Cleaning staff at Lewisham Hospital who recently went on strike over unpaid wages have been issued a pay rise.

Workers first downed tools in February after private contractor ISS failed to pay numerous staff members due to an “administrative error”.

ISS has now made the wage payments in full - with backpay - which brings the cleaners' hourly rate of pay up to £10.55 an hour. 

A spokesperson for Lewisham Hospital said: “We are pleased that ISS staff been moved to £10.55 an hour as a minimum wage following completion of skills-based training, with the payments backdated to the start of the contract (February 2020).

"This was agreed last year as part of the new contract.”

Helen O’Connor, GMB Organiser, said: “This is a significant win for GMB Union and our members.

“We have long campaigned for outsourced workers in Lewisham Hospital to be paid the London Living Wage and have held a number of protests outside the hospital which were backed by the community and the TUC.

“These brave hospital cleaners endured threats and bullying throughout their dispute, but their persistence has now paid off.

“Our members want to thank everyone who supported their pay campaign.

“The success of the Lewisham Hospital campaign shows that when unions and communities work together to stand up for themselves, they can and do win against corporate power.”

ISS took on a seven-year contract with Lewisham hospital in February, taking over 400 workers from Interserve.

Chris Ash, Managing Director of Healthcare at ISS, apologised to staff affected, and said "urgent steps" had been taken to resolve the issue.

He explained that the error had affected a "limited number of staff who moved to a new pay system," and that immediate emergency payments had been made