NHS Tayside porters dispute: STAC talks aim to break deadlock

Union chiefs have introduced a call to end controversial zero-hours contracts during talks aimed at resolving the pay dispute at two Tayside hospitals.

The new issue was raised by Unite officials as a mediation process aimed at ending nine weeks of industrial action by porters took its first step.

Regional organiser Colin Coupar called for the contracts of 14 staff to be made permanent. However, an NHS spokeswoman denied that any staff are on zero-hours contracts.

The issue was one of four raised at a meeting in Perth that he described as a “damp squib”, although he accepted more detailed discussions would follow.

Management from NHS Tayside met separately with the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee’s (STAC) representatives and made their own submissions. The feuding parties will now await a response from STAC, which has been tasked with working out the way forward.

“There has been a big breakdown in communication between ourselves and the NHS we all know that,” Mr Coupar said. “Hopefully this will help us get back on track.”