GMB members to hold protest at Hammersmith Hospital
GMB members at Hammersmith Hospital to protest on Friday 8 February over poverty pay
Our members deserve a fair wage and we want this protest to be the first step towards ending poverty pay at Hammersmith Hospital, says GMB London
Workers at Hammersmith Hospital in West London have reacted angrily over wages being paid to porters, cleaners and hostesses who claim they are paid slave wages for the work they do.
Last week the GMB union met with workers employed by French Multi National Contractor Sodexo over what many of them claim is their company’s reluctance to pay them the NHS pay increase and the insistence on paying minimum wage to many of the staff at the hospital.
In a heated staff meeting at the hospital last week many of Sodexo workers were demanding that their union GMB take action against the poverty pay. The union which represents all hospital staff have agreed to hold a protest outside the hospital with the Sodexo staff to make their point and highlight their concerns to the public and the hospital trust board.
Details of the protest are as follows:
Friday 8 February
12.00 noon
Outside Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Rd,
White City,
London
W12 0HS
The Sodexo workers are reluctant to go on strike but have not ruled it out, one worker, a local woman with three children said “I cannot afford to work, we are being pushed into this and we do not want the patients care interrupted, so we are all united in protesting and if it does not work, we might support a strike.
“I am on minimum wage and minimum holidays my family have no life, I need more than the minimum wage to survive in London, this cannot continue and the GMB are supporting us, we are ready to fight for as long as it takes”
Michael Dooley, GMB Regional Organiser said:
“Sodexo are aware of the issue, they know what they pay the workers and will continue to drag their heels until it is brought home to them that the staff are unwilling to continue accepting poverty wages”
“Porters caring for the dead, cleaners dealing with blood, excrement, and vomit and the hard work they do every day on behalf of the patients and the NHS all for minimum wage, they deserve a fair wage and we want this protest to be the first step towards ending poverty pay at Hammersmith Hospital.
ENDS
Contact: Michael Dooley 07773 061798 michael.dooley@gmb.org.uk or GMB London Press Office 07970 114762
