150 workers began a week-long strike at closure-threatened Ealing Hospital in west London yesterday against the privateer Medirest.
The porters, catering and domestic workers, all members of the GMB trade union, won great support from their colleagues and patients.
They are currently paid £6.31 per hour and are demanding the Living Wage of £8.80, as well as sick pay and an improvement in annual leave.
As their picket was assembling at 7.00am, other staff members spoke to News Line. Shukri, a staff nurse, said: ‘I’m with them, I’ll come out and support them on my break.
‘Without them, nothing is possible in this place. Just like any other health worker, they should be employed directly by the NHS, and they should not just get the minimum wage.’
Jilly, a Unison member and Medical PA, said: ‘Their conditions are bad, they work hard and get no rewards. We support them 100%.’
Gaynor, a Unison member and Reception Supervisor, said: ‘We support them, we are all under threat with the merger with Northwick Park Hospital. The whole hospital is threatened.’
Matthew, a doctor, said: ‘It is unacceptable that these workers are denied sick pay. It is so unjust. This is an important hospital and the threat to its future is very worrying.’
Mental health nurse and RCN member Purdish said: ‘We all support the striking workers. We work in A&E as mental health nurses and if the A&E goes then the service will cease. They are talking about closing it by 2016. It has been here for years and for it to stop would be terrible.’
Striking worker Kabita Thapa told News Line: ‘It is very unfair what this company is doing. They are not giving us fair wages, but they are making us do more work in less time. They are just saving their money. If we are sick they don’t even pay us sick pay. It is our right to have annual leave, but even then we have to struggle to get it when we need it.’
The strikers’ GMB rep Bhim Raj Rai told News Line: ‘We are proud and strong and united. We’ve had four days of strike action and now we are having a full week. We are getting massive support from all the other workers in the hospital and we are warning the employer that if they do not respond we will escalate the action even more.’
The strikers welcomed the secretary of the North East London Council of Action and Chigwell ASLEF branch officer Bill Rogers to their picket line.
He addressed them and thanked the strikers for supporting last Saturday’s march for the reopening of the A&E at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield.
He told News Line: ‘These workers are very justified in coming out on strike. It says on their banner “We can’t live on £6.31 an hour” and no-one can. No sick pay, holidays – it is absolutely shameful. If this strike wasn’t taking place I wouldn’t have believed that such atrocious conditions could exist in the National Health Service. It shows you really what privatisation leads to.
‘Bhim and a delegation of eight Ealing strikers came down to address our rally last Saturday at the end of our march, and we thank them for that. They marched at the front of our march through Enfield demanding the reopening of the A&E department at Chase Farm. We said we would come down and show our support and that is why we are here today.’