Following an incredible show of support from healthcare support workers (HCAs, MSWs & TSWs) UNISON can confirm strike action will now take place across both Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital.
Across both Trusts, over 90% of those balloted backed strike action. Healthcare support workers at both hospitals are set to walk out. Since receiving this momentous result, Richard Mitchell (the Chief Executive of KGH and NGH) and his team have failed to return to the negotiating table with a better offer.
KGH and NGH have accepted staff perform the more complex duties and have offered to move them up to salary band 3. However, they are refusing to fairly compensate the healthcare support workers for their underpaid work and meet the union’s demand of back pay covering the period to 2018.
Strike action will take place between the below dates and times:
- 7am on Tuesday 4 June to 7am on Wednesday 5 June 2024
- 7am on Wednesday 5 June to 7am on Thursday 6 June 2024
- 7am on Thursday 6 June to 7am on Friday 7 June 2024
Picket lines will be in operation on all strike days between 7:00am and 2:30pm at the following locations:
- Kettering General Hospital – on the grass by the Rothwell Road junction with Haweswater Road (https://maps.app.goo.gl/3cEga2PPTrTvbmMCA?g_st=ic)
- Northampton General Hospital – on the grass next to Cliftonville Road in front of the Podiatry Centre (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VRc9EvWmg2SFnyxN7?g_st=ic)
What we’re fighting for:
- Backpay dated to 1 April 2018 factoring in all additional hours, unsocial hours, shift premiums, and relevant tax adjustments.
- ALL Band 2 HCSWs (HCAs, MSWs, and TSWs) to be regraded to Band 3 if they are regularly doing ANY clinical duties
- The above regrading and backpay to be applied to Bank staff and former HCSWs (HCAs, MSWs, and TSWs)
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Strike FAQS
Who can strike?
Any Band 2 Healthcare Assistant, Maternity Support Worker, or Theatre Support Worker who is a UNISON member working for KGH or NGH can take strike action (including bank staff).
Any former Healthcare Assistant, Maternity Support Worker, or Theatre Support Worker who is a UNISON member working for KGH or NGH and undertook these roles during the period April 2018 to present (including bank staff).
Can I strike if I joined UNISON recently or didn’t vote in the ballot?
Yes. If you meet the above criteria and are part of our HCSW pay claim, you can strike.
Can I strike if I’m not a UNISON member?
No. However, if you join UNISON anytime from now to the day of strike action you will be able to strike with your colleagues. You can join here: http://join.unison.org.uk/
Can bank staff take part in the industrial action?
Yes. Bank staff are a central part of this dispute and UNISON’s claim. If bank staff have a bank shift booked on a strike day, they should not attend work. Staff should also not book onto any bank shifts that fall on strike days.
Can former Band 2 Healthcare Assistants, Maternity Support Workers, and Theatre Support Workers take part in the industrial action?
Yes. Former Band 2 H Healthcare Assistant, Maternity Support Worker, and Theatre Support Worker are a central part of this dispute and UNISON’s claim.
What form will our industrial action take?
Following discussions with senior UNISON officials and based on experience in other NHS Trusts, it was decided that the most impactful action would be strike action and a ban on accepting bank shifts on strike days. It was decided that the action should be scheduled on a series of dates in April and the beginning of May.
When will strike action take place?
7am on Tuesday 4 June to 7am on Wednesday 5 June 2024
7am on Wednesday 5 June to 7am on Thursday 6 June 2024
7am on Thursday 6 June to 7am on Friday 7 June 2024
If you’re booked onto a shift which starts between these times, you should not go to work and you should strike for the entirety of your shift, even if your shift ends outside of the strike period. If your shift starts before the scheduled start of the strike period, you should complete the entirety of your shift even if it ends during the strike period. Members should not book or attend bank shifts commencing during this period.
Examples:
Example A: A member that is due to start work at 19:30 on Thursday 6th June 2024 would take industrial action for the full duration of their shift.
Example B: A member that is due to start work at 07:30 on Tuesday 4th June 2024 would take industrial action for the full duration of their shift.
Example C: A member that is due to start work at 10:00 on Wednesday 5th June 2024 would take industrial action for the full duration of their shift.
Example D: A member that is due to start work at 19:30 on Monday 3rd June 2024 would start work and complete their shift as normal.
Will there be picket lines?
Yes. Picket lines will be held on strike days between 7:00am and 2:30pm at the following locations:
- Kettering General Hospital – on the grass by the Rothwell Road junction with Haweswater Road (https://maps.app.goo.gl/3cEga2PPTrTvbmMCA?g_st=ic)
- Northampton General Hospital – on the grass next to Cliftonville Road in front of the Podiatry Centre (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VRc9EvWmg2SFnyxN7?g_st=ic)
It is crucial that as many people attend picket lines as possible. People who are scheduled to be on shift and are taking strike action should join the picket. Staff on their day off can come and join the picket line as soon as it starts to support their striking colleagues. And any friends, family members, and other staff on their day off can join the picket line too. The more people there, the stronger we are!
What is strike action?
Strike action is where a group of workers refuse to work for a defined period of time. Workers taking strike action don’t turn-up for work and generally join a picket line outside their workplace to increase awareness and support for their cause.
Should I tell my line manager in advance that I will be striking on those days?
No. You have no obligation to inform anyone in advance that you won’t be working on strike days. The point of the strike is to be as disruptive as possible. Informing your manager could potentially allow the employer to reduce the levels of disruption. Therefore, if you feel comfortable doing so, we’d ask you not to inform anyone in advance. However, the most important thing is that you don’t work on strike days.
Do I have to strike? What if I voted no/don’t want to?
We respect that some people will have voted no in the ballot. However we are a democratic union, and we are asking all members to abide by the decision that has been taken by the collective and to observe the strike days. Almost 95% of members voted YES to strike action. It’s only by acting collectively that you can be effective and therefore it’s important not to undermine the efforts being made by other members.
Members are free not to strike and no action will be taken by your union against those who break the strike.
Can strike action be called off?
Yes. UNISON still wish to achieve a resolution via negotiation and have outlined to KGH and NGH what we feel a compromise deal could look like. Should we receive a further improved offer that we would be comfortable putting to our members for consultation, UNISON would then call off the strike action.
What is wrong with the KGH and NGH offer?
Several things:
KGH and NGH are offering 2 years and 7 months backpay by backdating the re-banding to August 2021. This is not good enough. It does not represent a fair settlement for the years of underpayment experienced by many HCSWs at KGH and NGH. The Trusts owe HCSWs much more than 2 and a half years of backpay – remember this is money that HCSWs like you have earned that the Trusts have not paid. 2.5 years backpay also doesn’t come close to the backpay deals won in other NHS Trusts. In other Trusts all over the country, UNISON HCSWs have won 5-6 years of backpay. This has been achieved in the following Trusts: Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Wigan, Wrightington & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine Care Foundation NHS Trust, Tameside and Glossop Integrated NHS Foundation Trust, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, East Cheshire NHS Trust, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Warrington and Halton NHS Trust, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust), and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. HCSWs in Kettering and Northampton are worth every bit as much as those in other parts of England. You and your colleagues shouldn’t settle for less.
KGH and NGH have said that bank-only HCAs, MSWs, and TSWs will not receive back-dated pay. This is unacceptable. They have also not provided clarity on whether former HCAs, MSWs, or TSWs, who have taken up non-HCSW roles within KGH/NGH or have left KGH/NGH altogether. This is not fair. UNISON believes former HCSWs deserve backpay for all the Band 3 work they’ve done and haven’t been properly paid for.
Some HCSWs haven’t been offered re-banding. The Trusts have taken this decision without UNISON’s input. UNISON’s survey showed the vast majority of HCSWs were doing Band 3 duties. UNISON believes any Band 2 HCSWs regularly doing ANY Clinical Duties should be regraded to Band 3. The Trusts need to get back round the negotiation table and allow UNISON and its members have their say over these decisions.
KGH and NGH made the decision to shut down negotiations and impose a deal without agreement from UNISON. This is not only unacceptable, but it also breaches legal recognition terms that UNISON has with the Trusts. This is a dangerous moment, if KGH and NGH are allowed to get away with this, they will believe they can change other terms & conditions at will. The Trusts need to get back round the table and agree a reasonable solution with UNISON and its members.
Why should I take strike action?
UNISON members should take strike action in order to put pressure on KGH and NGH to offer a better deal. You and your colleagues deserve every bit as much as HCSWs in NHS Trusts in other parts of the country who have won 5-6 years’ backpay.
Through the small individual actions you and your colleagues have taken so far you have forced KGH and NGH to re-band the majority of HCSWs, to move those with 2 years’ service to the top of the band, and to increase their backpay offer from 1 year to just over 2.5 years. By completing UNISON’s survey, signing the collective grievance, delivering the collective grievance to Trust management, voting in the online consultative ballot, and then voting in the postal industrial action ballot, you and your colleagues have demonstrated your strength, determination, power, and your ability to win concessions from KGH and NGH.
Collective action works! If you continue to fight, you can win the 5-6 years backpay you and your colleagues deserve, you can win pay justice for bank staff and former HCAs, MSWs, and TSWs, and you can win re-banding for the HCSWs who have been left behind on Band 2. Taking strike action is the final step towards winning big. By standing strong together and taking part in the strike action, you and your colleagues will ramp up the pressure on KGH and NGH and force them to finally do the right thing by meeting your demands.
Does industrial action work (or the credible threat of it) and result in better deals for workers?
Yes. In areas where HCSW’s have voted to take industrial action to demand a better deal they have forced the employer to reconsider and have won 5-6 years backpay. This has happened in places like Warrington and Halton, Wirral, and Mid-Cheshire.
KGH/NGH have already re-banded me. Can I still take strike action?
We understand that KGH and NGH have re-banded the majority of HCSWs, as a result of the pressure UNISON members have exerted. However, we are still in dispute with the Trusts over several issues which are outlined above. You still can and should take strike action to demand a better deal.
Will I get paid for the days I am on strike?
A day of strike is classed as an unauthorised absence and therefore you will not be paid. However, you will be able to claim strike pay from UNISON. Strike pay cannot exceed normal take-home pay. UNISON’s National Industrial Action Committee has set strike pay for this dispute at £50 per day.
Tell me more about strike pay.
All striking members (including bank staff) will be able to apply for strike pay – which is currently set at £50 per day – using an online form. This money is not taxable, so you will receive the full £70. The online form will be opened for applications when the employer makes deductions from members’ wages as a result of any strike action taken. We expect deductions to be taken in July’s wages, so the form will likely open on or around Friday 26th July. We will notify all members when we open the online form for applications.
You will need to provide us with evidence to demonstrate that you have lost wages due to taking strike action. The best way to do this will be to provide copies or screenshots of your KGH/NGH payslip and your duty rota showing that you were scheduled to work and then did not attend. These will show strike absence or any deductions from your wages as a result of taking strike action. You will be able to upload all appropriate documentation using the online form.
You will receive your Strike Pay quickly, following submission of your online application.
Will I get in trouble for going on strike – Is striking a breach of contract?
Almost all effective industrial action is a breach of your contract of employment. However, UNISON is only asking you to strike after a lawful statutory ballot. The law protects workers from dismissal while taking part in lawful industrial action at any time within 12 weeks of the start of action. Depending on the circumstances, dismissal may also be unfair if it takes place later.
What about patient safety?
KGH and NGH Trust leaders have forced you into this position by refusing to offer a fair deal, despite having numerous opportunities to listen to you and do the right thing. Patient safety is ultimately their responsibility. Don’t let the Trusts exploit your goodwill anymore.
KGH and NGH have failed to consider patient safety by refusing to pay you properly for years which has resulted in many HCSWs leaving, which has left many wards understaffed. And the Trusts have continued to fail to consider this, as well as their ability to recruit HCSWs, when offering this bargain basement deal.
UNISON would never ask its members to take industrial action that would endanger life or could cause serious bodily injury.
The Trusts say there isn’t enough money to pay 5-6 years backpay
For years the Trusts have knowingly and wantonly allowed you to perform Band 3 tasks which you are not being paid properly for. They have deprioritised your wages in order to make savings and cuts. Now that they are being called out on this, they are trying to get away with re-paying what HCSWs deserve. Don’t let them get away with it. Other Trusts have found the money, KGH and NGH need to do the same.
Is it illegal for me to take industrial action?
Absolutely not. UK workers have a legal right to withdraw their labour and to take industrial action.
What if am on sick leave?
Workers who are absent on sick leave when a stoppage of work starts retain their right to statutory sick pay during the period of industrial action.
If an employee reports sick on the day the action starts, the employer can be expected to make their own judgment as to whether they should be regarded as on sick leave or on strike.
I already have Annual Leave booked for those dates – should I cancel my leave?
If you have leave booked there is no expectation for you to cancel it, the main thing is that you don’t work on those days. Having said that, some members have said that they do wish to cancel their leave and ensure it is registered as a strike day instead.
What is action short of strike?
For this dispute, action short of strike will take the form of all current Healthcare Assistants, Theatre Support Workers, and Maternity Support Workers refusing to book onto bank shifts on strike days. This includes both HCSWs who hold substantive posts and HCSWs who are bank only.
