Strike threat by staff at treatment centre
WORKERS SAY THEY FEEL ‘PATRONISED AND DEVALUED’ BY NHS
“PATRONISED” Nottingham Treatment Centre staff are threatening to strike.
Nearly two years after the centre at the Queen’s Medical Centre was taken over by the NHS, hundreds of staff are still locked in a pay dispute.
In 2019 control was transferred from private company Circle to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Circle typically paid their 500-plus staff less than the NHS, and workers expected pay to be “harmonised”.
But now some workers are handing over a 130-signature petition demanding back pay and “full service-length recognition”.
In the petition, the affected staff said: “Please pay us fairly. We do not want to have to take strike action – but we will if we have to.”
A joint statement on behalf of workers represented by Unison says: “We worked all through this pandemic, facing fear and stress, and all we were given is a pin badge. Some of us have worked for 10 years or more, and none of those years are being counted towards pay progression in the new contracts.
“It’s like we’re new recruits with no experience. We feel patronised and devalued by NUH trust management.”
Staff previously said they were being paid £6,000 a year less, despite doing the same job as NHS colleagues.
However, Unison branch organiser Marko Dimac said: “The public were united in clapping for NHS heroes last year but clapping and badges won’t pay their bills, put food on the table for their families or make our key workers feel properly valued.
“Some staff at the treatment centre have left the jobs, to which they dedicated years of their life, because they were tired of waiting to be harmonised in a way that would make them feel respected.
“We demand that management listens to the 130 signatories of the petition and do the right thing while there still is time.”
Unison branch secretary Jamie Godber added: “Members had a reasonable expectation that their experience and service length would be taken into account when harmonised onto NHS terms and conditions. Unison will not allow our members to be sold short like this.”
Union bosses have called on managers to “get back to the negotiating table”.
But Bel Asher, deputy director of people at NUH, said: “When we were awarded the contract for the treatment centre – previously managed by Circle – staff were employed on the Circle’s terms and conditions, which were very different to NHS terms and conditions.
“Although there was no legal obligation to do so, we were keen to ensure colleagues felt part of our organisation, so around 417 staff were given the opportunity to move over to the NHS terms and conditions, on a voluntary basis.
“We matched the salary of staff who wanted to transfer to an NHS contract, which was either equal to the existing salary, or, for most staff, gave them a pay increase, along with access to NHS annual leave, sickness pay and other such benefits outside of pay which are beneficial in the main when compared to previous terms and conditions.
“Those staff not wishing to transfer to an NHS contract remained on their existing terms and conditions.
“We have worked hard with staff and our trade unions through the process of transferring staff onto new terms and conditions.
“The concerns they have raised we responded to in July/august 2020. We believe the offer was fair and advantageous to staff with many colleagues already taking the opportunity to transfer.
“We appreciate the hard work of colleagues, especially over the last 12 months and we will continue to work closely with them and support them.”