Defiant NHS staff set fire to hundreds of sacking notices

Five hundred clerical and administrative staff at three hospitals run by Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust are on strike this week in opposition to draconian pay cuts.

Pickets are in action at the hospitals in Dewsbury, Pontefract and Wakefield in West Yorkshire.

The five-day stoppage is the third in a series in the Unison members' long-running dispute.

The trust wants to "down-band" clerical and administrative staff's pay as part of £24m cuts imposed by the government.

Public service union Unison says the cuts will cost workers between £1,700 and £2,800 a year.

As workers struck and mounted pickets on Monday, dismissal notices began to arrive at their homes.

Staff are being told they will be re-employed only if they sign new contracts incorporating the pay cuts.

Unison says that on top of £24 million in government cuts the trust faces an annual £40m interest bill because of the discredited private finance initiative. Unison said the trust forked out £3m in fees last year to management consultants Ernst and Young.

The strikers are staging a mass rally tomorrow at Wakefield Town Hall starting at 1pm.

Financial donations can be sent to Mid Yorkshire NHS Unison 20671 c/o Trade Union Office, Pinderfields Hospital, Aberford Road, Wakefield WF1 4DG.

• Send messages of support to midyorksunison@aol.co.uk