FORMAL GRIEVANCE ON CONQUEST PARKING

THE HUGELY unpopular plan to charge staff to park at the Conquest has been put on hold '” following an official complaint from workers.

Unison has taken up the cause and said staff are furious at the parking charges and has warned of 'serious consequences for labour relations' for the NHS Trust which runs the hospital.

The union has argued the charges are unfair to low-paid staff and that the way the Trust plans to collect penalty charges is against the Data Protection Act.

A letter to the HR director of East Sussex Hospitals Trust states, "The charge of 50p per day may not seem to be much to senior managers of the Trust on the salaries they receive, but for the many low-paid members of staff this is a significant cost.

"In order to meet the charge they will have to earn approximately 70p more before deductions. This will effectively wipe out this year's pay rise for them."

Full-time staff had been told they would have to pay 50p per day to park at the DGH and it was estimated it would raise 200,000 per year for the Trust, which is under pressure to cut costs.

But now the staff complaints have been listed in a formal grievance by the union and sent to managers at the Trust.

The union also said workers are worried about the effect of staff parking in nearby roads and problems it would cause for local residents.

It is also critical of the way the Trust has handled the issue.