Workers at Charing Cross Hospital Hold Picnic in Pay Protest
GMB protest picnic held on Thursday 4 July outside Charing Cross Hospital over poverty pay
Protest picnic held outside Charing Cross Hospital over poverty pay
Workers at Charing Cross Hospital in Fulham are set to hold a protest picnic outside Charing Cross hospital on Fulham Palace Road Fulham London on Thursday the 4th of July at 3.00 pm.
Over 1100 cleaners and porters working for French multinational Sodexo at St Mary's, Charing Cross and Hammersmith Hospitals are angry over the two-tier system of wages payments which see most of the staff paid the National Living Wage of £8.21 whilst a small minority of staff who do the same work are paid £11.00. GMB say that if you do the same work you should be paid the same wages.
Porters, cleaners and domestic staff working at the hospital will be outside the hospital letting the public know about how they are treated. The picnic protest is a novel way to highlight what their trade union the GMB call Poverty Pay at Charing Cross Hospital.
Last month has saw the GMB organise three hospitals protest at the NHS Imperial Trust, Charing Cross in Fulham, St Marys in Paddington and Hammersmith Hospital workers were all involved in protests over wages.
Many of Sodexo workers are paid the minimum wage and the company refuse to pay any additional wages. The GMB have been told that there may be a pay increase next year however the workers say they cannot spend a promise and have been living on the minimum wage for too long and need their wages increased this year.
Picnic protests include soft drinks, low music, pizza and cakes for the workers and their supporters.
Details of the picnic are as follows:
Thursday 4th July, at 3pm
Outside the hospital on Fulham Palace Road
W6 8RF
Michael Dooley the local GMB Union officer said,
“The general public will be surprised to hear that the staff in Charing Cross are paid only the minimum wage. Porters who care for patients and the deceased, cleaners who clean the blood, sick and other waste and the staff who keep the hospital moving 24 hours a day deserve more than the minimum wage”
“A picnic protest is a novel way of drawing attention to the plight of the staff working in Charing Cross Hospital, many staff are new to Britain and will appreciate the efforts by the union to get them involved in this after work protest.
“The protests are hoped to draw attention to the poor wages and obtain increases in pay rather than to go on strike at the hospitals, but the workers understand they may have to go on strike if their wages are not increased.”
ENDS
Contact: Michael Dooley 07773 061798 / michael.dooley@gmb.org.uk or GMB London Press Office on 0758 303 9451
Notes to Editors
Sodexo staff will be available for photographs and comment at the Picnic Protest.
If you would like the images below to be sent to you please email London.press@gmb.org.uk.
