“Cleaners at London hospitals stage seven-day strike over pay”, 11 July 2017

Domestic staff in London hospitals have begun a week-long strike in a dispute with private contractor Serco over low pay and job cuts, with organisers saying it is the biggest cleaners’ strike in the UK’s history.

Unite members employed by Serco requested a 30p per hour increase in pay last month, which was rejected…

Hockey said that since the Barts trust was taken over by private contractors standards for workers had dropped dramatically. According to Hockey, many workers have suffered real-time pay cuts greater than the 14% cuts experienced by other NHS staff. “Until recently there were some members of staff here on less than the London living wage,” he said.

Phil Mitchell, the contract director at Serco, insisted the company wanted to pay workers fairly and added that it had agreed to pay the London living wage of £9.75 an hour universally…

However, last week a two-day preliminary strike at Barts hospitals – including the Royal London, St Bartholomew’s and Mile End – caused significant problems, the union said.

By the second day, Unite said, toilets were unclean, beds were left on floors as no porters were available to carry them, and many patients did not receive hot meals due to lack of catering staff. Barts said that members of its hospital staff did not recognise that account.

Barts Health NHS Trust said: “We have been working closely with both sides to find a resolution to this dispute, urging them to seek a solution through the mediation service ACAS.