Strikes at 3 of Nottinghamshire's biggest hospitals
Nearly 300 workers including porters, cleaners, security staff, catering workers and reception teams will take part in the walkout at King’s Mill, Mansfield Community and Newark Community Hospitals.
The GMB Union announced that strike action will take place on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 August 2024, bringing the total strike days by the workers' to ten.
Employed by Medirest, a private contractor in Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, workers are furious as company bosses refuse to bring terms and conditions in line with colleagues employed directly by the NHS.
Workers have also been denied the NHS Covid Recovery Bonus, the one-off payment made to Britain’s health service workers, despite working throughout the Pandemic alongside NHS colleagues.
Cameron Mitchell, GMB Organiser, said:
“Medirest is a national company that should be focused on delivering key NHS services, but instead they've got themselves tied up in Notts.
“NHS workers receive better pay, terms and conditions than Medirest staff for doing the same job.
"Plenty of private contractors in Nottinghamshire’s health service reward staff in line with NHS employed workers; why are Medirest refusing to do the same?”.