was £373 million, 86% of the pre-pandemic level of £434 million, and in 2022, Oxfam had a surplus of £44.6 million.
Commenting, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:
“Oxfam’s hypocrisy is astounding. This is a charity in robust financial health that makes much of belonging to the Ethical Trading Initiative and bestowing the virtues of unions to lift workers out of poverty.
“Meanwhile, Oxfam’s own staff are on poverty pay, with some using foodbanks and unable to pay their rent. How can its leadership possibly justify ignoring its workers’ demands to be paid fairly and blocking their union?
“Oxfam can well afford to pay a reasonable rise without the slightest impact on its operations here or abroad.”
Oxfam offer and response
Oxfam is offering a minimum salary increase of 6% or £1,750 (whichever is higher), for all UK-based colleagues who started before December 2022. All staff below the highest two pay grades will get an additional one-off payment of £1,000 (pro-rata for part-time staff). It says that when adjustments to its pay ranges are taken into account, the average salary increase as a result of this offer will be 7.7%.
Oxfam also says it is committed to paying a Living Wage, as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. This has been £10.90 per hour (£11.95 per hour for employees based in London Boroughs) since May 2023 although due to the cost-of-living increases, Oxfam introduced these new rates five months earlier, from 1 November 2022.
An Oxfam GB spokesperson said:
“As a real living wage employer and an organisation committed to tackling poverty, Oxfam is acutely aware of the impact of the rising cost of living on colleagues and addressing that is a priority for us. That is why we chose to bring forward pay increases for lower paid colleagues and why we have ensured that these colleagues will have received a real terms pay increase over the past 12 months.
“We believe this pay award is fair and it is at the limit of what Oxfam can afford without taking vital resources away from our work fighting poverty with communities around the world. Colleagues understand that we face limited resources and tough choices and we hope they will recognise that when casting their ballot.
“We value the work of our trade unions and would much rather have reached agreement with Unite but what they are asking for is simply not affordable at a time when many of the communities we work with are also facing sharply rising costs.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.