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Search site for keywords: Whipps Cross - Pay - Jobs - Hospital - Union - Workers - Unite - London - Zero-hour contracts - living wage - Socialist Party - Outsourcing - NHS - Len Hockey - East London - Carillion
Hospital porters and domestic staff claim jobs and pay victory
NHS staffing cuts, photo ward photo Yuya Tamai, scissors photo Wikimedia Commons, both Creative Commons, composite James Ivens (Click to enlarge)
Domestic staff and porters at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London have won a significant pay increase and job security. The pay rise - over 20% - and permanent contracts - follow a sustained campaign by general union Unite.
One worker described how the success would affect her: "This will mean a real improvement in my living standard and importantly some security through a permanent employment contract."
The overwhelmingly female migrant workforce had, in some cases, been working on 'bank' - zero-hour contracts - for up to four years. Their employer, outsourcing firm Carillion, had been paying the minimum rate. Permanent workers are payed the higher NHS 'Agenda for Change' rates.
The union's success will see pay rise from £7.20 to £9.40 an hour. Agency domestic and portering staff, also on minimum rates, are set to benefit too: casual jobs will convert into permanent employment contracts.
Unite branch secretary and porter Len Hockey, a member of the Socialist Party, said: "This is a huge success story for these workers. The union has campaigned determinedly for over two years to achieve this.
"Now these workers, who are integral links in the chain of care delivered to every patient at Whipps Cross Hospital, have, through their union, secured permanent employment contracts at the London Living Wage pay rate."
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