The dates have been confirmed for a workers’ strike that will see staff from south London hospitals walk out over their fight for better pay.
GMB union members, who work as cleaning and catering staff at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM), will go on strike from Sunday 23rd April until Tuesday 25th.
More than 170 workers will down tools in their fight for £14.34 an hour and full Agenda for Change NHS terms and conditions.
If the dispute is not resolved, strike action is likely to hit four south London hospitals across South London and Maudsley Trust (SLaM), impacting catering and cleaning services.
SLaM specialises in mental health and comprises four psychiatric hospitals, more than 100 community sites and 300 clinical teams.
Helen O’Connor, GMB Organiser said: “Our members who do vital work for SLaM have had enough of eking out a miserable existence on poverty pay whilst juggling impossible workloads.
“They are struggling to feed themselves and their families. The anger is palpable amongst the workers who just want to be treated fairly.
“GMB members are also concerned that ISS is cutting hours and replacing permanent staff with agency workers. This means that the cleaning and catering in the trust are being compromised and this is having an adverse effect on standards for patients and visitors to the sites.
“We are calling on ISS and South London and Maudsley to get around the table to discuss how to protect and enhance the catering and cleaning services in SLaM and we believe this starts with paying the workforce what they need and deserve to survive.
“If the dispute is not resolved GMB members will embark on an escalating programme of strike action from April.”