The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
NHS Tayside forced to retract premature victory statement in porters dispute
Health bosses and union to hold talks in bid to end industrial action
Health bosses have been forced into a humiliating climbdown after an NHS Tayside chief jumped the gun declaring victory in the porters industrial dispute.
NHS Tayside HR chief George Docherty appeared to declare the triumph in an internal memo, claiming the only topic left for discussion was the porters’ return to work
The communique was sent out mere hours after the STAC (Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee) ruling was published and before many affected porters had seen the document.
Unite union regional organiser Colin Coupar said: “He took one sentence from...the report that supported his case and declared victory, and he seems to have got his knuckles rapped for it.
“Not to recognise that there are issues among some groups of staff and not to discuss how this is to be handled would be negligent. The report is more nuanced and contains much that supports our case as well.”
In the Vital Signs newsletter distributed to staff, marked “Industrial Action update 27: STAC outcome”, George Docherty writes: “Our priority now is to work with our portering staff over the next few days on their return to work”.
A further Vital Signs letter from Lesley McLay, marked “Industrial Action update 28: Chief Executive’s update”, appears to contradict the earlier statement, saying: “I have contacted the Unite regional officer giving my commitment to resolve this dispute and asking that both organisation meet as early as possible to discuss the way forward”.
Following a ruling broadly considered to favour NHS Tayside’s position that porters were correctly paid, both sides have agreed to meet next Tuesday and Wednesday, with further provisions to meet Thursday and Friday if necessary, and hopefully bring an end to the 15 weeks of industrial action.
Mr Coupar described the developments as a “breakthrough”.
He said: “It’s done what it was intended to do, it has brought the sides together, even though this is what Unite has been calling for and what should have happened months ago.
“The STAC report itself is not on the agenda, and I would be surprised if it were a conversation piece.
“Next week we will have preliminary discussions, it is hoped to have a meaningful proposal to porters coming out of this process.”
An NHS Tayside spokesperson said: “The initial communication to our staff on Tuesday was to inform all members of staff of the outcome of the STAC review and contained a general statement regarding working with our portering staff to bring them back to work.
“As an organisation, we very much want our porters to return and recognise this will require getting round the table for discussions which we are actively pursuing.”