NHS outsourced workers at Lewisham hospital protest low pay
The hospital has outsourced its cleaners, porters and caterers' jobs to facilities management firm ISS global, which is paying below the London Living Wage.
Dozens of cleaners, porters and caterers staged a protest outside Lewisham Hospital on 24 November, demanding better pay. They were supported by campaigners Lewisham Save our NHS.
The workers reported struggling to afford rent and bills and having to use foodbanks.
They are outsourced staff, employed by the facilities management company ISS World and members of the GMB union.
The union reported that the workers contracts do not pay the London Living Wage and that workers' basic hourly rate of pay has fallen to just over the minimum wage.
A spokesperson for ISS UK&I told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We value the contribution of every ISS team member and will continue to work towards a resolution.”
Kenny Olisakwe, the local GMB union rep, said: “When you talk to them they say they’re going to talk to the NHS, they said they might put (our rates) up next year.
"But we don’t want it next year, because they always add a pound to the minimum wage. We want it this year.”
Olisakwe, who is a cleaner working in domestic services at the hospital, told the LDRS that there was a meeting following the protest, but “there’s been no concrete stuff on the table”.
He said: “They said we should give them from now until December but there’s been no offer. Any offer they put on the table that has not been written, is not an offer – we want something written and signed.”
Helen O’Connor, GMB membership development officer, said: “Our members are sick and tired of being on among the lowest pay rates in London.
“They work hard to serve the patients by ensuring their environment is clean, patients are fed and are transported to appointments on time.
“They are struggling to cope on the wages they are paid, with many using food banks and not able to afford rent and other bills.”
She added: “ISS have pushed pay down across the contract and this is making the workforce angry.
“If ISS fail to put down a serious offer to improve pay and conditions of soft FM [non-technical facilities management] staff in Lewisham Hospital, GMB will ballot our members for strike action.”
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