Royal Berks Hospital Strike, Photo: John Gillman

Royal Berks Hospital Strike, Photo: John Gillman   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Two disputes by low-paid hospital workers in Birmingham and Reading are taking place. Heartlands hospital workers in Birmingham work directly for the NHS, and those at the Royal Berkshire are contracted to Kingdom Services Group. But both are frontline NHS workers and are continuing their action into February.

The 23 security guards in the Unite union at Reading hospital are striking over the failure of their employer to make a decent pay offer for 2020.

The Birmingham NHS Heartlands porters in Unison are currently taking strike action about the proposed imposition of a new rota. The proposed rota impacts on workers’ health and wellbeing, their caring responsibilities, work/life balance, and results in a significant cut in wages for many.

Outrageously, their reward is attacks from management. We call for all outsourced workers to be brought back in-house and for a 15% pay rise for all NHS workers, as well as defeating the Tory public sector pay freeze.