Spotless "bully boy" tactics prompt hospital strike.

Hundreds of low paid hospital cleaners, orderlies and kitchen staff will walk off the job from 7.00 am tomorrow, Thursday, signaling a national strike by employees of Spotless Services.

The Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota Inc says the strike, involving around one thousand workers, comes after the Spotless refused to sign up to a national pay deal that would have seen rises for many Spotless staff of $2 to $3 an hour.

Union spokesperson Alastair Duncan says the workers are sick and tired of the way Spotless has treated them.

"Spotless has told union members they will be locked out from midnight tonight Wednesday if they stand up for their rights.

"Spotless pays some of the lowest wages in the sector with rates close to our minimum wage of $11.25 an hour. Yet when staff stand up to the company the response is threats of a lockout. It's classic bullyboy tactics."

"After a year of negotiations and with every other employer in the sector agreeing to a new pay scale it's appalling that Spotless has not come to the party.

"Union members campaigned for a won a pay boost of $16 million over the next two years aimed at putting an end to low pay in our public hospitals.

"For years Spotless has paid low wages and done all it can to marginalize the rights of its workforce. Now with an end to low pay in sight Spotless - the largest employer in the sector is determined to be the spoiler."

Union members have rejected a call by Spotless for separate pay scales while two thousand other union members, employed by District Health Boards and three other contractors, have pledged to support the Spotless workers.

The strike is expected to run until the weekend.

The affected hospitals are located in Invercargill, Palmerston North, Hastings, Wanganui, Tauranga, Rotorua, North Shore, Waitakere, Middlemore, North Shore, Waitakere, Whangarei and Northland.

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