Oxfam workers have suspended their series of one day strikes taking place this month following talks that “resulted in an improved offer being made”, according to the union Unite.

Almost 500 Unite members at the charity are taking the action, for the first time in the charity’s history, after rejecting a previous pay offer by Oxfam.

The union is concerned over low pay at the charity, especially amid its claims that its reserves of £44.6m in 2022 were “at the very top of the acceptable range the charity has for reserves” of between £35m and £45m.

Unite had also accused Oxfam of “looking at undermining” strike action, claiming it planned to use volunteers to cover striking staff.

The strike action began on Friday 8 December but in a statement issued by Unite it has postponed further strikes between 14 and 17 December “as an act of good faith while Unite ballots its members on the revised offer”.

It adds that “if the pay offer is rejected, strike action will begin again on 20 December. A total of 17 strike days had been scheduled until the end of December.

“Unite has been clear from the outset that this dispute could and should be resolved through negotiations,” said the union’s regional coordinating officer Jamie Major.

“Following talks on Friday, an improved offer was made and therefore Unite has suspended action to allow its members to be balloted on the proposed deal.”

Staff involved in the action work across the charity’s shops, offices and headquarters in Oxford, where workers formed a picket line on 8 December.

Unite said ahead of the first day of action that average wages at Oxfam “have been slashed by 21 per cent in real terms since 2018” adding “this is despite the charity publicly condemning real-terms pay cuts by other employers”.

Amid the strike action on 8 December around three quarters of Oxfam’s 541 shops remained open.

An Oxfam spokesperson said: "We welcome the progress made during talks last week and are pleased that the strike action has been suspended."

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