NHS staff who work in operating theatres in hospitals across Leeds are to strike for two days later this week in a dispute over money they are owed.
Theatre assistants employed across four hospital sites run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust* will walk out at 8am on Thursday (18 December) for 48 hours.
The workers perform tasks such as inserting cannulas, collecting samples, and sterilising equipment, which the union says should have been paid at a higher rate.
UNISON says staff should be moved to the correct grade and compensated fairly for the extra duties they’ve already carried out.
Earlier this year, trust interim chief executive Brendan Brown oversaw a deal at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust that saw staff given five years’ back pay.
UNISON says the Leeds trust’s refusal to settle up is out of step with what is happening elsewhere in the region and around the country.
Since 2021, more than 40,000 healthcare workers have been regraded and awarded back pay through deals with the union at over 60 NHS trusts across England and Wales.
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside area organiser Imogen Woods said: “The last thing staff want to be doing is standing on a cold picket line in the run-up to Christmas.
“But they have been asking managers to resolve this for over a year now and have been left with no other option.
“There is still time for the trust to avoid this strike. Hospital managers simply need to pay staff fairly for the work they’ve done.”
Notes:
– A picket line will be held by the roundabout at the entrance to Leeds General Infirmary (Calverley Street, Leeds, LS1 3EX).
– *Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust runs seven hospitals across five sites: Leeds General Infirmary, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds Children’s Hospital, Leeds Dental Institute, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Seacroft Hospital and Wharfedale Hospital.
– In the ballot, 100% of staff backed strike action. The turnout was 75% and it closed on Monday 17 November.
– UNISON has won more than £160m in back pay and over £60m in ongoing salary increases for healthcare assistants and other support workers through its Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign. More information is available here.
