South London hospital staff set to strike this November

GMB, the union for hospital staff, has announced that key hospital services will be severely impacted unless the Integrated Service Solutions (ISS) meet GMB to discuss their complaints.

Over 300 members will strike at the Ladywell Unit in Lewisham Hospital, the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Bromley, the Maudsley Hospital in Southwark, and Croydon University Hospital.

Porters, cleaners and caterers employed by the ISS will take four days of industrial action from November 29.

The dispute centres around a number of workplace issues, including pay, excessive workloads, staffing cutbacks and management bullying.

Helen O’Connor, GMB Membership Development Officer said: “Our members provide vital services to the patients in both NHS trusts and they are sick and tired of the bullying and harassment, having pay held down and staffing cutbacks.

“Outsourced staff get less pay, lower sick pay, fewer holidays and are treated far less favourably than staff directly employed by the NHS.

“We are calling on ISS to get around the table with GMB, the union of choice for these workers and take genuine steps to address our members' grievances.

“If ISS cannot treat their workforce in a fair way, then we all really need to question whether these contracts are value for money for the public purse.”

A spokesperson for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our staff are our greatest asset, and we know that staff who feel supported at work provide the best care for our patients and the people who use our services.

“We want our staff to be able to support themselves and their families and afford the costs of living in London.

“We are proud to be a London Living Wage employer and are committed to ensuring everyone either working directly for us or our contracted service suppliers are paid fairly.  

“We hope that ISS and GMB can resolve their dispute without the need to take industrial action." 

We’ve also contacted Croydon Health Services Trust for a comment.