Oxfam shop and office workers strike for first time

Hundreds of Oxfam shop and office workers are striking for the first time in the charity’s 81-year history.

Unite union members rejected a pay offer in last ditch talks and will strike for 17 days over Christmas.

The union says workers, squeezed by cost of living pressures, deserve more of the charity’s funds.

Oxfam said it understood workers’ frustrations, but that its reserves had fallen, and it needed to keep back funds to weather financial shocks.

Unite said the strike of nearly 500 workers will affect 200 shops.

The union said average wages at Oxfam have fallen by more than a fifth, in real terms, since 2018.

It said by contrast, Oxfam’s reserves swelled to £44.6m in 2022.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said “Oxfam is an extremely wealthy organisation and can afford to put forward an acceptable offer” without hitting its charity work.

“Oxfam wants to end poverty and says it is on the side of unions. Yet its own workers report having to use foodbanks,” she said.

The union also accused Oxfam of “undermining the strike” by asking volunteers to work.

In November, Unite members rejected a pay offer of £1,750 or a 6% rise, and a one-off payment of £1,000 for the lowest earners, instead opting to strike.

Oxfam and Unite had been engaged in last-ditch discussions, but on Thursday the union said the strikes will go ahead.

Industrial action will take place on 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 December.

Oxfam said it was doing what it could to ease financial pressures on workers “within the limits of the resources we have available”.

A spokesperson said the charity “chose to bring forward paying the latest real living wage increases, and prioritised lower paid colleagues in this year’s award”.

Oxfam has a collective bargaining agreement with two unions: Unite, and the Independent Oxfam Union (IOU).

It said it had managed to reach an agreement with IOU, but not Unite.

It added that its reserves have fallen since 2022, and are “currently at the lower end of what is necessary to allow Oxfam to weather future financial shocks”.

The charity said it expected this situation to continue for the next few years.

Oxfam added that it was “normal practice for volunteers to keep shops open in the absence of managers, where this is practical,” as it allowed fund-raising to continue.

“Where volunteers are comfortable to do so, we will follow our usual procedure during strike action,” a spokesperson said.

“Our priority is the wellbeing of all those who work and volunteer with us and we will not ask volunteers to take on any work they are not comfortable with.”