Hospital staff to strike in row over back pay

The theatre staff perform tasks such as counting swabs, inserting cannulas and collecting samples

Hospital workers in Leeds have voted to strike in the run-up to Christmas in a dispute over back pay, a union has said.

Theatre assistants at four sites run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust voted to walk out after not being paid for work they carried out while in the wrong pay grade, according to their union Unison.

Tasks the staff carried out, such as counting swabs, inserting cannulas, collecting samples and ensuring equipment was sterile, should have been paid at a higher rate, a Unison spokesperson said.

Dr Magnus Harrison, from the trust, said it was "working together with colleagues in theatres and our staff side representatives to try and resolve this dispute as soon as possible".

Unison said the strike action was expected to take place in December, though a date was yet to be confirmed, and it would involve between 70-100 theatre staff out of 127 employed across the trust.

In the ballot, 100% of those who voted had backed strike action, with a turnout of 75%, the union's spokesperson said.

'Strength of feeling'

According to Unison, the staff who were affected had been offered one year's back pay, while other staff elsewhere had received compensation back to April 2021.

Earlier this year, trust interim chief executive Brendan Brown oversaw a deal at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust that saw staff given five years' worth of compensation, the union spokesperson said.

Imogen Woods, Unison's Yorkshire and Humberside area organiser, said: "The last thing staff want to do is take strike action, especially in the run-up to Christmas, but they feel they've been left with no other option.

"Staff have been working above their pay grade for years and it's only right they're fairly compensated."

Ms Woods added that hospital managers "need to recognise the strength of feeling on this issue".

"Strike action can easily be avoided if they agree to pay them properly for the work they've done," she said.

Dr Harrison, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "It's important to us that colleagues feel valued and are able to share their concerns.

"We're working together with colleagues in theatres and our staff-side representatives to try and resolve this dispute as soon as possible and ensure minimal disruption to patient care."

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