NHS support staff at Guy's and St Thomas' begin three-day strike over 'poverty-level' pay

Nearly 300 healthcare workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust are on a three-day walkout over “poverty-level” pay, with cleaners, porters, store operatives and food service assistants on picket lines from Monday. Brit Brief

Unite the union says the band-two staff in central London earn just £15.89 an hour while performing some of the toughest roles in the hospital. Alongside pay, staff cite long-running complaints the trust has failed to address, including racist and bullying behaviour by facilities management, disputes over bank contracts and hours, a lack of safety equipment for security staff, and inadequate welfare facilities such as showers and changing rooms. Unite

Pickets run from 7am to 10.30am each day: Monday at St Thomas’ Hospital’s Westminster Bridge entrance, Tuesday at Guy’s Hospital on St Thomas Street, and Wednesday back at St Thomas’ with a 10.30am march to Downing Street. Further strikes are planned for the autumn, and workers have pledged to strike again in the New Year if their concerns are not addressed. Brit Brief

“Guys and St Thomas’s is one of the country’s biggest NHS trusts but is treating its staff with utter disdain. They cannot survive living in London on poverty-level wages,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. Unite

A trust spokesperson called the strikes “unfortunate” amid ongoing negotiations, urging the union to call off the action so progress could continue on a fair deal, adding that pay levels are set by the wider NHS rather than the trust. Brit Brief