Biomedical scientists strike latest
East Lancashire NHS Trust intransigence forces new period of strike action by biomedical scientists
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Bosses at East Lancashire NHS Trust must shoulder the blame for a new 12 week strike which started on Wednesday (December 15).
Blackburn and Burnley biomedical scientists restarted strike action on Wednesday in a dispute over unpaid wages.
Union negotiators met with the Trust on Tuesday (December 7) last week in an attempt to identify a solution to the dispute. It was an opportunity to avoid further strike action and to re-establish union / Trust relations. On the eve of the strike, the Trust had still failed to take up the opportunity to end the dispute.
The skilled NHS staff at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust are owed on average between £8000 and £12,000.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Last week Unite met with the Trust with an offer to work constructively to get a deal to resolve this strike. Instead our offer has been met with a stubborn unwillingness to end the dispute.
“The Trust’s Chief Executive Martin Hodgson has the failed the staff, the patients, and he’s failed the taxpayer,” she added.
“The biomedical scientists are taking action because they have a genuine, legitimate, fair and reasonable case and they have Unite’s unwavering support. This dispute will now go ahead and our campaign will escalate.”
By Ciaran Naidoo
