UNISON members at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Scotland have successfully fought back against private contracting giant Serco, forcing the company to row back on proposed measures to pay staff monthly instead of weekly.
Serco owns the contract for all facilities at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, employing 600 health workers across cleaning, catering, portering and security roles.
In May 2025, the company announced plans to change the workers’ pay frequency from weekly to monthly. This would have caused financial hardship for people who are the lowest paid across the health service. But the group were told that if they refused to accept the new conditions, they would be fired and rehired.
UNISON leapt into action. Union organisers launched a staff survey to see how members would be impacted by these changes, finding that over two in three people (67%) would experience major financial difficulty if the move went ahead. One anonymous response to the survey read, “I live week to week. If they do this, I don’t know how I’ll survive.”
UNISON member Julie Love, who has been employed by Serco as a hospital domestic for seven years, called the proposed change was a “kick in the teeth”.
She said: “In their initial letter to us, Serco worded it as ‘As you were aware, we are moving to monthly pay’. But nobody was aware of it, it was completely out of the blue.”
The Forth Valley NHS branch ran regular meetings and drop-ins to understand members’ concerns. Ms Love described feeling reassured by the backing of the union, and proud of the collective fightback.
“They expected us to roll over, but 600 staff said no, that’s not going to happen,” she said.
The branch deployed a range of creative tactics during the campaign, from placard-making sessions to hiring an ad van to circle the hospital, with an electronic billboard (pictured below) that read, ‘Serco profits from public money while threatening NHS staff with fire and rehire’.
On the hottest day of the year, UNISON hired an ice cream van (pictured below) that parked outside the hospital, offering free ice creams for all NHS and Serco-employed staff. According to regional organiser Greig Kelbie, it was part of the union’s “two fold approach”, which both looked after the staff and gave UNISON reps a chance to build solidarity for the campaign.
All of this workplace campaign activity and solidarity on the ground meant that when the branch balloted for strike action, there was an 82% turnout with 99% of those members voting for strike action. And it was after this flexing of the union’s organising muscles, which gained the union favourable press attention in the Daily Record in early August, that Serco finally backed down.
In a huge win for all 600 workers, there will no longer be a compulsory transition to monthly pay or any fire and rehire measures. All workers are free to keep their pay weekly if they wish to, and only new starters will be paid on a monthly basis.
Julie Love, who will continue to be paid weekly, said: “It feels like the ball’s in our court and we’ve got the power. There’s a feeling of pride that comes from all the staff standing together.”
Greig Kelbie added: “This campaign shows what happens when we organise properly – member meetings, surveys, conversations in the workplace, clear escalation and keeping everyone in the loop every step of the way.
“We built confidence, we built numbers, and that gave us the leverage to win. This isn’t just a victory on pay frequency – it’s proof that when members stand together, we can stop bad changes in their tracks and protect what matters most. The impact is huge, both in the workplace and in showing Serco that our members won’t be pushed around.”
UNISON Forth Valley NHS branch secretary Karren Morrison said: “I am proud to have led the branch throughout this hugely successful campaign. The solidarity, strength and commitment shown by our members has been truly inspiring, every one of them played a part in this.”
The article NHS Forth Valley workers win against Serco first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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