Croydon Hospital porters and cleaners demonstrate for covid sick pay

GMB members will protest today outside Croydon Hospital in their fight for covid sick pay.

Protest takes place at 12 noon today [31 January 2022] at Croydon University Hospital, 530 London Rd, CR7 7YE

The workers, cleaners and porters within the hospital trust, will demonstrate peacefully to call for full sick pay from their outsourced employer G4S.

Politicians and other NHS workers, including doctors and nurses from the trust, will join the demonstration to voice their support – concerned about the massive public health risk posed by the lack of covid sick pay.

Helen O’Connor, GMB Regional Organiser, said:

“I have personally seen the payslips of our members that show no sick pay during covid absence.

"When I have emailed management on the members’ behalf, the response I have received is underwhelming.

“I have email trails which prove that members have been at home, suffering from covid without a penny coming in.

“Our members are not taking industrial action at this stage; this is a peaceful demonstration by workers on their lunchbreaks to show their bosses that they deserve proper sick pay as part of their terms and conditions, and a decent pay rise to reflect their hard work.

“We are again calling on Croydon NHS Trust to intervene and ensure that their contractors are paying our members what they are owed.

“If they can’t put their money where their mouth is, we will have to look to escalate our campaign until they can.”