Cumberland Infirmary workers stage second strike

UNISON members at Cumberland Infirmary are taking a second day of strike action today as their private employer refuses to end a decade of missing payments. More than 150 porters, cleaners, switchboard and catering staff employed at Cumberland Infirmary by facilities company Mitie, took a first day of action on Friday over missing payments for working unsocial hours. Workers directly employed by the NHS receive enhanced rates – such as time-and-a-half and double time – for working at unsocial times such as weekends or through the night. But UNISON has discovered that the Cumberland Infirmary staff have not received the payments for over 10 years, leaving them significantly out of pocket. UNISON and the GMB held crunch talks with Mitie and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust last week in a final attempt to avoid industrial action. It was agreed that the workers should receive the unsocial hours payments, but the company and trust could not agree who should pay for this, with both claiming that they were not liable. The unions offered to withdraw their strike action if they received a written guarantee from Mitie that unsocial hours payments would begin within the next two months. But the company – which made a profit of over £574m in the last quarter alone – refused to make such a commitment. The unions have previously called for an investigation into what has happened to a “substantial sum” of money that the trust claims it has already passed on in...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News Cumberland Infirmary Mitie North West Source Type: news