logo
Airedale Hospital domestic staff to vote on strike action

Airedale Hospital domestic staff to vote on strike action

BBC News3 days ago
Hospital workers such as porters, security staff and cleaners are to balloted for strike action over what have been described as unequal working conditions, said a trade union. The GMB union said staff at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in Bradford were angry because they do not receive the same pension, annual leave and sick pay terms as other colleagues since their roles were outsourced to AGH Solutions.The union said affected staff were treated as "second class workers" and urged bosses to "get back to serious pay negotiations". A spokesperson for AGH Solution said it offered "very competitive" terms and conditions for workers and said it wanted to work with the GMB to find a resolution.
Joe Wheatley, GMB Organiser, said: "These workers are essential to the smooth running of the Airedale hospital."Without them patients would not be safe or seen."She added: "The last thing our members want to do is strike and disrupt patients lives, but we've been left with no choice." The strike ballot closes on 13 August, with any industrial action expected to begin in September.Dennis Kentrop, managing director of AGH Solutions Ltd, said the firm was committed to improving it as a place to work."Following recent negotiations with GMB, we further improved upon our proposal," he added.
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nurses union to reject pay deal as strike vote looms
Nurses union to reject pay deal as strike vote looms

BBC News

time3 hours ago

  • BBC News

Nurses union to reject pay deal as strike vote looms

Nurses will overwhelmingly reject their pay award in England this week, raising the possibility of strikes later in the year, the BBC Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been holding a consultative vote on their 3.6% pay rise, previously describing it as "grotesque" to award nurses a lower increase than doctors, teachers, prison officers and the armed decision on formal strike action would not be made until later in the government accepted in May the pay review body's recommendations of a 3.6% rise for nurses this year. The union will announce the results of its indicative vote later this week but the BBC understands it will show an "overwhelming" rejection of the turnout is expected to be well over the 50% threshold needed for industrial union will demand ministers negotiate over the summer to avoid a formal ballot for strike action in the RCN is understood to be open to talks on wider pay structures, not just headline pay.A union spokesman said: "The results will be announced to our members later this week. As the largest part of the NHS workforce, nursing staff do not feel valued and the government must urgently begin to turn that around."On Friday the GMB union representing thousands of health workers, including ambulance crews, rejected the government's pay deal in an initial consultative GMB said its members voted by 67% against the 3.6% pay award offered for 2025/26 in union has written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting calling for an urgent meeting to discuss pay and other national secretary Rachel Harrison said: "Our national NHS and ambulance committees met on 24 July to discuss the ballot results and determine what the next steps should be."Today, we have written to Secretary of State Wes Streeting, asking him to meet with us to discuss pay and other issues of significant importance to GMB members."We await his reply with interest."Thousands of resident doctors in England, previously known as junior doctors, began a five-day strike on Friday after the government and the British Medical Association failed to reach an agreement over health secretary said while it was not possible to eliminate disruption to the NHS, it was being kept to a minimum.

NHS strike chaos threatens to spread as paramedics REJECT pay offer on first day of doctors' walkout
NHS strike chaos threatens to spread as paramedics REJECT pay offer on first day of doctors' walkout

The Sun

time2 days ago

  • The Sun

NHS strike chaos threatens to spread as paramedics REJECT pay offer on first day of doctors' walkout

NHS strikes threatened to spread yesterday as paramedics in the GMB union voted to reject their annual pay offer. It came as a five-day walkout by hospital resident doctors began over pay, led by the British Medical Association union. NHS chiefs said the health service was still 'open for business'. But ambulance crews and other NHS staff in the GMB union yesterday voted 67 per cent in favour of rejecting their 3.6 per cent offer for this year's pay rise. Paramedics joined nursing strikes in the winter of 2022-23 and could vote to do so again if they cannot get a better offer from Health Secretary Wes Streeting. National Secretary Rachel Harrison said: 'We have written to Wes Streeting, asking him to meet with us to discuss pay and other issues.' The Royal College of Nursing is also angry at getting a lower wage rise than doctors — and hospital consultants with the BMA are also considering striking again. As resident doctors, formerly called junior doctors, kicked off their strike to demand for a 29 per cent pay rise over the 5.4 per cent offer, Mr Streeting warned he could not guarantee patient safety. He said: 'I'm really proud of the way that NHS leaders and frontline staff have mobilised to minimise the disruption and the risk of harm to patients. 'What I can't do is guarantee there will be none. That's why the BMA's action is so irresponsible.' The BMA has made one exception for its strike so far. It allowed resident doctors to be called in to cover neo-natal intensive care at Nottingham City Hospital to protect newborn babies' lives. Strike leader Dr Melissa Ryan, who works there, said: 'We don't have enough senior staff to cover the doctors that aren't there. "It is important to us that those very sick babies get a lot of care.'

More pressure on Wes Streeting as nurses and ambulance workers reject pay deal amid militant doctors' strikes
More pressure on Wes Streeting as nurses and ambulance workers reject pay deal amid militant doctors' strikes

Daily Mail​

time3 days ago

  • Daily Mail​

More pressure on Wes Streeting as nurses and ambulance workers reject pay deal amid militant doctors' strikes

Nurses and ambulance staff have ramped up the pressure on Health Secretary Wes Streeting by rejecting his offer of a 3.6 per cent pay rise. Members of the GMB union voted by a majority of more than two thirds (67 per cent) to go back to the negotiating table. The union has now written to the Secretary of State demanding an 'urgent meeting' to discuss pay and 'other issues of significant importance' to its NHS members. GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: 'We await his reply with interest.' AGMB spokesman said the chances of more strike action were 'very limited' because 'the appetite isn't there', but added: 'Workers are unhappy, which is why they have rejected this offer.' The GMB represents around 50,000 ambulance workers and 30,000 nurses, midwives and other NHS staff. It comes as 50,000 resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - started a five-day walkout over pay. One defied militant union bosses by crossing the picket line and reporting for duty, warning strikes may destroy vital public trust in the NHS. Dr Adam Boggon broke ranks with striking colleagues and claimed the BMA was 'not necessarily in the same place as much of the profession'. The psychiatrist at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, East London, said he was 'alarmed' that the BMA was willing to lose public support in pursuit of an inflation-busting 29 per cent pay rise. 'I am not willing to pay that price,' he told Times Radio. 'The relationship between the doctor and the patient is based on trust and confidence. If we do damage to that basic relationship, that's bad for everyone.' He added: 'My education was funded by the taxpayer. Negotiation isn't about making unilateral demands and then walking away, or badmouthing a whole profession either. 'I think that both of these protagonists - the union and Mr Streeting - can do a lot better than they are at the moment.' The BMA revealed it had told three members to skip the strike and return to work this weekend for patient safety - a trainee paediatrician on the neonatal intensive care unit at Nottingham City Hospital and two anaesthetists at University Hospital Lewisham in south London. Dr Melissa Ryan, who is leading the BMA strike alongside Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, joined a picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster, London. She told members: 'We have a government that wants to divide us, but we are stronger than that. 'I encourage you to hold the line, strike hard, and wait for the government to come back and make the next move with a credible offer.' Striking doctors waved banners including 'Do no harm - except to our bank balances!' and 'Why is my assistant paid more than me?' Dr Emre Karaduman, 27, who works at Ealing Hospital, west London, said: 'Our pay has been degraded since 2008. I know there was a financial crisis, but doctors shouldn't have to pay the price for that. 'If Wes Streeting wants us to help cut the patient waiting list, he needs to give us full pay restoration.' One doctor from Chelsea and Westminster hospital, who gave her name as Naiha, 25, accused Mr Streeting of 'guilt tripping' doctors by claiming lives would be put at risk – and rejected comparisons between doctors and other public officials who have not received such large pay rises. 'It's pointless trying to compare doctors to other professions,' she said. 'If people in other sectors feel hard done by, I would urge them to strike as well. I think everyone deserves to be paid a living wage, and right now ours barely scratches the surface.' Another who gave his name as Joe, 26, added: 'Medicine is an incredibly important career. We go through a massive amount of training and take on a lot of risk and responsibility that people in other sectors don't. But I've got a friend in finance whose bonus last year was more than double my salary.' Mr Streeting condemned the strike as 'reckless, unnecessary and unreasonable', as resident doctors have already received inflation-busting pay rises totalling 28.9 per cent over three years. 'A 28.9 per cent pay rise and a government that was willing to work with them are not grounds for strike action,' he said. 'This government will not allow the BMA to hold the country to ransom. 'We are doing everything we can to minimise the risk to patients, but I want to be honest with people - what we can't do is eliminate disruption or risk. 'However much the BMA try and sugar-coat it, what they are fundamentally doing today is forgetting the three words that should be at the forefront of every doctor's mind every day: Do No Harm.' He added an 'amazing mobilisation' by other NHS staff, including senior doctors cancelling annual leave, had helped 'keep the show on the road'. 'We are also seeing lots of resident doctors turning up to work today, ignoring their union because they want to be there for patients too,' he said. 'This is going to be a disruptive five days, but I am extremely grateful to NHS staff and leaders who are working their socks off to minimise the disruption.' Some elective procedures will have to be cancelled or delayed due to the strikes, extending waiting lists. The BMA has suggested this is no great hardship, but Mr Streeting said patients who have been waiting a long time for such procedures 'do come to harm'. BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin told the Today programme it was 'very disappointing to see a Labour Government taking such a hard line against trade unions'. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP. On Friday, NHS chief executive Jim Mackey said he hoped the BMA would come back to the negotiating table. 'I would hope that after this, we will be able to get people in a room and resolve the issue,' he said. 'We could be doing this once a month for the next six months, so we've got to organise ourselves accordingly.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store