Healthcare assistants at South Tyneside and Sunderland hospitals avoid strike action after accepting improved deal
by David Huntley · ChronicleLiveHundreds of NHS workers in South Tyneside and Sunderland have avoided strike action after accepting an improved deal.
Healthcare assistants and clinical support workers are to receive a wage rise and back pay after the threat of strike action over pay, UNISON revealed on Friday. Staff working for South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust voted overwhelmingly in July for strike action in a dispute over fair wages.
The health workers had campaigned for months to be given fair back pay for the work they had already undertaken. The union believes healthcare assistants had been undertaking clinical tasks which mean they should be paid at the band 3 NHS Agenda for Change pay rate, rather than band 2 as is currently the case. The union said there had been 99% of staff in favour of industrial action.
UNISON says it has been pressing NHS trusts through its Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign to ensure staff wages reflect the duties they perform. After workers threatened to walk out the South Tyneside and Sunderland trust agreed to negotiate with workers, which has now resulted in an improved offer.
UNISON Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “It’s great to see that strikes have been avoided after staff won a hard-fought campaign. These healthcare assistants have been working above their pay band for many years.
“It should never have come to a threat of strike action, but it’s good the trust returned to negotiations and agreed the back pay staff deserved. The union will now work with the trusts to get health workers the money they’re owed as soon as possible.”
In South Tyneside and Sunderland, the staff in question held a demonstration outside of Sunderland Royal in Kayll Road last March. The issue came as they said they had been carrying out clinical tasks such as blood tests and ECGs.
A spokesperson for South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust said: "Our Clinical Support Workers and Healthcare Assistants are a highly valued and vital part of our workforce. We worked hard during our discussions with the union to resolve this as swiftly as we could and pleased this deal has been agreed."
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