Staff walk out in row over outsourcing facility jobs
Furious hospital facility staff staged a strike against plans to outsource their jobs, with workers waving flags and placards and demanding proposals be reconsidered.
Staff formed large picket lines outside Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals for all of last week, with councillors and community leaders joining the workers. Unison led the strikes with staff and campaigners insisting in house staff are better than outsourced workers from a private company.
The workers including porters, cleaners and caterers walked out from the hospitals which are run by East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust on Monday, over fears that their in-house jobs could be contracted out to a private company.
Stephen Childs, a housekeeper at Colchester’s Primary Care Centre, said: “I am striking because the trust is trying to take away our job security by selling us off to a private company. I’ve been down this road before. When I started here it was for OCS before the trust decided to bring us back in-house. I know how it feels to be outsourced and I’m striking so none of us have to go back to that.”
Julie Young, leader of the Colchester Labour Party, with her felling party councillors Lee Scordis and Fay Smalls, joined the workers in the city on Friday, August 23.
Mr Scordis, deputy Labour leader, who is a city and county councillor, said: “It was a positive atmosphere, the staff are concerned and on edge, they do not want to do this. Some are upset about not working and love working for the NHS. There is a spirit of camaraderie and they have got to push on with what they believe in.
“They are sad to be in this situation and are welcoming the support from the public, they want this resolved and job security too. They are worried about what outsourcing will mean for them They do they do the job because they want to work for the NHS and believe in it. I think it’s really sad and is a retrograde step and is against Labour policies.
“I think it’s been handled badly and while these workers are some of the lowest paid they are so important like the cleaners and they aren’t asking for a pay rise.”
Unison Eastern regional organiser Sam Older said: “The trust told staff they were being sold out of the NHS months ago, but they are still waiting to be told why.
“These workers are proud to work for the NHS and support patients. They don’t want to strike but feel they’ve been left with no choice. Their bosses simply won’t listen to their concerns.
“It’s very easy for ESNEFT to prevent these strikes. Trust managers just need to abandon their nonsensical plan to sell staff out of the NHS. The workforce is proud to work for the NHS and doesn’t want to be sold off to a contractor.”
Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our top priority is patient care and safety and we are working hard to plan for the period of industrial action to make sure everyone who uses our hospitals continues to receive the service they expect.
“We are disappointed that Unison has gone down this route while we are still involved in ongoing conversations with them and their members. We are listening to our staff about the issues that are important to them.
“A full business case has not yet been submitted to the Trust Board and we remain keen to engage with our staff, and our staff side colleagues including Unison, so we get the best possible service for our patients.”
Unison was contacted for comment.