Skip to main content
These exploited workers were laughed at and told that ‘unions do nothing’…
… but Croydon hospital workers have won — so can you! HELEN O’CONNOR tells the remarkable story of how they organised from scratch to win a groundbreaking 24% pay rise and a sick pay scheme

CROYDON hospital domestics and porters were desperate and downtrodden before they started their successful campaign for pay justice. 

G4S workers were left starving and unable to pay their bills, particularly if they incurred injuries at work or they were sick during the pandemic. 

G4S was paying them the minimum wage and they struggled even to get statutory sick pay also set at poverty level. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
(Right) anti-racist protesters in Glasgow and (left) a far-r
Features / 11 August 2024
11 August 2024
With fascists and their supporters cynically and falsely posing as ‘defenders of women,’ the left must take violence against women seriously and gain a better understanding of women’s oppression, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
OUT IN THE COLD: School support staff members of Unison duri
Features / 3 August 2024
3 August 2024
As some celebrate a pay rise, outsourced, privatised workers face continued exploitation — ending this injustice by bringing them in-house must become a top priority for the labour movement, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
VOCAL: A woman on an International Women’s Day march in Lo
Features / 11 June 2024
11 June 2024
HELEN O’CONNOR sees a worrying trend of women exiting the labour movement in their thousands, and warns that if this tide is not stemmed with proper and effective action, it will only be to the benefit of the capitalist class
RESOLUTE: GMB ambulance workers in Shropshire on strike last
Features / 10 June 2024
10 June 2024
Far from being ‘more efficient’ and providing ‘choice,’ privateers taking over the public sector have worsened service delivery, and workers rights’ have been utterly compromised on the altar of corporate greed, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
Similar stories
The picket line outside the Princess Royal hospital
Features / 30 May 2024
30 May 2024
Outsourced workers at Princess Royal hospital are fighting back against appalling treatment by their employer, ISS. They deserve our full support, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
A Job Centre Plus shop in central Portsmouth, Hampshire, Feb
Britain / 20 May 2024
20 May 2024