Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has secured a crucial victory in the industrial dispute with NHS outsourcing company 2Gether Support Solutions.

 

Due to the actions of Unite members, 2Gether (a wholly owned subsidiary of the East Kent NHS Trust) will now pay hundreds of staff the lump sum payment – over £1,600 - for working during the pandemic. Unlike most NHS workers who received the Covid payment last year the workers at 2Gether had previously been denied the payment as they aren’t officially direct employees of the NHS.

 

Unite members at 2Gether had been taking industrial action since before Christmas due to the failure of their employer to pay the lump sum payment. Staff at 2Gether are responsible for the Estates, Facilities, Domestics, Housekeepers, and Catering departments. Many of these staff are among the lowest paid in the NHS earning as little as £11.45 per hour.

 

During the dispute, Unite recruited hundreds of more members who were determined to use the power of a union to help overcome an intransigent employer.

 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This has been a prolonged dispute for our members to secure the payment they were rightfully owed. This shows the power of a union and should be a wake-up call for other trusts and providers in the NHS who are refusing to make similar payments. We will fight you and we will win.”

 

EKHUFT is one of the largest hospital trusts in England. It runs the Kent and Canterbury Hospital (Canterbury), William Harvey Hospital (Ashford), Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (Margate), Buckland Hospital (Dover), and the Royal Victoria Hospital (Folkestone).

 

Unite is currently in dispute with Barts NHS Trust, and two outsourcing companies, Synergy and Mitie, over their failures to pay staff the lump-sum – worth over £1600 to the lowest paid staff.

 

Unite regional officer Kushi Hussein added: “Our members should be congratulated on their determination to fight for this award. They were fully entitled to it and East Kent NHS should be ashamed that their own staff had to resort to strike action to get the money they were owed.”

 

-ENDS-