More than a thousand healthcare assistants employed by North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are to take three further days of strike action in an escalation of a dispute over wage rates.
The latest action will begin at 8am Monday (8 April) and continue for 72 hours until Thursday. It is the second period of strikes following a 24-hour walkout last month which saw hundreds of staff leave their posts across seven sites operated by the two employers.
The action is part of a campaign to ensure staff are moved to a wage band more accurately reflecting the work they’ve been doing and secure a fair backpay settlement.
The workers have already overwhelmingly rejected an inadequate offer from the employer, which UNISON says failed to recognise the underpayment has continued for many years.
The union has offered to negotiate if the trust is willing to improve its offer, but both trusts have so far refused to do so.
According to NHS guidance, healthcare assistants on salary band 2 of the NHS’s Agenda for Change pay scale 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 that would normally be done by those on band 3, such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas.
UNISON Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “Teesside Healthcare assistants are increasingly frustrated at their trust’s unwillingness to do the right thing.
“Both employers’ refusal to negotiate is only making workers more determined to carry on their fight for fair pay.
“Healthcare assistants have proudly served their community across Teesside for years. Many have worked above their pay band for far beyond the date they’re asking for.
“They feel disrespected and unvalued. The community, patients and colleagues have been overwhelmingly supportive.
“The strikes won’t stop until justice is done. Staff are becoming increasingly determined the trusts must do the right thing or they could permanently damage their relationship with their own workforces.”
