Unions round up: Health care assistants in Nottingham begin their longest walkout yet

Health care assistants in Nottingham are on strike for fair pay  (Pic: Richard Buckwell)

Hundreds of health care assistants (HCAs) in the Unison union in Nottingham returned to picket lines last Friday to begin 14-days of strike.

The walkout is the strikers’ longest yet, and their eighth stoppage in a dispute about pay banding and backpay.

There were good picket lines at the city’s two main hospitals, Queens Medical Centre and City Hospital, this week.

For years, bosses have underpaid HCAs, maternity support workers, theatre support workers and others, wrongly putting them on band 2, the lowest rung on the NHS pay scale.

The NHS trust has no agreed that the clinical work these workers do means they should be on band 3.

But bosses are refusing to give the workers proper backpay, dated back six years, as other trusts have done. Instead, they are offering just 3 years and 3 months.

For longstanding workers, the difference can add up to thousands of pounds.

Helen, a HCA in Nottingham, said, “NHS staff risked their lives and those of our families to put others first during the pandemic, and continue to do so every day.

“But it’s clear the trust doesn’t think workers are worthy of being paid what they’ve have rightfully earned.”

Unison has so far recruited some 400 new members during the dispute, and it is now the longest running strike ever at the hospitals.

NHS workers set to ballot for strike action to demand equality

Hundreds of NHS facilities workers at St Helier and Epsom hospitals in Surrey, are set to ballot for strikes over pay and equality.

The UVW union members include cleaners and caterers —and are overwhelmingly black, brown and migrant workers.

The NHS employs them directly but they are denied the terms and conditions guaranteed to other NHS workers under Agenda for Change contracts.

Their wages have been frozen at £13.85 an hour since then—well below the NHS band 2 rate of £14.92.

Unlike their colleagues, they receive no enhanced pay for nights or weekends, and their employers’ pension contribution is reduced.

Dennis Gyamfi, a cleaner at Epsom Hospital and UVW member, described the frustration, “I’ve cleaned this hospital for seven years. My fellow cleaners, porters and caterers do essential work—yet we’ve never been treated with the same dignity as other NHS staff.

“We’re told we’re part of the NHS, but we’re not on Agenda for Change. We don’t get proper sick pay, fair pensions or equal wages — even for weekend work.

“When we ask why, we’re brushed aside. On National Facilities Day, the management took pictures to thank us—but we don’t want photos, we want equality, and we want respect.”

The nearly 300 UVW members report that they are ready to strike if their demands are not met, with walkout dates to be announced in mid-August.

Donate to the UVW strike fund at tinyurl.com/EpsomUVW

Subway strike gets underway

Over 100 workers on the Glasgow subway suspended strikes after bosses at Strathclyde Partnership for Transport made an offer. 

But the Unite union members rejected that offer and took to the picket lines. Workers struck last Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. 

Workers are angry that chronic understaffing means the service doesn’t function properly, and they have to regularly work 10 hours extra a week.  

Victory over pay for workers at Heathrow

A strike of over 800 workers at Heathrow has won a massive 12.5 percent pay deal following strikes in April and May.

The Unite union members, employed by Wilson James, work as passenger assistants. 

Predominantly migrant workers, they were demanding to be paid the same as their counterparts at Gatwick, employed by the same company, who were paid around 10 percent more.  

Workers at Heathrow won a 7.5 percent pay increase backdated to January 2025, with wages increasing by a further 5 percent in April 2026.

No outsourcing our jobs

PCS union members working for the pensions administrator MyCSP begin six weeks of strikes on 7 July. 

Some 156 workers voted in support of action to gain full union recognition. The scheme is due to be transferred to an outsourcing scheme run by Capita. But MyCSP has refused to recognise or consult with PCS.

The strike will take place on 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-21 July and 1-8 and 11-15 August. 

Piling the pressure on bosses secures win

Unite union members at the Ellesmere Port waste facility in Cheshire have won a pay deal after threatening strikes.  

Workers were set to strike last Friday, but the pressure forced bosses at Veolia to improve the deal.

The Unite union members won a 4 percent pay increase, with a further increase in year two based on the average inflation rates. Workers will also see improved overtime and pensions contributions.