Health board chiefs have been accused of attempting to “bully” striking staff into “submission” by withholding their pay and threatening their livelihoods.
In a strongly worded letter sent to all its members, the Unite union criticised the “legal step” taken by NHS Tayside in response to an escalation of industrial action by porters at Ninewells and Royal Victoria hospitals.
It described the move to fine staff up to half their pay as an attack on “decent, hardworking, low-paid men and women” by “six-figure salaried fat cats”.
It accused the health board of threatening “to withhold porters’ wages for time they are actually working, threatened porters with dismissal and threatened legal action against the porters’ union”.
In light of such allegations, Unite has urged its entire membership to continue to show support for the industrial action.
The union begins by telling members that it is “time to provide an honest commentary to the current dispute” and questions NHS Tayside’s stance.
It claims that the health board has failed to provide evidence that unions agreed to the current pay scale for portering staff at the two hospitals and had instead set out to “cover its tracks”.
Should such information “not exist”, it believes its case will be proved correct and claims NHS Tayside “may well have misled the Scottish Government”.
It is now seeking the evidence by way of a Freedom of Information request.
The letter concludes by saying that the Union is dealing with “a failed senior management” that is in denial of the facts.
It is endorsed by branch secretary John Boland, regional organiser Colin Coupar and Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.
The 24-hour industrial action will begin at 6.30am on Friday and will continue until the same time on Saturday.NHS Tayside ‘disappointed’NHS Tayside’s director of human resources, George Doherty, said it was “concerning and disappointing” that Unite continued to maintain that mistakes had been made.
He said: “In recent weeks there have been extended discussions involving NHS Tayside with Unite, which have been led by Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).
“Unfortunately, despite a number of attempts by us with Acas to move discussions forward, Unite have refused to reconsider their demand for significant backdating of pay for a role it has been demonstrated that the portering Band 1 staff did not undertake.