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09.02.2022 / News / GOSH

Great Ormond Street Hospital threatens to seek injunction to silence security guards on strike for sick pay

The trade union United Voices of the World (UVW) has been informed by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) that it will apply to court for an injunction unless UVW undertakes to cease all picketing at the hospital and limit the number of any ‘protestors’ to six. UVW does not accept that GOSH has any right to the undertakings sought which are oppressive and a draconian and unjustified encroachment on our member’s human rights to picket and protest. UVW will vigorously contest any application to the Court. 

This threat follows five days of a planned 44-day strike by security guards in pursuit of full sick pay and other NHS benefits they are currently denied. On one of these days the peaceful picket line was violently attacked outside the offices of GOSH CEO, Matthew Shaw. A crime report was lodged with the police. 

The security guards recently started legal proceedings against GOSH in a group claim in the employment tribunal, along with their cleaner colleagues, for what they are arguing is GOSH’s unlawful denial of NHS benefits amounting to indirect race discrimination in breach of the Equality Act 2010.

UVW’s General Secretary, Petros Elia, says: “It is shocking that GOSH would rather throw tonnes of money at corporate lawyers to attack their security guard’s human rights to strike and protest, rather than simply treating them with respect and as equal members of the NHS. We have made clear that we remain available to negotiate at any time, and hope that common sense will prevail and that the security guards’ reasonable demands will be met without the need to move to an all-out strike.”

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