Hospital cleaners strike

[Bitter Ashes]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8440475.stm

Good on them! As a cleaner I'm 100% behind them all and congratulate thier start on the path of militancy. Remember that we now have a study proving that hospital cleaners are worth significantly more to the wellbieng of society than bankers or tax accountants.

I can also say without a shadow of a doubt, that Sodexo are shits to thier employees and I would never work for them.

[Bitter Ashes]

They won. Big time. Congratulations guys :)


http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=5852


Sodexo members win stunning victory

(15/01/10) UNISON members working for Sodexo at the North Devon NHS Trust today won their battle for better pay and improved terms, in line with the Agenda for Change national agreement.

The deal, which followed two days of strike action, will cover 200 staff working as cleaners, cooks and porters – some of the lowest-paid workers employed by contractors in the public sector.

They will receive a lump sum of up to £3,600, as well as a salary increase from 1 January 2010, and other benefits including sick pay.

"I am proud of our members for making a stand," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. "It is never easy going on strike, particularly if you are low paid. But this action has shown what can be achieved when members stay solid and determined."

Mr Prentis added: "These were low-paid cooks, cleaners and porters, who have been waiting for three years to get the pay and terms they are entitled to under a national agreement. This is a victory for the workers, and for common sense."

UNISON South West regional organiser Helen Eccles, who led negotiations with Sodexo and the trust, said: "Our members have demonstrated the strength of their commitment over the last few months – including one who walked six miles to reach the picket line through the freezing conditions last week."

Their success is the first major example of UNISON's Three Companies Project, which targets the multi-national private companies – Compass, Aramark and Sodexo – that are now winning the majority of public sector contracts in the NHS and schools.

The key to the project is to organise not just in one company, but in all the companies across the industry, so that one can't undercut the other with different conditions of service.

UNISON has also adopted some radical new methods, learned from US public sector Services Employees International Union (SEIU), and founded on organisation and recruitment.

The union's membership amongst the Sodexo staff in North Devon rose from 45 in June 2009, to more than 200 at the end of the year. The workers now have an organising committee of five stewards.

Mr Prentis will be joining the Sodexo workers at a celebratory rally tomorrow, Saturday 16 January, from 12.30-1.30pm in Barnstaple Town Square.

He will be joined on the podium by Steve Warwick from the union's NEC, UNISON's South West's regional secretary Ian Ducat and the Mayor of Bideford.

"This rally is our way of saying thank you for your commitment to our stewards, our members, and their friends and family," said Ms Eccles.

"It is also an opportunity for members of the public in Barnstaple to come along and find out more about UNISON and trade unions."

[RED DAVE]

Remember that we now have a study proving that hospital cleaners are worth significantly more to the wellbieng of society than bankers or tax accountants.Coulld you give a link to that study?

RED DAVE

[Bitter Ashes]

Coulld you give a link to that study?

RED DAVE
with pleasure :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8410489.stm