'No other job matters'

Unite’s Suzanne Abachor has worn many hats within and beyond the union – from Unite rep, to branch chair, to Executive Council (EC) member; hospital porter to councillor and so much more.

But for all her roles in public and private life, Suzanne above all is a fighter – she’s fights for the members she represents, and she fights every day for a better NHS that treats patients and staff with dignity and respect.

Last week, Suzanne received an award from King’s College Hospital for her 20 years of service working in the portering department. Speaking to UniteLive after receiving this prestigious honour, Suzanne (pictured with a line manager at the award ceremony) reflects on the evolution of a job she believes is central to the health service.

“Much has changed in the 20 years since I first started,” she recounts. “We have much fewer staff now, so our duties have increased significantly. It used to be that we were strictly porters – which meant taking patients from point A to point B – and sometimes other tasks like transporting oxygen supplies.”

Now, the role has expanded so much that to be a porter now means to juggle a number of jobs, from collecting blood to disposing of hazardous biowaste and much more in between.

“The work is very physically demanding, and we are always busy. Some days you don’t have time to take a proper break, and you just want to cry,” Suzanne explains.

Suzanne never set out to be a porter – she had catering qualifications that she’d earned in Nigeria before moving to the UK – but she fell into the job that she ultimately grew to love.

“Speaking with patients and caring for them – just being there for them at a hard time in their lives – that’s what I love about the job.”

Not long after starting her job, Suzanne would go on to join Unite’s predecessor union, the TGWU.

Her interest in joining the union all started when she was having problems with a particular manager who used to bully her. After many months of mistreatment, she walked into the union office to tell the rep.

“I told him, ‘I’m fed up. I love this job, but this woman won’t let me breathe. She keeps giving me the worst shifts and treats me horribly’,” Suzanne recalled. “He told me to join the union, and I did.”

The manager eventually ‘cooled down’ Suzanne noted, once she saw that she’d joined the union.

“But she didn’t completely stop her bullying; she just wasn’t as obvious about it.”

Within a year of joining Unite’s predecessor, Suzanne’s branch secretary urged her to become a rep. She hesitated at first, fearing retribution from her manager, but her branch secretary encouraged her to go for it. She did all the requisite training, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“It was then that I had the confidence to stand up to this manager myself. She couldn’t handle me anymore. I went from a quiet person to an assertive one – I wasn’t going to stand being bullied any longer. So she stopped targeting me and decided to move on to her next victim.”

Even though Suzanne had initially not planned on staying in hospital portering for long, it was when she began representing members that she decided she was going to stick to it.

“I remember telling my members that I’m going to stay to fight for them no matter what,” she recalled. “No other job matters.”

After only two years at the hospital, Suzanne went on to be elected branch secretary, a position she’s held since 2008.

“And we finally got rid of that horrible manager,” Suzanne laughed.

Suzanne also went on to sit on her employer’s UK Works Council and later its European Works Council (EWC). This work took her to Germany several times a year. Along the way she also went back to university to study IT. Afterwards, she was elected as a local councillor. For the last 12 years, Suzanne has also been elected for several terms to sit on Unite’s Executive Council (EC).  

Despite her many achievements, Suzanne’s feet are planted firmly on the ground. Speaking to UniteLive, she returns the conversation time and again to the job she loves.

While hospital portering has always had its challenges, Suzanne recalls the Covid pandemic as being an incredibly tough time for her and her colleagues.

“Many of our colleagues had compromised immune systems so they couldn’t work in the wards. This made severe staff shortages even worse. There were times I worked for thirteen days straight without a day off and with hardly a break.  

“We weren’t given full, effective PPE. It left much of our bodies exposed. I’m not going to lie, Covid was horrific. It often felt like it was every man for himself.”

Despite the dangers, so many portering and housekeeping staff kept coming in, day in and day out.

“If it weren’t for portering and housekeeping staff, the hospital would have been forced to close down,” Suzanne said. “Of course, all staff are needed, but it all starts with the porters and housekeepers. A surgeon can’t operate if their operating theatre isn’t cleaned. I always say that porters, cleaners and caterers are the number one in all hospitals.”

Five years after the Covid pandemic ended, the health service is still very much hanging by a thread. The very same key workers who kept it going are facing many of the same challenges – namely, being tasked with doing more and more, with ever-dwindling resources.

Suzanne explained the crux of the problem that she believes is plaguing understaffed hospitals across the NHS.

 “Every ward has a fixed budget that is managed by the matron. Matrons don’t want to use bank staff to cover staff who are off sick, or to make up for severe staff shortages because it eats into their budgets. So they just make do with the staff that they have.”

In practice, this means staff are regularly working 11-hour shifts.

“Many of our porters start at 8 in the morning and finish at 8 in the evening. They’re supposed to have an hour for lunch and a 15-minute break in the morning, and another in the evening, but they’re not getting those breaks. Standing on your feet all day long without adequate breaks is not good for workers, and it’s not good for the service either.”

Suzanne believes the only way things will change is if workers continue to organise in their unions and demand better. Known to many fellow porters affectionately as ‘Auntie Sue’, Suzanne always advises new starters to first and foremost join Unite.

“It’s never been more important as a hospital porter to be in the union,” Suzanne explained. “If you refuse to do extra work for which you aren’t trained – which is becoming more common — you’ll need the union to back you.”

While there’s no sign of the formidable Suzanne stopping her good work in the union and the hospital anytime soon, for now, she deserves to rest on her laurels. After all, she’ll also be receiving yet another award for her union work at the Unite Black History Month gala this evening (October 23).

Commenting, Suzanne said, “I’m so proud to have been working at King’s College Hospital as a porter now for 20 years. The joy and love I receive and give back makes my day at work.”

You made our day, Suzanne! Congratulations from the UniteLive team!

By Hajera Blagg