Top 10 Scrooge bosses of the year - Hestia

This year throughout the festive period, UniteLive will highlight our top ten worst bosses of the year – employers so miserly and mean that they’d put Scrooge himself to shame.

Today we look at bosses at a company called Hestia, a referral service which provides adult services in Hounslow in London.

Hestia’s workers, who provide support for people ranging from mental health support, addiction, immigration and language barrier support, carry out an absolutely vital service for vulnerable people in Hounslow.

But Hestia staff, Unite members, have had their good work treated with utter contempt by their bosses, who have failed to the give them a decent pay rise.

Hestia management are refusing to negotiate with Unite over a cost of living pay increase and the provision of adequate travel expenses.

And in another move that would make Scrooge proud, bosses have outrageously threatened Unite members with disciplinary action if they discuss pay with colleagues during work.

Staff say the charity is also refusing to address understaffing and imposing unrealistic changes in working practices which will make it near impossible to provide the important services that at risk Hounslow residents desperately need. This is despite the referral service receiving an increase in funding from the local authority.

But Hestia staff aren’t prepared to let their bosses get away with such callousness – they took two days of strike action earlier this month, with more planned. These were the first ever strikes Hestia staff took in the charity’s 50-year history.

Commenting, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Hestia management are running this important service into the ground. They’re ignoring dangerous understaffing and low pay. They must acknowledge this now and have meaningful negotiations with the union. These workers have Unite’s full support.”

By Unitelive team