GMB to hold ISS protest during Kingston Hospital Trust board meeting
“It appears that ISS profits are earned off the back of draconian workplace conditions of our members and this drive for profit is putting hospital patients at risk. Someone has to speak out about this scandal and our members are doing just that”, says GMB Southern
GMB, the union for cleaners, porters, caterers and security staff at Kingston Hospital, are escalating the campaign against private contractor ISS by targeting the hospital trust board meeting on Wednesday 27th March.
Details of the protest are as follows:
Wednesday 27 March
9:30 AM
Outside Kingston Hospital Education Centre
Kingston Hospital
Galsworthy Road
Kingston upon Thames
KT2 7QB
ISS steadfastly refuses to pay workers in Kingston the London Living Wage or sick pay from day one and GMB has been campaigning for over six months. Two big protests and a March of 150 through Kingston have already taken place.
Thousands of information flyers have been distributed to the public who use the hospital. GMB Union members, supported by MP Steve Reed have taken this campaign to right to the heart of government. Members met with Minister Matt Hancock to express their concerns that sick pay waiting days forces ISS workers to go into work unwell and puts the patients at Kingston hospital at risk of cross infection. The minister has agreed to investigate the issue.
Helen O’Connor, GMB Regional Organiser said: "It is of grave concern to GMB Union that outsourced hospital workers find themselves in such an impoverished position financially that they are forced to work in a hospital environment when they are sick themselves. This puts hospital patients at direct risk of cross infection so the #kingstonhospcampaign is about every patient’s fundamental right to be treated in a safe hospital environment.
"GMB members are not going to stand back and allow hospital conditions to slip back into a situation where patients could end up more unwell on discharge then when they entered the hospital for treatment!
"We live in one of the richest countries in the world and private providers like ISS make huge profits out of the NHS. It appears that ISS profits are earned off the back of draconian workplace conditions of our members and the drive for profit is putting hospital patients at risk. Someone has to speak out about this scandal and our members are doing just that. We are asking the public to support this protest."
Contact: Helen O’Connor 07506 711 574 or GMB Southern Press Office 07970 114762
