Hundreds of staff employed by NHS outsourcing firm 2Gether Support Solutions will now receive a more than £1,600 lump sum payment for working during the pandemic after undertaking industrial action.
2Gether Support Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the East Kent NHS Trust, which runs the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury, William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Buckland Hospital in Dover and the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone.
The employees, who are members of trade union Unite, are responsible for the estates, facilities, domestics, housekeepers and catering departments at the hospitals. They are among the lowest-paid in the NHS, earning £11.45 per hour.
They had been undertaking industrial action since before Christmas after not receiving the payment from their employer, which they stated denied them the opportunity as they are not officially direct NHS employees. Many NHS workers received the Covid payment last year.
An East Kent NHS Trust spokesperson said: “We are pleased that 2gether are now in a position to negotiate with unions to end this dispute. Staff from 2gether Support Solutions are a valued part of our wider team who support us to ensure patient services run smoothly every day.”
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, added: “It has outsourced workers to a firm it entirely controls and is paying them some of the lowest rates within the NHS outside Agenda For Change terms. 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.”
Unite is currently in dispute with Barts NHS Trust and outsourcing firms Synergy and Mitie regarding a lump sum payment for their lowest paid staff.