GWH staff vote to strike amid pay row

Health workers in Swindon have unanimously backed strike action in a row over pay.

The UNISON union says staff employed by Serco at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are being denied a pay rise of at least £1,655 that has been paid to other NHS workers. 

In the ballot, all staff who took part backed strikes over their unfair treatment.

Serco said it was disappointed with the outcome, and had made an unsuccessful bid for extra NHS funding.

The industrial action would affect Great Western Hospital in Swindon. Strike dates have yet to be announced.

The union says a wage deal was agreed from June 2023 for staff on NHS contracts (Agenda for Change pay scales), which included a one-off payment for the previous financial year, but that Serco is refusing to honour this payment for its workers in Swindon. 

UNISON says this means the firm’s employees have been treated less favourably than their NHS colleagues doing similar work.

?Earlier this year, healthcare workers working in community hospitals for Wiltshire Health and Care and Sodexo in North Devon were awarded the £1,655 lump sum after several days of strike action.

?UNISON South West regional manager Jayne Jackson said: “All NHS workers deserve to be paid fairly for the work they do.

“Serco’s refusal to honour the NHS bonus has left hospital staff with no alternative but to vote for strike action.

“With an operating profit of more than £249 million for 2023, the company can easily afford to pay. 

"It’s simply unjust that hard working and low-paid NHS workers should have to take industrial action to get the money they’re entitled to and deserve.

?“It’s not too late for Serco to think again and avoid disruption. It should play fair and pay its staff properly.”

A Serco spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that UNISON members have voted for strike action at Great Western Hospital.  

"Serco has a great relationship with our colleagues and UNISON at the hospital and we are as disappointed as they are that our NHS funding application for the non-consolidated agenda for change bonus has not been successful. 

"We will continue to work with Unison to find a mutually acceptable outcome to this issue.”