by James Ivens
East London mental health NHS facilities workers, members of Unite, are taking six weeks of strike action over pay. Their employer, Grosvenor Facilities Management, makes millions in profit from NHS contracts but refuses to bring the pay of their staff in line with workers doing the same job employed by the NHS.
campaigning for cleaning contracts on Transport for London to be
brought back in-house. Privatisation means low pay and poor
conditions in every sector.
Strikers are protesting most days, including at the corporate HQ in central London, and the seat of the London mayor, City Hall.
There is a very good mood – determined and confident. Despite the freezing rain and snow, reps told me that more workers are joining the strike.
A concerted campaign to raise money for the strike fund has helped boost members’ confidence to join the strike. Socialist Party members are campaigning for donations from the local trade union movement.
We argue that all these contracts should be brought back in-house. In 2022, a successful struggle to achieve that was waged by facilities workers in Unite in a neighbouring NHS trust, Barts Health.