Domestic Workers Struggle for the Proper Evaluation of their Role under Agenda for Change

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Domestic Workers Struggle for the Proper Evaluation of their Role under Agenda for Change

One hundred and ninety domestic workers at South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust have just finished a one-week strike over the evaluation of their job in agenda for change. This follows a continuing work to rule and overtime ban and two one-day strikes. As we publish, the two unions involved, Unison and GMB, are about to enter further talks with the management on Wednesday. WDIE interviewed Roger Nettleship, Unison joint branch secretary, about the current struggle of the domestics at the hospital.

Some of the pickets outside the District Hospital

WDIE: We understand the dispute is about job evaluation of the domestics’ role in the new pay system introduced by the government jointly with the unions, Agenda for Change. Can you tell us about this?

RN: Yes, there are a number of very important issues here. Firstly, we think that the Agenda for Change process has undervalued the domestics and other sections such as catering workers and auxiliary nurses. Secondly, Agenda for Change has been sold to health workers as a proper system to evaluate their jobs yet it seems the old prejudices persist. In this dispute, managers simply argue that the domestics will get a pay rise so that they should be grateful and accept that. But this is missing the important principle that the domestics want their full role recognised and evaluated and that, I think, is the right of all working people to determine. Thirdly, Agenda for Change was supposed to eliminate discrimination between men and women but in our NHS Trust, as in many other NHS Trusts, it is the female ancillary workers such as domestics, catering workers and auxiliary nurses that have come off worse compared to other ancillary workers, or estates workers who are predominantly men.

WDIE: You say the domestics want their full role recognised and evaluated?

RN: Yes, we have said that of all the time that the domestic workers are punching above their weight. Only a few years ago they won for the Trust the cleanest hospital award. Over the last year in particular, when the government short-funding has created such a financial crisis, the domestics workers have kept the hospital clean under the most difficult circumstances. They are trained to do specialist cleans and are expected to work in most areas and this includes areas where patients are extremely ill and they are often a first point of contact. They want a generic job description that reflects this role. However, one of the sticking points has been on whether they communicate at a level that some domestics on mental health wards are required to do. We know that they do, and managers who have been covering this job in the strike have also found this out so maybe we can make some progress!

WDIE: What sort of support have the domestic worker had?

RN: Foremost has been that the strike was solid and the confidence of these domestic workers has grown day by day. That has won the support of fellow health workers in the hospital who have refused to do domestic duties and contributed in so many ways. We have received thousands of pounds to our strike fund from other health branches as well contributions from staff, patients and visitors.

WDIE: What are the prospects for the forthcoming negotiations?

RN: Firstly, both unions before this week’s strike began tried to move the situation forward. It is not the desire of the unions to see members lose money, or to see the hospital disrupted. In fact, we tried very hard to find this way forward through negotiations. However, whilst we were prepared to explore how we could move forward on areas where we disagree and were prepared to suspend the action to discuss this we were not prepared to go back on matters that had already been agreed. This is why the talks broke down. The response of the domestic workers to this was to propose a step up to the action to indefinite strike. So I think that the new development is that the domestic workers are determined to see this through, so I think the prospects for the negotiations are good.

WDIE: What has been the most important lesson so far?

RN: I think most definitely that the strength is the involvement of the domestic workers themselves in discussing and taking the decisions themselves, and in those that have come forward to take a more active role. At every stage this has been the key lesson. I think this will be important after the dispute is over – the strengthened unity and their own organisation across the two unions.

WDIE: Thank you very much.