UK union to announce result of strike ballot on DHL takeover of NHS logistics
Public services union Unison is to announce the results of a ballot for industrial action in protest over the takeover of NHS logistics by Deutsche Post AG unit DHL.
The strike could involve 1,000 workers, furious over the private outsourcing supply contract worth 1.6 bln stg.
Unison leader Dave Prentis said he would be seeking a judicial review of the way the contract was awarded.
If approved, the action could be the first in a series of major industrial protests by civil servants over government reforms of public services.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, warned of a strike ballot within weeks among 280,000 civil servants over job and pay cuts and privatising services.
‘Time is running out for government, who have failed to give guarantees over compulsory redundancies and deteriorating services, as they plough on regardless in cutting civil service jobs,’ he said.
‘Added to this you have a backlog of over 200 pay deals yet to be settled because of the chancellor’s intention to drive down pay among some of the lowest paid, many of whom earn as little as the minimum wage.’
Chancellor Gordon Brown has mounted an intense campaign to keep public sector wage deals to 2 pct or less as he fears big wage rises for Britain’s civil servants will fuel inflation and harm his spending plans.
