Watch: Dudley North MP backs hospital strikers in Parliament speech
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi has brought up the plight of service workers at hospitals in the Dudley area in Parliament after unions and their employer failed to reach an agreement.
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Mr Longhi asked the Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt whether she would back the 450 staff employed by private contractor Mitie at Russells Hall, Guest Hospital in Dudley and Corbett Hospital in Stourbridge.
The staff, who are employed as porters and in domestic and catering roles are looking for a lump sum Covid payment of around £1,655 they claim is owed and which was paid to staff employed by the NHS at the hospitals.
They have already held three days of strike action in which the majority of the staff took part, backed by unions UNISON and Unite and will now go out on Monday March 25 and Wednesday March 27
Speaking in the House of Commons Mr Longhi said: "I would like to place on record my thanks to the workers employed by Mitie during the pandemic and encourage the Department of Health and Social Care to work with me and resolve this issue."
Mrs Mordaunt said extra funding was being made available for organisations such as Mitie to apply for money for the extra payment for those not directly employed by the government.
She said she would make sure the individual case of the Dudley hospital workers is looked at in a bid to resolve any outstanding issues.
The exchange came as two more days of possible strike action was announced for the workers, on Monday March 25 and Wednesday March 27 following on from three days of action last month.
UNISON regional organiser Ollie Hopkins said: "It is encouraging to see Marco Longhi MP raising the question in Parliament. We are aware that Mitie has applied for the government funding, which Penny Mordaunt MP, Leader of the House of Commons, refers to in her response to the question.
“The ball remains in Mitie’s court. Mitie has huge profits and can end the dispute in an instant, with or without government funding. Our strike action will continue until the money is in members' pockets."
