Outsourced NHS staff in Blackpool and St Helens strike over pay and conditions    

Staff employed by the private contractor Compass who work at Blackpool NHS Teaching Hospitals, St Helens Hospital and Whiston Hospital are striking today (Wednesday). The move is in protest at their employer’s failure to match NHS pay rates and working conditions, says UNISON. Hospital cleaners, caterers, porters, receptionists and security workers are among almost 300 employees affected. Most of the outsourced Compass staff involved are only paid the minimum wage rate of £8.21 an hour, yet they work alongside NHS staff in the same role who are paid £9.03 an hour – the NHS’s lowest pay scale. This difference of 82p an hour is worth £1,600 a year for full-time staff, UNISON says. Compass staff working at St Helens and Whiston hospitals are further disadvantaged as they don’t receive any shift bonuses for working weekends or bank holidays. Their NHS colleagues, in the same roles, receive time-and-a-half on Saturdays and double pay on Sundays and bank holidays. Outsourced staff in Blackpool Teaching Hospital receive a paltry 50p an hour extra for weekend or bank holiday shifts. In addition, Compass employees receive only statutory sick pay, whereas their NHS colleagues are able to access a comprehensive sick pay scheme. A further planned strike at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was called off yesterday evening after the trust – rather than the company – agreed to fund the pay parity with NHS colleagues. UNISON’s general secretary ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article health care Industrial action National Health Service NHS nhs pay north west region private contractors strike Source Type: news