Hammersmith Hospital - COHSE Cleaners 1984

Hammersmith Hospital cleaners on strike against pay cuts and privatisation 1984
(photo includes a shy sun glass wearing newly appointed Regional Officer Pete Marshall)

Hillingdon hospital Red COHSE banner in the middle

Confederation of Health Service Employees

COHSE Rose

Hillingdon & District 618

Hammersmith Hospital Strike 1984

Hammersmith Hospital

In 1983 the Conservative Party keen to destroy public services decided to force through privatisation of hospital cleaning. This led to cuts of 50% in cleaning staff, poor pay and more importantly a massive increase in infection rates.

One of the first contracts to be awarded to the private sector (as the NHS Cleaning staff refused to cut their staff and pay) was at Hammersmith hospital. The subsequent strike was one of the most aggressive fought and included occupations and breaking up of Board meetings.

The contract went to Mediclean (who also won contracts at St Helier, Sutton and Bridge Hospital, Essex. The £450,000 Hammersmith contract started on 28th January 1985.

While a majority of the NUPE and COHSE members struck, a significant minority remained in work and the strike divided by country, the Irish and Portuguese being the strongest. helped no doubt that the NUPE Branch secretary Lydia Fraser was Portuguese (her husband Pete Fraser was NUPE branch secretary at St Charles Hospital. While a number of the COHSE branch officers were Irish.

Not all workers had their pay cut the contract manager Simon Cox at Hammersmith it was discovered was on £15,000 a year. COHSE was able to secure the pay and benefits package for all key Mediclean staff much to Medicleans embarrassment, this included BUPA coverage and top of the range cars while cleaning staff had their pay cut, holidays, sick pay, pensions, overtinme and weekend rates.

The Cleaning staff at Hammersmith Hospitalwas was cut from the original 220 staff to 158 and the number of full time staff was cut from 122 to just 28.

Withe regard to cleaning hours in the contracts they were cut from 6,170 to 2,802 per week hardly surprising that "so called" savings were made. but this was at the direct cost of hospital cleanliness. Today over 70% of hospital cleaning contracts are still in the private sector and the Tories have a cheek to complain about dirty NHS hospitals....who made them dirty ?.

Below right Lydia and Pete Fraser at COHSE Conference 1984

Bill Geddes 'Rich Bastards' PP Speech 1979

Bill Geddes' speech to NUPE Conference in Scarborough May 1979

used by the Daily Mail to attack the unions campain against private patients

‘I don't want to spend time convincing you that private practice is evil. I would hope that every delegate to this hall is opposed to privilege and all it stands for.

We have already made some progress on this issue. But the problem is that this process is taking so long that the private health service, the BUPA vultures, are being given more time to build up their facilities.

All over the country applications are in the pipeline for permission to build private hospitals and clinics. These establishments are going to draw their staff from the NHS. Look at Camden, North London for example. At one end of the borough the Area Health Authority claims it cannot get enough trained staff to keep the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson hospital open.

At the other end of the borough the private Wellington Hospital is trying to extend its operation with one hundred new beds. They are not going to train new staff for this themselves. The only way that they can staff those beds is to leech off the NHS.

The private sector has its hand round the neck of the NHS..'

Skilled doctors and nurses will be lured away having had the cost of their training paid for by people who can't afford private practice for their bloody cats, never mind themselves.

These people have been trained at the expense of working people and they should not be allowed now to go away and make fantastic money for themselves.

This is a motion with teeth which will succeed if the union begins a campaign from today. It is saying that from January 1 next year, 1980, all NUPE members will refuse to provide any services to private patients, something we've' done in the past but haven't been very well organised in doing it. It gives us seven months to prepare, seven months for the Executive committee to educate the membership on what private practice is and the need to abolish it.

On that day every single rich bastard who comes into the hospital will only be treated on the basis of being a National Health Service patient and not because he's got a bit of extra money to pay the consultant.

The private sector has its hand round the neck of the National Health Service. I think it is our duty in this conference to cut that hand off.

Note:
Bill Geedes NUPE Branch Secretary Hammersmith Hospital
born Scotland 1943