Nearly 200 essential staff at Airedale Hospital in Steeton, Keighley, will strike for seven days in their campaign for pension equality. Workers, including porters, domestic, catering and security staff, will walk out from 20 January to 26 January.
The workers, members of the GMB Union, are outsourced to AGH Solutions (AGHS), which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust in 2018. As previously reported on by Yorkshire Bylines, he workers have already won major victories to bring their terms and conditions closer to NHS standards.
However, the issue of pension equality remains unsettled and unequal. Currently, some AGHS employees receive the NHS pension, while many others do not. The union says the disparity is stark:
Defined Benefit schemes are usually considered preferable to Defined Contribution schemes. This is because, being based on length of service and a career average or final salary, they offer a guaranteed income on retirement. However, they are typically very expensive to run, and many have closed.
In a Defined Contribution scheme, the employer and employee make contributions which are then invested, often in stocks, shares or bonds. As with any investment, there is a risk the pension pot could rise or fall over time, and although projections can be made, there is no guaranteed final payment figure.
Financial disparity
Joe Wheatley, GMB Organiser, said: “The Chief Executive of Airedale NHS Trust is on £202,000 a year – the director of AGHS is on £184,000 a year.
“Effectively, these well-paid administrators are telling our frontline NHS workers, who are on £24,465 a year, that they don’t care if they can’t afford to retire.
“We have ten senior managers at Airedale Trust whose combined salaries would almost cover the cost of uplifting 300 frontline NHS workers onto the NHS pension.
“This dispute is about whether NHS workers retire with dignity or in poverty.
“We invite the administrators of the Trust and AGHS to answer that question.”
Management’s response
Responding, Dennis Kentrop, managing director of AGHS, said: “AGH Solutions is very proud to work for and with the NHS and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, but we are in essence a private company with different terms and conditions.
“We value each of our employees which is why, working with the GMB, we recently made significant improvements to our offer to colleagues on AGH Solutions terms and conditions.
“Offering our own terms and conditions gives us the flexibility to continue to attract talented individuals and secure the technical skills required by the company.
“It also means we can aim to provide a more flexible pension option compared to the NHS.
“We’re disappointed that our improved pension offer was rejected by the GMB and we were not able to reach an agreement to avoid any disruption to patient care.
“I hope we can continue to work with the union to resolve this before January 20.
“However, should industrial action take place, we’ll work through our contingency plans and apply lessons learned from previous rounds of strikes to maintain the services we provide to Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.”
