Dundee porters turning the screw as NHS bosses flounder

Philip Stott reports from Dundee

The Dundee porters at Ninewells and Royal Victoria hospitals are eight weeks into an all-out strike.

The pressure on NHS Tayside management and now the Scottish government has been ratcheted up by the incredible determination of the 120 men and woman who are the backbone of the action. A strike that is now set to become the longest running in Dundee since the Timex lock-out of 1993.

Striking for a band 2 grading and compensation for years of underpayment, the porters have proved just how invaluable they are to the running of the two hospitals.

Regular reports of hospital refuse going uncollected and photographs of rubbish piling up are widely circulated. NHS bosses clearly hoped to rely on so-called “goodwill” – in reality pressure from the bosses – of other health workers to fill in for the striking porters.

However, in practice, it has been band 7 and 8 managers who are taking on much of the work, alongside so-called “volunteers.” But this arrangement is clearly failing to cover even the basic duties that the porters normally undertake.

A letter sent to nursing staff last week requested that: “wards/departments make arrangements for staff to collect the ward’s clean linen trolley and deposit the used trolley on a daily basis”.

In response the nursing union RCN hit back; “Registered nurses and health care support workers have got enough to do without taking on the duties of other staff during industrial action…we have reiterated our advice to our members about what to do when other staff are taking industrial action.” In other words we won’t do the job of striking colleagues.

breach of safety

As a Unite steward commented to the Socialist; “This is a breach of even basic health and safety regulations. Nursing and other support staff don’t have either the safety footwear or the experience of operating the trolleys and other tasks normally done by the porters. So why are management asking them to do this?

“They’re not coping with the impact of the strike. They should be spending more time settling the dispute rather than asking other NHS workers to cover for a strike the management are responsible for creating in the first place.”

political pressure

The porters have also been increasing the pressure on the Scottish government. A very successful protest outside the offices of the local SNP MSP and Scottish health minister Shona Robison resulted in the her agreeing to meet with the shop stewards. At that meeting the porters called for the backing of the SNP minister for their fight for fair pay.

Unite senior steward Ronnie Heeney told us: “The minster made all the right noises, but then again she did the same seven weeks ago when we last spoke to her. We said again that if the proposed mechanism for settling the strike – the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC) review – did not come up with a decent offer, it will not be binding and the strike will continue.”

STAC is due to make a proposal week beginning 1st June. The porters are also taking two coaches to protest at the Scottish parliament on Thursday 28 May.

solidarity

The donations for the strike have continued to pour in from hospital workers and the general public in Dundee and trade unionists across Scotland and the UK. Unite senior steward Graham Nelson told us “NHS Fife Unite branch gave us £1,000. We’ve also received £400 from the firefighters union the FBU and £200 from Unite members in Stagecoach from Dunfermline and Cowdenbeath.”

Over £300 was also donated in buckets on Saturday in Dundee town centre at a joint activity between the porters and supporters of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC). The porters will fight on until they win.

• All porters on band 2
• Compensation payments for years of being underpaid
• Full time jobs for the 14 porters whose jobs have ended and who were on temporary contracts

Messages of support and solidarity donations to

colin.coupar@unitetheunion.org 

Donations to Unite, 110 Blackness Road, Dundee DD1 5PB (cheques to Unite)

For speakers phone Graham Nelson 07749241470 

Facebook: Support Ninewells Porters