Jon Dale, Mansfield Socialist Party
More low-paid privatised hospital workers are striking back! Nearly 300 GMB members at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust in Nottinghamshire have held one 24-hour strike, followed by a 48-hour strike from 30 May.
Cleaners, porters, security, reception and catering workers employed by Medirest have had enough of being treated as cheap labour.
“They don’t get weekend enhancements, they don’t get fair parental rights or sick pay and they are still waiting for the Covid recovery bonus paid to NHS staff”, said GMB organiser Cameron Mitchell. “On a Sunday, Medirest workers are paid almost £10 an hour less than colleagues doing the same work on the NHS payroll.”
Pickets told Mansfield Socialist Party members that workload was a huge issue too. Sometimes one worker is expected to do the work of two or three. There’s health and safety issues too, for example where heavy lifting tasks are involved.
Medirest is a subsidiary company of Compass. Compass profits in 2023 were over £2 billion – up 30% on 2022. Dividends to shareholders were up 37%. It can easily afford to pay the full claim!
Our call for the workers to be brought back into NHS employment and Medirest – along with all other profit-seeking private companies – to be thrown out, was well-received.
Mansfield’s Labour candidate, endorsed by the GMB, also spoke at the picket. The union should insist a Labour government ensures these workers’ demands are immediately met.