Hospital pay dispute involving an employment agency has been resolved
25 July 2014
A bitter and difficult dispute between Northampton General Hospital (NGH) and 55 pathology staff members came to an end after an agreement was made this week.
Fri, 25 Jul 2014 | By Nicola Sullivan
A bitter and difficult dispute involving a third party recruitment agency between Northampton General Hospital (NGH) and 55 pathology staff members came to an end after an agreement was made this week.
At the height of the clash, which began when biomedical employees refused to accept a £6k pay cut and an increase to their nightshift patterns, trades union Unite threatened a legal injunction against the hospital to stop it using a third party employment business to provide replacements for those on strike.
This, claimed Unite, meant some biomedical scientists had been locked out of their jobs for almost a month and the hospital was in breach of regulations, which forbid the use of employment agencies to supply workers to perform the duties of striking staff.
There were also concerns that some of the medical staff provided by the undisclosed agency were being encouraged to set themselves up as ‘companies’ to circumvent the law on the use of temporary staff in industrial disputes.
Unusually, however, none of the parties involved are prepared to provide details on what the new deal will consist of. The agreement made via the mediation service Acas and announced by union Unite yesterday [24 July] will see changes made to staff contracts from March 2015. Acceptance of the new terms will see the workforce return to work on Monday [28 July].
A statement from Unite said: “Neither party will be commenting further on the details as the focus now is to secure a swift return to normal working at the hospital.”
At the height of the clash, which began when biomedical employees refused to accept a £6k pay cut and an increase to their nightshift patterns, trades union Unite threatened a legal injunction against the hospital to stop it using a third party employment business to provide replacements for those on strike.
This, claimed Unite, meant some biomedical scientists had been locked out of their jobs for almost a month and the hospital was in breach of regulations, which forbid the use of employment agencies to supply workers to perform the duties of striking staff.
There were also concerns that some of the medical staff provided by the undisclosed agency were being encouraged to set themselves up as ‘companies’ to circumvent the law on the use of temporary staff in industrial disputes.
Unusually, however, none of the parties involved are prepared to provide details on what the new deal will consist of. The agreement made via the mediation service Acas and announced by union Unite yesterday [24 July] will see changes made to staff contracts from March 2015. Acceptance of the new terms will see the workforce return to work on Monday [28 July].
A statement from Unite said: “Neither party will be commenting further on the details as the focus now is to secure a swift return to normal working at the hospital.”
