A two-day strike by the lowest-paid workers at Whipps Cross Hospital began yesterday morning.

But as it got under way a leading union man congratulated the Whipps Cross chief executive for finally "waking up and realising there is a problem".

Porters, catering staff and ward cleaners employed by ISS Mediclean at the hospital are out over what they see as an unfair gap between their pay and that of NHS workers with similar jobs. Some of the contractors earn as little as £4.65 an hour.

But following the announcement of strike action yesterday, Whipps' chief executive Peter Coles said the hospital was committed to plugging the gap.

Mr Coles said: "We are committed to the goal of trying to achieve harmonisation between the levels of pay by April 2006. This will constitute a 45 per cent pay uplift for the lowest paid staff over three years.

"We are in the process of re-tendering all of our services and intend to consider the pay and conditions offered by potential contractors.

"The trust will award contracts to those companies that offer best value for both the trust and staff working at the hospital, and is working closely with the Strategic Health Authority and other hospitals in the area to find a common approach."

The strike came despite what appeared to be progress in negotiations between ISS Mediclean and staff Representatives. At present, a deal is on the table to offer the lowest paid staff an immediate increase of 8.3 per cent, but Unison regional officer Maurice Sheehan said the offer was "too little, too late."

He said: "It seems that at last Peter Coles has woken up and realised there is a major problem regarding low pay.

"But it has taken a two-day strike to get Mr Coles to realise there is a serious problem. The 8.3 per cent would take pay up to around £5 an hour which would still be around £1 less than NHS staff doing the same jobs.

"There are 360 ISS Mediclean staff at Whipps Cross. Two years ago, just 60 of those staff were Unison members, now there are 260.

"I've seen some of these people's pay checks and some of them cannot even afford to get the train home."

Unison leaders now hope that, following Mr Coles' comments, talks can be held to move forward.

Mr Coles said he regretted that patients would be inconvenienced but added that the trust was certain it would be business as usual in large portions of the hospital.

The two-day strike ended at 6am this morning.

May 30, 2003 13:00