Sue Powell and Billy Jones, Gloucestershire Socialist Party
Socialist Party members attending a May Day rally in Stroud helped striking phlebotomists (medical professionals who take blood samples) raise over £250. The team, who work across Cheltenham and Gloucester, are in their eighth week of strike action after their demand for a pay rise was rejected.
18 months ago most of the strikers were not even Unison members, but following the overhaul of NHS pay grades, two workers asked why they were still on Band 2, just pence over the minimum wage.
Their work is important, difficult, and dangerous. Drawing blood puts you at risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis. It was only two years ago that NHS staff were praised by the Tories for their response to the pandemic. Fast-forward to 2025, and the strikers signs say: “Once an NHS hero, now my bank says zero”.
Caroline Hayhurst, elected representative of the phlebotomy team, told The Socialist: “We’re finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.
“A large proportion of staff being drafted in to cover our strike are actually Band 4 nurses with venipuncture training – but patients have come out of the hospital saying the nurses had to make four or five attempts to draw their blood.”
CEO Kevin McNamara makes £300,000 a year, but workers told us he is refusing to carry out a proper job evaluation for the phlebotomists, despite many of them having given decades to the NHS – and despite NHS guidance allowing for an upgrade after two years’ experience.
Workers also told us about a whistleblowing complaint by somebody on the staff side of the job evaluation panel, saying that the panel was not conducted correctly and honestly, noting coercive behaviour and underhand tactics.
Many patients are upset with the lowered quality of the service, but no one has criticised the strikers. One Unite bus driver told the pickets: “I earn more than you – it’s ridiculous. Good luck with your strike.”
A number of phlebotomy teams have been closely watching this strike, and after members balloted for similar strike action their local trusts have promised to review their pay.
