Thirty security workers from Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals will strike for ten days after their request for a pay rise was denied.
The 30 workers, who protect staff and patients across the two hospitals, are asking for a 96p per hour pay rise.
They first walked out in March but their request was denied.
Now, Unite, the union has announced another strike, lasting 10 days from 23 May to 2 June.
They claim Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust refuses to put forward an increase even though the workers are paid less than their counterparts at hospitals across London, such as Kings’ College Hospital, where a security officer’s salary starts at £30,000 per annum.
A security officer taking part in the strikes said: “Our security management got a pay increase last year, but our salary remains the same, despite our role becoming increasingly more dangerous.
“We never quite know what we are going to get when we come into work and that is incredibly daunting. We deal with everything, from volatile patients to opening and unlocking various hospital departments. It all comes with a great deal of risk, but that is ignored by the trust.
“We have had enough.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The trust should be hanging its head in shame. It is completely unacceptable that it is exploiting these workers, who play a critical role keeping staff and patients safe, by paying them much less than security staff at other London hospitals. We are backing our members all the way as they escalate their strike action for a fair pay rise.”
A spokesperson for Guy’s and St Thomas’ said: “We are disappointed that Unite are continuing with these strikes in the middle of constructive talks.
“We would urge them to call off this action so we can continue making progress on a fair deal for our highly valued security officers.”
The workers are also fighting against the trust’s implementation of unpaid breaks as well as its refusal to calculate holiday allowance based on a 37.5 hour working week.
Further strike action will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved.