G4S 3 day strike at St George’s Hospital, 22nd-24th November
GMB members working for G4S Patient Transport at St George’s Hospital in Tooting are to strike for 3 days starting next Tuesday 22nd November until Thursday 24th November over poor pay and conditions relative to other workers at the site. This follows on from a one day strike on 1st November. (See notes to editors for copy of previous press release)
The workers, represented by GMB, the union for workers in the NHS, rejected a last-minute offer from G4S and St George’s NHS Trust. The deal failed to put the workers on a similar footing with other Patient Transport drivers in the area, or with other NHS workers at St George’s.
GMB considers that St George’s NHS Trust has allowed pay and conditions, as well as the quality of the Patient Transport service for patients, to decline with a succession of private-sector contractors. Patient transport services are a vital part of the NHS, delivering vulnerable patients to key hospital appointments that they may not otherwise be able to attend.
G4S has responded to the pay dispute by suspending both of GMB’s workplace reps from work and attempting to negotiate directly with workers.
The picket will start at 6am with the main concentration from 8am on Tuesday 22nd November. The details are as follows:
St George’s Hospital
Effort Street Entrance
Tooting
SW17 0QR
Kieron Merrett, GMB Regional Organiser, said: “G4S must now reinstate GMB’s workplace reps and come back to the negotiating table, with a deal which ends the undervaluing of G4S workers at St George’s Hospital.
Meanwhile, St George’s NHS Trust must not continue outsourcing vital services for patients to the lowest bidder, simply to allow pay and conditions and service quality to spiral.
The G4S workers at St George’s Hospital are the only workers at St George’s who do not receive NHS pay and conditions. They are paid significantly less than other patient transport workers, including those employed by G4S in other local hospitals.
Like many NHS Trusts, St George’s is in significant financial difficulties. But it must not force the lowest paid workers, or the most vulnerable patients, to bear the brunt of the NHS cuts.”
Contact: Kieron Merrett on 07866 441 656; Paul Maloney on 07801 343839 or Michelle Gordon on 07866 369259
Notes to Editors:
1 Pictures from the strike on 1 November 2016 are available here:
www.gmb-southern.org.uk/gallery/g4s-st-georges-hospital-strike-demo
2 G4S Patient Transport workers at St George’s Hospital do not have NHS “Agenda for Change” Terms and Conditions, whereas all other workers on site have, including those employed directly by the NHS Trust and those employed by private contractors. Agenda for Change includes, amongst other things, an Inner London High-Cost Area Supplement and minimum levels of annual leave and sick pay.
3 Getting to St George’s Hospital
Tooting Broadway underground station on the Northern Line is a ten minute walk from the main pedestrian entrance on Effort Street, or a short ride on bus routes 493 or G1.
Bus routes 493 and G1 enter the grounds of St George’s Hospital. Several other bus routes serve roads within a short walk of the hospital. Routes 44, 77, 270, N44 stop on Garratt Lane, routes 57, 131, 219, and N155 stop on Tooting high street, and routes 155, 264 and 280 stop on Blackshaw road.
If you are driving to the hospital, entry points are Blackshaw Road, off the A24 Tooting High Street, or Fountain Road, off the A217 Garrett Lane.
4 GMB Press release 27 October 2016:
GMB MEMBERS AT ST GEORGE’S HOSPITAL STRIKE ON 1ST NOVEMBER TO END TWO TIER PAY FOR OUTSOURCED PATIENT TRANSPORT SERVICE STAFF
St George’s must not force the lowest paid workers, or the most vulnerable patients, to bear the brunt of the NHS cuts says GMB
GMB members working for G4S Patient Transport at St George’s Hospital in Tooting are to strike next Tuesday (1 November) over poor pay and conditions relative to other workers at the site.
The workers – represented by GMB, the union for workers in the NHS – rejected a last-minute offer from G4S and St George’s NHS Trust. The deal failed to put the workers on a similar footing with other Patient Transport drivers in the area, or with other NHS workers at St George’s.
GMB considers that St George’s NHS Trust has allowed pay and conditions, as well as the quality of the Patient Transport service for patients, to decline with a succession of private-sector contractors. Patient transport services are a vital part of the NHS, delivering vulnerable patients to key hospital appointments that they may not otherwise be able to attend.
G4S has responded to the pay dispute by suspending both of GMB’s workplace reps from work and attempting to negotiate directly with workers.
The picket will start at 6am with the main concentration from 8am on Tuesday 1st November. The details are as follows:
St George’s Hospital
Effort Street Entrance
Tooting
SW17 0QR
Kieron Merrett, GMB Regional Organiser, said: “G4S must now reinstate GMB’s workplace reps and come back to the negotiating table, with a deal which ends the undervaluing of G4S workers at St George’s Hospital.
Meanwhile, St George’s NHS Trust must not continue outsourcing vital services for patients to the lowest bidder, simply to allow pay and conditions and service quality to spiral.
The G4S workers at St George’s Hospital are the only workers at St George’s who do not receive NHS pay and conditions. They are paid significantly less than other patient transport workers, including those employed by G4S in other local hospitals.
Like many NHS Trusts, St George’s is in significant financial difficulties. But it must not force the lowest paid workers, or the most vulnerable patients, to bear the brunt of the NHS cuts.”
