HOSPITAL workers who are members of the trade union Unite have voted to strike on two consecutive days next week.

Unite members at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) are set to take industrial action after 81 per cent of them voted to strike on May 23 and 24 over proposals to move their jobs to the NHS subsidiary company WWL Solutions Limited.

Last week, Unison, who have 600 members at the hospital, also vowed to go on strike.

There are fears that if move happened,staff would be vulnerable to pay cuts and their terms and conditions.

Workers including electricians, plumbers, fitters, porters and cleaners could be affected by the plans.

Unite is hoping for urgent talks to avoid a strike.

Unite regional officer Keith Hutson said: “Our members, who keep our hospitals going, are angry at the way they are being treated.

"They are NHS employees the same as any other hospital clinician so why are they being side-lined.

“We will not stand by and watch this happen.

"They want their NHS jobs to stay in the NHS, not to be privatised by transferring them to a subsidiary company. "There is no reason to outsource these existing NHS jobs to WWL.

“The trust has left us with no option but to press ahead with a two-day stoppage on 23 and 24 May at all sites, including sterile services, which could cause disruption.

“Unite’s door is open 24/7 for constructive talks to resolve this dispute.”

The turnout in the ballot was 59 per cent.

A WWL spokesman has said previously "we have tried hard to meet our staff’s main concerns by offering assurances that they will retain their NHS pay, terms and pensions and remain fully part of the NHS."