Hospital trust cleaners and porters strike over pay

Cleaners and porters at a London NHS trust have started a three-day strike over pay and workplace issues.

Approximately 300 Band 2 workers at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust are walking out over what the Unite union called "poverty pay" and "long-running complaints".

The workers, whose roles include cleaners, porters, stores operatives and food service assistants, are paid £15.89 an hour, 7.4% above the London Living Wage. Pay bands are set by the wider NHS, not trusts.

A spokesperson for the trust said it was "unfortunate" the strike action was happening during "ongoing negotiations".

They added: "We would urge them to call off this action so we can continue making progress on a fair deal for our highly valued staff."

Unite said that its striking members had a series of long-running complaints that trust management had failed to address.

These included claims of:

• Racist and bullying behaviour by facilities management
• Issues over bank contracts and hours
• Failure to provide adequate welfare facilities such as showers or changing facilities
• Failure to provide adequate safety equipment to security staff

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said staff were being treated with "utter disdain".

"They cannot survive living in London on poverty-level wages," she said.

"Our members are the backbone of the hospital - keeping it clean, feeding patients and staff or keeping the public safe.

"Alongside multiple other failures of management, our members have been left with no option but to take strike action."

Unite said the strike action would run until 11 September, and more dates were planned throughout the autumn.

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