A-Infos (en) Catalist #8 - Healthy outcomes - Health workers in Bolton and London have won important victories

[Worker <a-infos-en@ainfos.ca>]

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Health workers in Bolton and London
have won important victories against
the private hospitals group, ISS
Mediclean.
     After a series of strikes in London, workers at
Whipps Cross Hospital forced a climb-down by the
multinationals management over the imposition of pay
and a two-tier work system (where those joining from
the NHS had better contracts than those joining after
privatisation).
     Meanwhile, in Bolton, workers at Royal Bolton
Hospital forced yet another back-down by ISS. After 12
days of strikes spread across four weeks, management
were forced to increase pay to 5.33 per hour, with night
shift workers getting time and a third, and sickness
benefit to be paid from day one instead of after three
days. This is a major setback to private sector healthcare
companies, who have sought to capitalise on
casualisation in order to turn a healthy profit from
undermining basic workers rights.
      It just goes to show that even the most hard-nosed
companies, when faced with indomitable strike action,
can be forced into humiliation. They are delighted with
endless negotiations, teamworking and lobbying, because
they can manage them, but they cant manage a load of
people getting themselves together and walking off the
job in protest. As always, direct action gets the goods!
Meanwhile, the health sector trade unions are so
institutionalised that they refuse to support any such real
action for health workers.


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