A NUMBER of staff at Reading’s Prospect Park Hospital are set to strike on Wednesday, October 4, in a dispute over pay.
Cleaners, caterers, and security staff employed by ISS Ltd are all set to stage a walk-out and protest outside the facility, according to UNISON, the public service union.
Protests are set to take place outside the hospital in Honey End Lane.
It follows the announcement earlier this year that staff who are directly employed by the NHS would receive a payrise after months of disputes.
Now UNISON has said that ISS workers are being denied a one-off payment of £1,655, despite assurances from the contractor that its workers would see the same pay as NHS staff.
They also claim that a “disagreement” between ISS Ltd and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust is being blamed for a failure to resolve the issue.
UNISON South East regional organiser Patrick Kenny said: “This is a common problem in the health service: workers employed by private contractors are treated differently to directly employed NHS staff, despite working alongside each other and often doing the same jobs.
“ISS workers are an essential part of the NHS team delivering outstanding care to patients and they deserve the same rates of pay for the vital work they do.
“Those at Prospect Park have fought and won this battle twice before and are determined they won’t be left behind.
“There is still time to avoid damaging industrial action: ISS needs to honour their commitments and the Berkshire Healthcare needs to show they value this workforce.”
Both the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire NHS Integrated Care Partnership and ISS Limited have been contacted for comment.
