Wirral hospitals strike paused as workers win  back pay after lengthy campaign

A strike planned for next week by more than 500 clinical support workers (CSWs) at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been called off after the employer agreed to UNISON’s demand for five years of back pay, says the union today (Friday). The development follows a UNISON campaign over several months, during which workers were on strike for 13 days ahead of the latest offer. The staff are employed at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals. Clinical support workers on band 2 of the NHS’s Agenda for Change pay scale should only provide personal care such as bathing and feeding. However, UNISON says most CSWs at the two hospitals have routinely undertaken clinical tasks, such as taking and monitoring blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas, for many years. According to NHS guidance, staff performing these duties should be on salary band 3, which is nearly £2,000 a year more. Seven health trusts in the North West have already moved these workers to the higher rate and backdated their pay to April 2018. Last month, East Cheshire and Mid Cheshire trusts also agreed to move their staff up to salary band 3 and provide the same back pay. In August, support workers employed on the Wirral became the first in the country to take strike action over this issue. They were due to walk out for a further ten days from Monday (6 November). However, the trust met with a group of clinical support workers and UNISON o...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: News Press release HCArebanding Source Type: news