Hospital workers to strike in holiday pay row

Scientists at two teaching hospitals in Lancashire are to go on strike this summer in a row over holiday pay.

The Unite trade union said staff at Blackburn and Burnley hospitals who work in the blood testing department "are owed thousands of pounds".

They will take 20 days of industrial action, spread across four periods: 15-19 June, 22-26 June, 29 June to 3 July and 6-10 July.

A Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust spokesperson said a comprehensive plan was being developed to mitigate any impact on patients.

Unite said the trust's management "have a long history of poor employee relations" after it lost at tribunal over a similar issue several years ago but "refused to settle it for the rest of the employees who are now owed thousands of pounds".

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Staffing issues at the biomedical sciences laboratories have already put staff under strain but the refusal to pay what staff are legally entitled to is adding insult to injury.

"Staff at the hospital have exhausted all avenues and are now left with no choice but to strike."

Affected employees work in the biomedical sciences department, dealing with urgent and routine blood tests as well as wider diagnostic work for patients.

Unite said staff in Blackburn worked across different shifts, meaning their pay varies and their holiday pay should be calculated on the basis of average earnings.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust said: "On 1 April 2026, pathology services across Lancashire and South Cumbria came together as one service, led by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH).

"The change brought staff and expertise from Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, and LTH into a single, co-ordinated network and all transferring staff became LTH employees at that time.

"Prior to this move, some colleagues working within the blood sciences department at ELHT had a grievance with their former employer.

"Following the move, an appeal is now set to take place towards the end of June 2026 and will be heard by LTH."

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