NHS support staff to vote on strikes over threat to change pay

Hundreds of NHS Scotland support staff will begin voting on strike action next week to halt the threat of “fire and rehire" over changes to pay.

Cleaners, porters, catering staff and other support workers are being balloted on industrial action at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, in Falkirk, as facilities management giant Serco threatens to impose new contracts changing wages from weekly to monthly.

Staff fear the changes will drive them into debt and GMB Scotland, and other staff unions, will launch industrial action ballots next week in response to the proposals.

Workers say the new contracts, which will also impose new uniforms removing the NHS logo, will risk them plunging into debt during the changeover and say their household budgets are built around weekly wages.

GMB Scotland represents hundreds of Serco staff at the hospital and Karen Leonard, the union’s organiser in NHS Scotland, said the proposed payroll changes had caused huge but needless anxiety.

She said Serco has now been notified a three-week ballot on industrial action will begin on Tuesday and urged the company to halt the payroll proposals in response to widespread concern.

She said: “These plans have caused huge distress and worry for staff whose finances are built around weekly wages.

“They do not want this change, have been consulted but not heard, and are united in their opposition.

“It is only about what the company wants and the potential impact on staff, some of the most important workers in the NHS, is not even an afterthought.

“We have asked what happens if staff do not sign these new contracts and the silence is deafening.

“We would urge Serco to seriously engage with our members to find a new way forward even at this late stage.”

Serco employees at Forth Valley work in facilities management roles, including cleaning, catering, and portering. These positions that are typically among the lowest paid in NHS Scotland, yet essential to the delivery of frontline healthcare services.

However, privately employed staff in NHS Scotland are entitled to the same pay, terms, and conditions as colleagues employed by the health service.