Cleaning staff at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee have voted to potentially support strike action — which would bring the building to “a standstill”.
Domestic assistants at NHS Tayside’s flagship hospital say they have had enough of alleged bullying carried out by supervisors and management.
A letter seen by the Tele says 98% of the workforce has stated they would support industrial action — a team of which is thought to be made up of about 160 staff.
And following the move, portering staff at Ninewells — who went on strike last year after a dispute over backdated pay — are now holding their own ballot over whether they would support downing tools for the same reasons.
Unite the Union had been in talks with management at the hospital and a petition was handed in by the domestic assistants about “behaviours” of managers.
At a crunch meeting last week, Unite told management at Ninewells there had been no improvement in behaviour.
A further meeting is expected this week between Unite and domestic assistants to discuss the outcome of the ballot.
One domestic assistant told the Tele it was time to make a stand.
The man, who didn’t want to be named for fear of repercussions, said: “This issue has been going on for 15 years now. One woman asked for compassionate leave because her mum died and she was told she would get two-and-a-half hours so she could go to the funeral and that was it.
“Otherwise she would be getting taken upstairs for a disciplinary. There have been several staff off with stress as well. We aren’t asking for money or anything like that, we just want to be treated with dignity and respect, just like human beings should.
“They have got staff covering six areas of the hospital and they aren’t even allowed to sit for two minutes to get a water break. If we go on strike for even one day, the hospital will come to a standstill.”
Graham Nelson, the Unite rep for porters at Ninewells, said: “The porters have now been consulted and are doing their own ballot.”
A spokesman for Unite said: “All our members in domestic care services want is to be treated with the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they do. By sticking together, they are finally making management take issues around unfair treatment seriously — and the result of the consultative ballot sends a strong message about their determination to get fair treatment.
“Our members will be meeting again this week to discuss the situation.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said: “NHS Tayside has not been notified of the results of a consultative ballot by Unite, nor of any intention to take strike action.”