Yesterday’s pay meeting at the PEH. Staff have rejected the States’ 3% pay offer but have offered a reassurance that patients would not suffer should industrial action be taken. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0564443)
PATIENTS would not be endangered if hospital workers took industrial action, staff said yesterday.
If States manual workers decided to strike over pay discrepancies, ancillary workers at the island’s hospitals agreed they would take part in a limited capacity only.
‘We would never do anything to put patients’ lives at risk – never – but there is a feeling that some sort of industrial action might happen. Obviously, being a hospital, patient care is our priority. If the time came, we would have to discuss what limited action we could take,’ said John Naftel, a maintenance worker at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
About 100 people, including porters, gardeners, kitchen staff and cleaners, attended a meeting at the PEH yesterday to discuss pay increases for 2008 with Unite union leaders.
The workers want a rise in line with September’s RPI figure of 4.9% and 3% on top of that to cover increased contributions and the half-a-percent rise in pension payments.
They have unanimously rejected a 3% offer.
‘That offer is just terrible. We’re in an awkward position as hospital workers. We could not leave patients starving – caring for them is our priority,’ said Neil Pearce, who deals with deliveries.
Carpenter George Torode said that although workers felt let down by the States, it was important to have public opinion on side to achieve success in negotiations. A full strike at the hospital, he said, would work against them.
He was also concerned about the long-term implications of low pay. ‘Wages for hospital workers have been falling for a while and guest workers, who we rely on, don’t want to come back.’
He said that if pay remained poor the pool of manual workers could dry up, compromising the hospital’s standard of cleanliness.
‘It would just leave the way open for superbugs and we’d get a situation similar to the UK.’
Unite local representative Ron Le Cras said that despite the trepidation of some hospital staff, the likelihood was that industrial action would happen irrespective of where they worked.
Other facilities that could be affected by any action are the King Edward VII and Castel hospitals.
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