Green Party Trade Union Group

Striking workers from Barts to stage protest outside Serco investors meeting

02 August 2017

WHERE: JP Morgan, 60 Victoria Embankment EC4Y 0JP
WHEN:  Thursday 3 August 2017, 08:00-09:00

Striking workers employed by Serco at Barts Health NHS Trust will stage a protest outside JP Morgan where Serco will present its half year financial results for 2017 to investors on Thursday (3 August). 

Unite members have already held a 48 hour strike on Tuesday 4 July and took seven days of action from Tuesday 11 July. Workers began a 14 day strike on 25 July and further strike action will also be planned for August and September unless Serco comes forward with a reasonable offer for all of the workforce. 

Unite regional officer Ruth Hydon said: “Wealthy investors need to be aware that Serco is profiting from low paid, hard-working staff who have endured getting poorer year on year because of below inflation pay deals.  Workers regularly report getting home late, tired and sore from the intense workload heaped on them by Serco. They deserve better treatment and better pay.  

“We hope Serco’s investors will urge the company to resolve this dispute across four London hospitals. All the workers are asking for is an extra 30p an hour to help them afford the most basic items like food, rent and travel.  It is time for Serco to get around the negotiating table with Unite and resolve this dispute." 

Serco won the £600 million soft services contract for Barts Health NHS Trust last year. The company made a profit of £82 million in 2016. Unite members employed by Serco as domestic staff, porters and security workers at Barts Health NHS Trust want a 30p per hour wage increase but the claim has been rejected by Serco.  

Workers also called for a strike ballot because porters at Whipps Cross Hospital are up in arms over Serco’s plans to cut jobs, and to make matters worse Serco has also increased workloads to unsustainable levels for cleaners across the trust. 

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

Unite members were balloted across Whipps Cross University Hospital, Royal London Hospital, St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Mile End Hospital (Newham Hospital is not involved in the strike).  

For more information please contact Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315 

• Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with over 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.

You may also be interested in...

• Hospital workers, cabin crew and bank workers in ‘hat-trick’ of London protestsStriking hospital workers, cabin crew and Bank of England staff will be coming together for a series of protests in London tomorrow (Thursday 3 August) to highlight their fight for better pay.
• Argos customers face disruption, as workers gear up to strike in redundancy payments rowThe four sites at Basildon, Bridgwater, Castleford and Heywood , covered by the employer/union national forum, will be joined on strike by workers at the Barton Business Park, Burton-on-Trent - the three week strike starts on 15 August.
• Low paid workers begin a two week strike across four London hospitalsPressure is growing on the private contractor Serco as hundreds of low paid workers at Barts Health NHS Trust prepare for a two week strike from tomorrow in their continuing fight against low pay.
• Cash boost call for mental health nursing by UniteUnite calls on the government to reverse the cuts to mental health nursing as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report finds that 25 per cent of core mental health services need to improve.
• New 999 response times need to be closely monitored, says UniteUnite national officer for health Sarah Carpenter said: "It is a situation that we will be watching closely in the months ahead as our paramedic members have continually reported that the ambulance service is under severe stress and pressure across E...