LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- ATTN: North West Editors

Members of Unite, the UK's largest trade union, have agreed to step up action short of a strike and give notice of further strike action.

The decision to strike comes after the hospital trust are continuing to force low paid staff to wait three weeks for their pay by changing the payroll system.

Brian Nelson, Unite Regional Industrial Organiser, said: "We had hoped that the trust would see sense and continue with a weekly payroll. It is particularly frustrating for our members when the trust can continue weekly payment for other NHS staff across the Wirral.

"This change in the payroll has come at a particularly difficult time for our members, with massive increases in Gas, Electricity and food prices and comes on top of the recent abolition of the 10p tax rate, which is causing difficulty for many low paid workers."

Unite are urging the trust to work with the union to resolve the issue and ACAS have confirmed their availability to assist with further negotiations.

The strike action will begin at 6am on Thursday 7th August and end at midnight on Friday 8th August.

For further information contact Brian Nelson on +44-(0)7734-716505