Cleaners in protest at GWH strike cover (From Swindon Advertiser)

Cleaners in protest at GWH strike cover

10:40am Friday 17th February 2012 in News By Katie Bond

CLEANERS working at the Great Western Hospital who are midway through strike action against alleged bullying by their employer Carillion held a protest yesterday.

The workers, who are all members of the GMB union and of Goan descent, held the first of three one-day strikes at GWH on Tuesday over claims of bullying, harassment and discrimination by Carillion bosses.

But yesterday morning 40 of the workers protested outside Nationwide HQ in Pipers Way over reports Carillion had brought in employees who are usually based at Nationwide to cover staff on strike at GWH.

Andy Newman, the branch secretary for GMB in Swindon, said: “We understand with very good information that on Tuesday, Carillion asked people who work for them on other contracts for employers such as Nationwide and Zurich, to cover for our members.

“We think that it is completely unacceptable that they have dragged private sector companies’ reputations into this dispute.

“GMB have no complaints with Nationwide and Zurich, we have no reason to believe there is anything wrong with what they have done.

“Carillion management have done the wrong thing by transferring staff to where there is a strike going on and that is why we had a protest.”

Despite holding talks with Carillion on Monday ahead of the first strike, GMB said they failed to make any headway, and unless planned crisis talks next Monday are a success, the strikes on February 21 and 23 will go ahead as planned.

Mark Bagnall, the director of estates and facilities at GWH, said: “The strike action which took place on Tuesday involving a number of GMB members working for our contractor Carillion had minimal impact on the hospital and our patients – the plans put in place to minimise disruption were successful.

“These plans involved qualified staff from other Carillion contracts working here in the hospital.

“And, thanks to their hard work and professionalism, patients will have noticed no difference in the service provided.

“The hospital was cleaned to the usual high standard and patients served food in the same way as they would on any other day. “ A spokesman for Carillion said GMB was wrong to think that Carillion workers based at Nationwide had been drafted in to cover shifts at GWH.

He said: “We are aware of the protest yesterday morning outside the Nationwide office.

“However, no employees who work for Carillion on the Nationwide contract were involved in providing cover at the Great Western Hospital during strike action this week.

“While we were disappointed that the strike action went ahead on Tuesday, the contingency plans which we put into place were successfully implemented and patient care and the efficient running of the hospital were not impacted.

“We had excellent support and actually had a surplus of people to carry out the duties of the 65 employees who took strike action, to ensure that all services were delivered to the usual high standards.”