48-hour strike at Bedford Hospital over pay begins on Monday

Hundreds of health staff at Bedford Hospital will for on strike from Monday in a dispute over pay.

More than 400 workers at both Bedford and Luton & Dunstable hospitals will walk out for 48 hours from 7.30am on Monday (March 11) as part of their campaign to better pay and back pay.

Staff will be on picket lines from 7am on Monday with a rally at 10am. On Tuesday, they will be on the picket line from noon with a rally at 2pm.

In a ballot last month, staff overwhelmingly backed strike action with 99% voting in favour. Their union, Unison, says staff have now been left with no option but to go on strike after the trust failed to make an offer that came close to its demands on regrading and back pay.

Bedford Hospital healthcare assistant Alesandro said: “I’ve been working here for years and as time has gone on, we’ve been given more responsibilities but no extra pay. We don’t want to be on strike, but it’s time the trust played fair and paid fair.”