Pay cuts deadline extended at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust

Admin and clerical staff at strike-hit Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust were told they must agree to pay cuts of up to £2,800 by February 15.

The trust, which runs Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals, has been hit by nine days of strike action after unions vowed to fight the cuts, which they say are targeted at low paid and mainly female staff.

Unison threatened to ballot all its 3,000 members at Mid Yorkshire in a huge escalation of the dispute.

Now trust bosses have extended the deadline to agree to downbanding of salaries, which affects around 200 staff and is designed to save £500,000, until February 28.

Mid Yorkshire said an alternative proposal to reduce staff hours to save the same amount would be discussed at a meeting on February 25.

Graham Briggs, Mid Yorkshire’s director of HR, said: “We look forward to working with our union colleagues with the aim of mutually resolving the dispute.”