Hospital kitchen staff stage protest over wages

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – A row over pay and conditions for kitchen staff at UHG boiled over onto the street yesterday (Thursday), when around 30 staff staged an impromptu protest at the hospital’s main entrance – calling for the introduction of a living wage.

The Galway City Tribune has learned that a row broke out between staff and kitchen operators Aramark, following the private contractor’s decision to stop a 10% ‘Covid premium’ which had been paid to staff since the end of April.

Amid chants of ‘they say cutbacks, we say fightback’, staff, who did not wish to be named, told the Galway City Tribune that they felt “applauded and then abandoned” when this additional payment came to a halt.

Those involved, many of whom were masked and remained socially distanced throughout, said kitchen staff at the hospital earned the minimum wage of €10.10 per hour, with the premium payment bringing that to €11.11.

One protestor said there were staff working there for over 20 years receiving just 20 cent more than the minimum wage.

At the time of writing, Aramark had not responded to queries from the Galway City Tribune.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest, see thus week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.