Healthcare assistants and support workers at South Tyneside’s NHS Trust vote to strike over pay issues

UNISON has confirmed on Tuesday, July 30, that hundreds of healthcare assistants and clinical support workers at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust have voted to strike.

The industrial action relates to a dispute over pay - with the dates of the strike yet to be confirmed.

Voting in favour of strike action will mean that healthcare assistants and clinical support workers across the Trust will walk out unless their is an improved pay offer.

UNISON says that staff should have been paid at a higher rate due to their “increasingly complex duties” and should be awarded fair back pay.

The union has stated that 99% of staff have backed the industrial action following the ballot.

Ian Fleming, UNISON Northern head of health, said: “Healthcare assistants and clinical support workers across South Tyneside and Sunderland want to continue providing exceptional care to people. However, they need to be fairly paid for their work.

“The Trust has had opportunities to improve its initial offer. The majority of healthcare assistants have worked well above their wage rate for years. The trust’s offer falls well below what they deserve.

“Staff in South Tyneside and Sunderland have seen their colleagues on Teesside win their campaign for fair pay and are determined to do the same.”

The strike action follows healthcare assistants employed by the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust winning a substantial pay rise in July with back pay to 2019, following two weeks of strike action.

UNISON has stated that healthcare assistants have been paid at band 2 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale, despite undertaking clinical tasks for many years that should be paid at the higher band 3 rate.

The union claims that ​South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust is refusing to reband all staff that UNISON believes are eligible as well as meeting the union’s demand of fair back pay for work that has already been done.

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South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust has stated that it is aiming to resolve the situation as soon as it can.

A spokesperson for the Trust commented: “Our Healthcare Assistants are a vital and much valued part of our team and we want to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

”We do not want to put anyone at a financial detriment because of any changes to their banding.

“As a responsible employer, we take this duty of care very seriously and will continue to put the best interests of staff first.”