Birmingham health workers set to walk out

NHS workers in the Unite and Unison unions were set to strike on Wednesday of this week at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust against plans to slash pay.

The attack will lead to an average £1,400 loss in pay according to Unite.

Strikers will picket at Reaside Clinic, Birmingham Great Park, Bristol Road South, Rednal, Birmingham, West Midlands B45 9BE, and Ardenleigh Clinic, Kingsbury Road, Erdington, Birmingham B24 9SA, from 8am.

Hundreds of health workers in Unison at the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are set to ballot for industrial action to defend their terms and conditions.

A consultative survey revealed the mood to fight, with more than 98 percent voting for action.

Cleaning workers employed by Medirest at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge protested last week against a 21 percent pay cut and threats to jobs.

The cleaners set fire to letters from bosses.

One cleaner, Gerald Tigalo, said, “We need to pay our rent and other bills. If I lose £240 a month, we cannot survive.”

The workers want a ballot from their union, Unison.