CLEANERS, caters and porters at Royal Bolton Hospital have voted in favour of taking industrial action over pay.

Some of the lowest paid staff at the hospital are not directly employed by the trust and have missed out on a £2,000 pay rise awarded to other band one staff.

UNISON members working for iFM Bolton, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the hospital trust, were balloted and yesterday the results showed 95 per cent of the 65 per cent turnout voted for industrial action.

The employer must be given notification of any industrial action so if the situation is not resolved industrial actions would not be carried out until at least October.

Yesterday it was reported that union members had rejected a two per cent pay rise.

Tim Ellis, UNISON regional organiser said: “This is an overwhelming vote for strike action and shows the strength of feeling amongst hospital staff.

"It is simply unfair that staff are being kept on poverty pay rates because they happen to be employed by a wholly-owned subsidiary company.

"Workers doing the same jobs in other hospitals are rightly getting significant pay rises, and hospital staff in Bolton should be getting what they are due.

"There is now a real prospect of strike action next month. Bolton’s health bosses need to act quickly and ensure that hospital staff get the pay rise that they need and deserve.”

Steve Tyldsley, MD of iFM Bolton, said he was very disappointed by the result.

He said: “We are currently working with trade unions to seek to reach a mutually agreeable solution.

"These negotiations remain ongoing. We have put a proposed offer to our workforce, which includes a cost of living rise (backdated to the 1st April), whilst also committing to becoming a Real Living Wage employer, which will see increases in pay from £7.83 per hour to £9.00 per hour (based on 2020 projection)”.