Healthcare assistants employed by North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been forced to take a further period of strike action in their dispute over wage rates and back pay, says UNISON today (Wednesday).
The latest action will begin at 8am on Monday (20 May) and continue for five days until Saturday morning. This round of walkouts across Teesside follows a 24-hour strike in March and a 72-hour stoppage last month (April), in which hundreds of staff left their posts across seven sites at the two trusts.
Staff have been campaigning to move to a wage band in the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale that more accurately reflects the work they’ve been doing and secure a fair back pay settlement.
UNISON has repeatedly asked the trusts to negotiate a resolution to the dispute. But the employers have so far refused to do so, leaving some of the lowest paid workers in the NHS little choice but to continue their action, the union says.
According to NHS guidance, healthcare assistants on salary band 2 should only be providing personal care, such as bathing and feeding patients.
However, UNISON says most of the healthcare assistants have routinely undertaken clinical tasks normally done by those on band 3, such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas.
UNISON Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “Once again staff are being been forced into this unavoidable strike action because the trust won’t negotiate, this time for five days.
“Put simply, hundreds of low-paid workers across Teesside, mainly women, are being denied money they’re owed. The trusts have saved a fortune through their failure to reward workers properly and their goodwill has worn thin. Staff feel hurt that their employers have little interest settling this dispute.
“The healthcare assistants are not backing down and they’re determined to get what they deserve. Both trusts need to do what’s right to avoid permanent damage to the relationship with their workforce.”
