Sick pay attack

Unite is urging Liverpool City Council to back a motion to be debated this Wednesday (September 20) which calls on the outsourcing giant ISS to end its attack on sick pay for hundreds of workers at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals.

The workforce has been stripped of a fair sick pay policy. It has been replaced with an inferior scheme where employees can only accrue 12 sick days per year.

This compares to the NHS sick pay scheme where workers get up to six months on full pay and a further six months on half pay. It would take around 15 years’ service with ISS, without a single day off work sick to accrue six months on full pay.

Liverpool Deputy Mayor Anne O’Byrne and city councillor Nick Small have tabled a motion urging the council to call on ISS to reinstate the full sick pay scheme which mirrors the scheme available to NHS workers. A collective grievance containing over 270 names was submitted to management calling for the full sick pay scheme to be reinstated. However, ISS management have repeatedly ignored all attempts to discuss this issue with Unite officials and to bring this to a resolution.

Unite regional officer Keith Hutson said, “This is not just about workers at ISS being treated as second class citizens – they are being denied access to a humane sick pay scheme while working at a hospital of all places.  We hope members of the council will back the motion calling on ISS to reinstate a fair sickness scheme.

“The ISS sick pay policy means the most seriously ill, suffering from illnesses like cancer, heart problems, or physical injuries, are faced with the unacceptable choice of either working when unfit to do so, or facing severe financial difficulties,” he added. “Stripping workers of their dignity does nothing to help the workforce or the hospital and we hope the council will support the workforce and call for the reinstatement the original scheme.”

“ISS facilities staff provide vital services to the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals, cleaning our hospital wards, transporting patients around hospital departments and cooking for patients, visitors and staff. Yet when they are ill and unable to come to work, they are being denied access to a fair sick pay scheme unlike that available to NHS workers and ISS workers at other trusts.”