A THREATENED strike by technicians at Montagu Hospital has been called off after bosses at the NHS trust that runs the hospital conceded for the first time that they 'will be bound' by a forthcoming employment tribunal.
For five months Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has refused to award 25 electricians, plumbers and fitters £9,000 in back pay, dating from 2004.
Now in a letter to all the trust's staff, the management has conceded that it '
will be bound' by the employment tribunal due to hear the case shortly.
Unite's Head of Health, Kevin Coyne said: 'We will advise our members to suspend their industrial action and return to work on the first available working day, because for the first time the trust has said that it will be bound by the decision of the tribunal. Therefore, there is no reason for the industrial action to continue.'
The dispute centres on the Agenda for Change national agreement which says that recruitment-and-retention premia (RRP), worth £3,000 a year, should be paid to maintenance staff, as there is a skills shortage in these job categories.
In its letter to staff entitled 'The Facts', the trust said: 'The employment tribunal claim will be heard later this year. The trust and the union have said they will be bound by the outcome of this claim – but the engineering maintenance craftsmen persist in taking industrial action.'
Previous employment tribunal decisions in Newcastle and Lancashire on this issue have found in favour of the maintenance technicians.
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