North-west members vote for action over pay

Outsourced cleaners, catering staff, porters and security officers at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital could take strike action later this month after voting for action over pay by 100% in an 83% turn-out.

There are more than 40 of the hospital workers, who are employed by the private company OCS and among the lowest paid staff working in the NHS. The company is not paying NHS pay rates, costing staff up to £2,150 this year alone.

“This is a real injustice that must be addressed,” said UNISON regional organiser Maria Moss after the vote.

“Nobody working in the hospital should be on poverty pay,” she added. “All the staff are part of the NHS team and they should all be paid the agreed NHS rate for the job.

“We raised this matter with OCS back in August and there has been no progress in getting it resolved. OCS staff are very upset about the way they are being treated and they would be wholly justified in taking strike action over this issue.

Also in the north west, care support workers employed by Alternative Futures have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action in a ballot over the employer’s decision to cut back on sleep-in top-up payments. AFG’s existing plans will cost staff as much as £15 for each sleep-in shift.

Some staff work three of these shifts each week and face a cut to their income of more than £2,000 a year.

The union, including representatives of the workforce, is now meeting AFG at ACAS in an effort to resolve the dispute.

“The overwhelming vote for strike action increases the pressure on AFG to resolve this dispute,” says UNISON regional organiser Tim Ellis. “There is tremendous support for the care workers from  service users’ friends and families, and the councils who commission the services.

A ballot of 660 UNISON members saw an 87% vote in favour of striking, in a turnout that met the threshold for lawful industrial action to take place.

UNISON North West

 

The article North-west members vote for action over pay first appeared on the UNISON National site.

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