The Workers Party of Britain deplores the failure of outsourcing giant Kingdom Services Group to pay its security guards at the Royal Berkshire hospital a decent wage, and warmly commends the unanimous decision by the 23 Unite members affected to stage a second wave of strikes in January and February.
The guards are asking for hourly pay to increase to £12 for officers and £13 for supervisors, and for outstanding issues around sick pay and overtime to be addressed.
Yet sooner than simply pay its employees a rate that recognises the crucial role they play on the frontline, brought sharply into focus during the pandemic crisis, Kingdom Services prefers to declare war on its own staff, using agency staff to try and break the strike.
Yet Kingdom Services Group could well afford to pay its workers a decent wage, enjoying as it does an annual turnover of £100 million and with net assets of £93.17 million. By way of comparison, its closest competitor, Oltec Group Trading, holds assets of only (!) £1.22 million.
The guards plan to strike on 20 days during January and February, starting at 7.00am on Monday 4 January. They deserve the full support of all workers.