LONDON, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- An ongoing strike involving maintenance craft workers at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is set to build and spread.

24 Unite maintenance members are in dispute over the trust's failure to honour a national pay agreement and they are building up their action, striking again today (Friday 14th March) and twice again next week (Monday 17th and Thursday 19th March).

They may also be joined by Unison maintenance workers who are now balloting for strike action.

The Trust is refusing to implement a recruitment and retention premia which is part of a national pay agreement agreed under Agenda for Change. The premia amounts to around GBP3,000 per year.

Joe Brayford, HR Director at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is also chair of the national Pay Negotiating Council which was one of the bodies with responsibility for negotiating and monitoring the national pay awards of staff on Agenda for Change.

Unite National Officer, Kevin Coyne, says: "Unless this unfair decision is reversed our members have no alternative but to continue and build up their strike action in an effort to maximise disruption and ensure that the Trust honours its obligation to staff."

"Trusts cannot just pick and choose elements it wants to apply from national agreements. The union believes the failure by the trust to implement the premia is in breach of the workers contract of employment and fails to recognise the importance of the role of maintenance workers at the trust."

As well as supporting its members in taking strike action, Unite is also pursuing a Tribunal case against Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Unite has been successful in similar Tribunal cases. In April last year, Unite won a Tribunal case on behalf of four members against Newcastle NHS Foundation Trust which sought to opt out of the premium. Unite has also won a similar Tribunal case on behalf of members in Lancashire.

The premium was introduced following the implementation of the national agreement 'Agenda for Change' as a way of recruiting and retaining skilled workers. The Tribunal confirmed that the four members were entitled to the recruitment and retention premium worth nearly GBP3000 per year.

In June a strike by NHS maintenance workers across Northern Ireland was averted at the last minute when the Department of Health in Northern Ireland agreed to implement the premium.

Please call Catherine Bithell in the Unite press office for further details on +44(0)20-7420-8909 or +44(0)7958-473-224.

Please call Catherine Bithell in the Unite press office for further details on +44(0)20-7420-8909 or +44(0)7958-473-224.