# Oxfam GB office & retail staff set to strike over pay

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/10/25/oxfam-gb-office-retail-staff-set-to-strike-over-pay/
- Published: 2023-10-25T10:18:08+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Oxfam GB office and retail workers are balloting for strike action for the first
time after rejecting a pay offer.**

[Oxfam](https://www.oxfam.org.uk/) 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.”