A CARLISLE charity shop has confirmed that it will be closed sporadically during the next four months over a pay dispute. 

Hundreds of Oxfam workers launched a wave of strikes from Friday, December 8 for the first time in the charity’s history in a dispute over pay.

Carlisle's Oxfam bookshop, located at 22 Bank Street, was closed on Friday and confirmed its plans to shut on some days in December, January, February and March via posters in the shop window.

The union says average wages have been cut by 21 per cent in real terms since 2018.

The workers voted by 83 per cent in favour of strike action in a ballot with an 82 per cent turnout after they rejected a pay offer of £1,750 or 6 per cent, whichever is higher, plus a one-off payment of £1,000 for the lowest earners, said Unite.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Oxfam wants to end poverty and says it is on the side of unions.

"Yet its own workers report having to use food banks, it refuses to engage with the only union representing its workforce and it is considering using unpaid labour to break a strike.

“This is rank hypocrisy from an organisation that should know better. Oxfam is an extremely wealthy organisation and can afford to put forward an acceptable offer without impacting its charity work in the slightest.

"Its workers have their union’s total and unflinching support as they strike to make sure that happens.”

An Oxfam spokesperson said: “While we are disappointed that tomorrow’s strike is going ahead, we do understand the frustration of colleagues who are facing a steeply rising cost of living.

“We are proud to be a Real Living Wage employer and are doing what we can to address colleagues’ concerns within the limits of the resources we have available.

"Communities we work with to fight poverty are also facing rising costs, so our resources are stretched but we are committed to finding a solution.

"We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption and to support all colleagues – those on strike and those who are working – through this period."