{"id":17794,"date":"2019-04-11T14:12:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T13:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17794"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:56:52","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:56:52","slug":"iss-merseyside-hospitals-unpaid-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17794","title":{"rendered":"‘Unspeakably immoral’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Hospital workers contracted by outsourcing firm ISS, among the lowest paid people in the country, face the threat of a week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay being withheld \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a move that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prompted a backlash of protests from Unite and others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Unite members affected, about 250 porters, cleaners, and other low-paid hospital staff across Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University hospitals, will be placed under extreme financial hardship under the plan, which is being undertaken as part of a so-called payroll upgrade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘This is going to break me’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Last month, ISS workers were shocked to find out that in the process of being transferred from weekly to fortnightly pay dates, the company will withhold a week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay. That means that on the new pay date on May 9, workers will have waited three weeks since their previous pay date to get paid. They will also have worked for three weeks but will only be paid for two \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and in effect will be losing a week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor workers who earn as little as \u00c2\u0141200 a week, this is enough to push them over the edge,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 explained Unite regional officer Derek Jones. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany of our members will have their entire lives planned around weekly pay \u00e2\u20ac\u201c their rent, their standing orders and direct debit, everything. Most of these low-paid workers are either the sole breadwinners in their families or single parents. What ISS is doing is unspeakably immoral.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To take matters worse, the week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s withheld pay will only be paid out to workers once they leave the company. Since ISS already has a week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay in hand when workers first started, the planned payroll upgrade will mean workers will have two week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay withheld from them until they quit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ISS staff have spoken out about the crushing impact the decision will have on their lives, with one worker, who asked to remain anonymous saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think this is going to break me\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The worker shared the view of others in the workforce, who say they have lost faith in the company and so distrust an offer from ISS of a bridging loan.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the only one working in my house and have two small kids to keep,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be in debt to ISS \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they will owe me two weeks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay after holding another week in hand from me and I think I should have that money. Its mine; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve earned it, so why can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I have it? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not right.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another worker slammed the way the payroll upgrade was railroaded through, without any consultation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is terrible,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to cope \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all my bills and rent go out weekly because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been paid weekly for years now. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not fair to just change our pay date just like this.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Ivory tower’ decision<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Derek told UNITElive that the total pay withheld as part of the payroll change, which will affect ISS staff across the UK, will amount to an eye-watering \u00c2\u014120m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAdd that to the pay already being withheld from the beginning of workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tenure, then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at about \u00c2\u014140m in hard-earned wages that the company is holding back. The interest payments on an amount like that will be huge,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe company is essentially profiting off stolen wages.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDecisions like these are of course being made in ivory towers by executives who have absolutely no understanding of what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to live pay check to pay check.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, ISS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 top executives raked in sums that its low-paid staff couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begin to fathom \u00e2\u20ac\u201c five directors of ISS UK earned \u00c2\u01412m between them in 2017. The highest paid director earned half a million pounds, while Jeff Gravenhorst, group CEO of ISS, a Danish-owned multinational and one of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest outsourcing firms, took home \u00c2\u01412m in 2018.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite fighting back<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As ISS executives carry on with the payroll upgrade, unmoved by the plight of their workers, Unite and other unions are fighting back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last Friday (April 5), Unite spearheaded a demonstration outside the Royal Liverpool Hospital, alongside unions GMB and Unison. The protest drew hundreds of people from across the community — Unite Community members, local CLPs, local councillors as well as directly employed hospital staff and others from Merseyside joined together in a stunning display of solidarity with ISS staff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere was a broad spectrum of support at the demonstration from across Merseyside \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it showed the collective strength of feeling over this shocking injustice meted out against some of the lowest paid workers in the country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Derek said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite is planning another demo on Monday, April 15, to continue pressing its case over unpaid wages, and to also mark the day ISS staff at the two Merseyside hospitals will begin an industrial action ballot over a separate issue involving unequal pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As these low-paid workers, most of whom are women, face the threat of withheld wages, they have also lost out on the agreed national pay uplift for NHS workers that both directly employed staff as well as contracted staff at other Merseyside hospitals have received.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The pay disparity is stark — at the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Walton hospitals, for example, the lowest-paid staff, many of whom are contracted employees, secured a 11.4 pay rise as part of the national NHS pay rise. Meanwhile, ISS workers at Broadgreen and Royal Liverpool hospitals languish on little more than the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe find ourselves in the untenable and absurd position where ISS staff at Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals — who are doing the exact same jobs as colleagues at hospitals that are in some cases just a mile or two away — are being paid substantially less,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Derek said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bManagement\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s refusal to consult properly over pay has left our members with no option but to ballot for industrial action.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe moral case against the actions of one of the largest and most lucrative outsourcing companies in the UK is clear,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to stand up and make our voice heard. We hope members of the public will join us outside the Royal on Monday lunchtime to demand parity pay for this group of low paid workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about the latest demo on Monday, April 15, and how you can take part on Unite North West\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s event page here.<\/a> Tweet your support using the hashtag #ISSlowpaidunpaid<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hospital workers contracted by outsourcing firm ISS, among the lowest paid people in the country, face the threat of a week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pay being withheld \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a move that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prompted a backlash of protests from Unite and others.   The Unite members affected, about 250 porters, cleaners, and other low-paid hospital staff across Royal Liverpool and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[767,1150,29,647],"wps_subtitle":"Low-paid ISS workers at Merseyside hospitals continue fight against unpaid wages","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25365,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17794\/revisions\/25365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}