Hospital Security Deserve Pay Security!
It shouldn’t be too much to ask that hospital workers get the agreed NHS rates of pay.
But here on site at Tameside General Hospital, there was a hidden workforce earning well below Agenda for Change rates of pay and on lower terms and conditions than other Trust staff.
As Engie security guards we put ourselves in danger every day and work tirelessly to keep staff, patients and the public safe. During the pandemic, we have been on the front-line of the fight to keep our communities safe, whilst putting ourselves at significant personal risk. ONS figures show that male security guards have the highest risk of dying as a result of COVID-19 compared with other demographics.
In spite of the vital job we do protecting patients and staff, we earned well below the NHS rates. Some of us were on the minimum wage. This was plainly unfair!
We sought to resolve this for some time, but to no avail. In February, Engie told us they would not agree to pay us NHS rates. In the absence of progress, we held a UNISON ballot of Engie security staff at Tameside General Hospital and voted unanimously to take strike action to fight for fair pay for all.
What did we want?
We were calling on Engie to pay us all the full NHS Agenda for Change rate for the job without changing our shift patterns in order to cut our pay.
What was the outcome?
We had planned two days of strike action which would begin on Monday 13 July. Thankfully, at the eleventh hour, Engie agreed to pay us NHS Agenda for Change rates for the job.
Latest updates:
https://www.unisonnw.org/tameside_hospital_security_staff_win_nhs_pay_rates