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STRIKING NHS workers employed by private contractor ISS concluded their four-day strike by marching to the firm’s headquarters in Canary Wharf today.
More than 300 workers, employed as domestics, porters and catering staff at two trusts — Croydon NHS and South London and Maudsley NHS — had walked out over pay, terms and conditions.
Speaking from the picket, GMB membership development officer Helen O’Connor told the Star: “Our message to Croydon NHS and South London is — stop outsourcing.
“ISS is a transnational private company, treating our members extremely badly.
“They’re bullying them, they’re not giving them pay rises on time, they’re overworking them.”
A pay claim was submitted for the workers at South London and Maudsley in April, however ISS returned a lower offer of 5.5 per cent. The offer was rejected and members voted to strike.
In Croydon, ISS had only taken over the contract in June, but in a matter of months, cuts to staff and reports of bullying prompted members to vote to strike in a separate ballot.
Ms O’Connor said that a two-tier workforce had emerged between workers on old NHS contracts and the new outsourced contracts.
She said: “We want everyone treated fairly. We want parity of terms and conditions. We don't want a race to the bottom. We want everyone pulled up.”
Ms O’Connor argued that ISS’s cost-cutting measures also affect patients as well, affecting services like food and cleaning.
“It’s not just the workforce or the GMB members defending their own terms and conditions,” she said.
“They're trying to protect the hospital as well, because ISS essentially is out to make profit.”
She added: “We want the trust to take these contracts back in house, because ISS will never treat these workers in a fair and just way.”
A spokesperson for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are proud to be a London Living Wage employer and are committed to ensuring everyone either working directly for us or our contracted service suppliers are paid fairly.
“We hope that ISS and GMB can resolve their dispute without the need to take industrial action."
The ISS and Croydon NHS trust were contacted for comment.
