DISPUTE AT HILLINGDON HOSPITAL AND PALL MALL HOUSE CARE SERVICES

Motion Text

That this House fully supports the stance taken by workers at Hillingdon Hospital to try to protect their wages and conditions against attacks from Pall Mall House Care Support Services who have taken over the cleaning contract at the hospital; notes that the employees earned ú140 per week for a 39 hour week and have had their wages cut to below family credit levels at ú3.19 per hour with no enhanced rates for overtime; further notes that the parent group of the company, Davis Services, made pre-tax profits in 1993 of ú22 million and that their Chief Executive is paid ú178,156 and that the Chief Executive of Pall Mall is paid ú74,652; notes that the company is attempting to dismiss the staff concerned who are resisting this attempt to reduce wages to below family credit levels and resents public money being used to subsidise greedy companies; observes that this market forces argument about wage levels only applies to the lowest paid most loyal people in the Health Service; and calls for an end to contracting out of NHS work, national pay negotiations and a national minimum wage to stop companies like Pall Mall making millions from the sweat of low paid workers. (Relevant registered interest declared).