Privatisation

Hospital security guards rally support

The Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) security guards in London held a rally on Friday 29 April, their 50th day of strike action. Supporters from across the labour movement came together to celebrate their brave and undeterred action, despite the draconian injunction that remains in place. The rally was held in a small park near the workplace due to the court order criminalising any amplified music, shouting, or “vigorous dancing” outside the hospital. Half a dozen cops watched; there is no attempt to hide that these workers are up against the state as well as their employer. The attempts to...

Rail cleaners strike for £15

Cleaners on West Coast, employed by outsourced contractor Atalian Servest, struck again on 9-10 April. The cleaners have struck several times previously, in the face of a mounting cost-of-living crisis. They earn just £9.68 per hour, below the Living Wage Foundation’s calculations for a real living wage of £9.90 outside of London, and £11.05 in it. Even those levels are probably conservative estimates. RMT is right to have demanded a £15/hour minimum in its strikes across multiple TOCs where cleaners are employed by Churchill. RMT is also demanding full occupational sick pay. Research by the...

Strikes throughout April at GOSH

Outsourced security workers at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) resumed strikes on Friday 1 April, with further strikes planned every Friday throughout the month. The workers are striking to win parity with NHS workers’ terms and conditions. Following a successful struggle by GOSH cleaners, security staff are now the last remaining outsourced workers at the hospital. Picketing remains restricted by a court injunction secured by GOSH, which means workers are only able to picket opposite, not directly outside, the hospital. Striking security guard Erica said: “GOSH trustees hope to...

Diary of a paramedic: Helping fewer because busier

I start my shift at 0700. There is already a queue of four ambulances outside A&E when we get there with our first patient an hour later. The queueing used to start mid afternoon as the department filled up but often now the backlog hasn’t been cleared overnight, so it’s all day. It’s routine now to log your position in the queue when you arrive and then sit waiting. Only an hour outside in the car park on this occasion. The next time we get to the hospital there are eight ambulances. A three hour wait just to get through the front door. The patient we are with has severe dementia and...

From fear to fightback (John Moloney's column)

We need to learn from the result of our consultative ballot over cost-of-living issues. We will be able to break the data down to workplace and branch levels, and the places with higher rates of return will give us an indication of where we have stronger organisation. Around 70,000 members took part in the ballot, but that includes those who voted electronically and postally, as we have some members for whom we don’t have email addresses. As can be imagined, amongst those who voted electronically we had a higher turnout. It’s clear we didn’t sufficiently energise our activist base in this...

Striking every Friday in April

Security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) will strike every Friday throughout April, from 1 April, as they continue their fight for parity with NHS workers’ terms and conditions. The workers concluded a six-week strike, the longest continuous strike in NHS history, on 18 March. A rally on 17 March was addressed by numerous union activists, as well as Labour MPs John McDonnell and Apsana Begum. Begum has also been prominent in supporting the recent successful strikes of outsourced workers at Barts NHS Trust, which is based in her constituency of Poplar and Limehouse, which won...

Cleaners brought in house, security guards strike

Security guards at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) are continuing their six-week-long strike to demand parity with NHS workers’ terms and conditions. The United Voices of the World (UVW) union plans a further strike rally at 12 pm on Friday 17 March, at Queens Square, WC1N. GOSH cleaners, also UVW members, also planned a two-day strike from 11 March, after GOSH management appeared to stall on a prior commitment to bring them into direct employment. The cleaners’ strike was called off after bosses guaranteed the cleaners would be moved onto NHS contracts from 1 April. The cleaners’...

Serco workers win in-housing and pay rise

Two weeks of strike action by Serco workers at the Barts NHS Trust in London have ended with a major victory. The strike, with big noisy picket lines and several well-supported demonstrations, moved Serco and the trust from a “1% and not a penny more” position to a 3% pay rise backdated to April 2021 plus £400. More importantly the strike ended contracting out of porters, cleaners and patient food staff across the Bart’s NHS Trust. In-housing was the key demand of the strike. These services have been contracted out across the Trust for years, and in Whipps Cross, Newham and Mile End Hospitals...

RMT cleaners strike again 12 March

Cleaners employed by the contractor Churchill on multiple train companies across the south east of England will strike again on 12-14 March. Their strike on 23 February was the largest cleaners’ strike in mainline railway history. The next walkout will extend the action to 48 hours. The cleaners are demanding a pay increase to £15 per hour, and a company sick pay scheme, although RMT’s ultimate demand is for jobs to be brought in-house, guaranteeing parity of terms and conditions with directly-employed staff, including pensions and staff travel benefits. An RMT statement said: “Churchill’s...

GOSH strikers forge links

Striking security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital held a rally on Friday 4 March, with a further rally planned on Friday 11 March, as the strike nears its full 44 days. The rally heard speeches from striking workers and supporters from a variety of unions, including RMT, whose members’ strike on London Underground had concluded the previous day. A delegation from the United Voices of the World union (UVW), including a striking GOSH worker, had visited the RMT picket line at Oxford Circus station. The rally marched from the hospital to the offices of the GOSH charity to call on the...

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