Striking staff who work in the critical care unit at Salford Royal Hospital walked out en masse this morning in a dispute over overtime payments.
Workers from Salford Royal have gone on strike for 12 hours today after talks between UNISON and the Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust broke down earlier this week.
Their union, Unison, urged the hospital trust to come back with a revised pay offer.
Staff began to gather on a picket line outside Salford Royal Hospital around 7.30am this morning in protest of overtime pay conditions they feel do not properly reflect their workload and the importance of the service they provide.
Unison’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said: “Critical care staff are highly trained, skilled professionals who literally keep people alive.
“The trust needs to reward them properly, in line with their terms and conditions, when they do overtime.
“It’s disappointing the talks collapsed this week and nobody wants to be on strike. But there’s still time for managers to come back with a fair solution and avoid disruption.”
Unison believes that many hospital staff are being underpaid when they work hours above their contract to fill staff shortages to deliver vital patient care.
“Often these hours are unpaid or worked through the bank, meaning staff are being short-changed. We believe this is wrong,” the Union for people who provide public services says.
NHS staff should be paid at time-and-a-half rates when they work over 37.5 hours a week in their normal role. But many are paid less than that, or nothing at all. The staffing crisis means you are filling in the gaps more than ever before, and you deserve to be paid for all the hours you work.
Katie Robinson, deputy chief nursing officer at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, said the hospital trust respects its colleagues’ right to take lawful industrial action.”
She added: “Throughout this process, we have worked with UNISON through ACAS conciliation, and we are grateful for their constructive involvement. While both parties are disappointed that industrial action could not be avoided, our focus remains on being fair, equitable and consistent for all colleagues.
“Patient safety and high-quality care remain our absolute priority, and we are working hard to minimise any disruption for our patients and people who use our services. Anyone who has an appointment should attend as scheduled unless contacted and told otherwise.”
Elsewhere across Greater Manchester, critical care staff also walked out of Royal Oldham Hospital and Fairfield Hospital as part of the widespread strike action.
