"I just want to show other people there’s power in union."

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Name

Joanne Thompson

Union

UNISON

Job title

Hospital cleaner

Joanne Thompson, 50, is an outsourced hospital cleaner from Blackpool. She won pay parity with NHS colleagues as well as pay enhancements and the right to sick pay following strike action in July 2022.

Joanne said: “I’ve worked as an outsourced domestic at an NHS hospital for just over three years.

External vs internal

“Before we decided to take industrial action me and my colleagues who worked for the private company were paid £8.72 an hour. We only qualified for Statutory Sick Pay, whereas our NHS colleagues were entitled to full sick pay.

“And there were other enhancements we weren’t entitled to. Our NHS colleagues were paid extra for working weekends and bank holidays. During the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday our colleagues employed by the NHS received a £50 bonus for working, while we received an extra ten-minute break and a chocolate biscuit.

“It was insulting. It represented the kind of unequal treatment that left me and many of my colleagues feeling divided and separated from the rest of the team.

Making it equal

“Following talks with UNISON, our employer agreed to bring our pay in line with our colleagues employed by the NHS.

"We’re now paid £10.90 an hour – which we got back paid - but for us sick pay was a massive issue. If we fell ill, we felt we had no choice but to go into work sick – many of us couldn’t afford to stay home for Statutory Sick Pay of £99 a week.

Not settling for less

“In July 2022 we took 72 hours of strike action. It was a really good atmosphere on the picket line. We got loads of support from everybody.

“We now get one month of full sick pay and one month of half sick pay. And we get extra enhancements for working bank holidays and weekends.

"On a Saturday we get paid £15.50 an hour, and on a Sunday we get £19.95 an hour – more than double what we would have been paid for working Sundays before the dispute.

“I’m 100% behind anyone taking strike action. I know the reasons why people strike and I back them all the way. I just want to show other people there’s power in union.”

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