Hospital workers join the struggle over fair pay

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The healthcare assistants’ revolt spread from England to Wales this week, plus couriers strike in London and bus drivers in Scotland win big

The healthcare assistants’ (HCAs) revolt spread from England to Wales this week. HCAs in Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot have voted to strike against bosses that underpaid them.

Thousands of Unison union members at Swansea Bay Health Board routinely undertook clinical duties in addition to their role in patient care. But the Board for years paid them non-clinical band 2 wages. That can mean workers missed out on almost £2,000 a year.

Bosses have now admitted their policy was wrong and re-banded the workers but is refusing to meet Unison’s demand that it backdate pay increases to 2018.

Unison says it is still in negotiations but that strikes are likely if the bosses don’t come back with a better deal.

• Over 130 porters, cleaners and caterers at the Royal Liverpool Hospital began a two week strike over an unpaid “Covid bonus” on Monday.

The GMB union members are furious after hospital bosses refused to pay them the government issued bonus. Bosses outsourced the workers to hated privateers ISS but brought them back in-house in January 2023.

The timing of the transfer means that 60 percent of them have not been paid a bonus. The government said it would be paid to everyone who worked in the NHS during the time of the Covid pandemic.

• Hospital porters at University Hospital Southampton have voted to strike. Over 60 porters in the Unite union are set to strike over appalling levels of bullying and harassment. 

The first day of strikes is set for Thursday of next week. They plan extensive strikes in December and January.

Royal Mail couriers stage walkout

Couriers working for Royal Mail struck on Friday of last week to demand basic workers’ rights.

The IWGB union members are employed by eCourier, which is owned by Royal Mail. Workers at eCourier are misclassified as independent contractors, which allows bosses to give them fewer rights.

In 2017, eCourier was found to have broken the law, and it committed to an internal investigation. No investigation has taken place. Since then, bosses have denied workers holiday pay and paid them under minimum wage.

Striker Ane said, “Every time workers at eCourier try to speak out, we are met with bullying and harassment from management.

“We’ve tried to go through the courts to take back what is rightfully ours, but we’ve come to realise that no one is coming to save us. If we want to transform our workplace, it’s our job to make that happen ourselves.”

Strike threat drives up pay on buses

Stagecoach drivers in Scotland have won a pay rise after threatening to strike. The Unite union members work in Skye, Orkney and Inverness.

Drivers will receive a 7.5 percent pay rise, plus additional overtime increases of up to 5 percent.