Porters at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust are taking 2 day strike action to protest at unsafe shift demands.

Hospital porters currently work 8 hour shifts and view the management demand for 12 hour working patterns as unachievable and unsafe. 

In a clear signal to the Trust 96% of porters voted to strike from 6am on Friday 20th October for 24 hours and again on Sunday 22nd October from 10pm for 8 hours. 

Alan Doyle & Greg Ticehurst are the UNISON Representatives from the department and explain the issue below:

“We are in dispute because of 12 hour shifts that managers are looking to force upon us.

We have told managers time and time again that we, as Porters, cannot achieve 12 hour shifts, we believe these working arrangements would be a risk to both staff and patients – the evidence we have presented shows this, they won’t listen.

The Porters here at this Trust are Band 1 Porters, amongst the lowest paid staff in the NHS, despite this, 96% of us have voted for Strike Action, we’ve done this because we believe in our cause and in each of our colleagues standing together to raise our heads up to be heard where our managers have failed to listen.”

Sign the petition and ask the Trust to respect our porters.

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UNISON is the UK’s largest trade union, serving more than 1.3 million members. We champion, represent and organise staff who provide public services that keep us safe, healthy, educated and cared for. 

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