AGENCY hospital workers in London are suffering from hunger because the ISS subcontracting giant is withholding their pay, it has been claimed.

The Star understands that a grievance meeting took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, south London, today, in which the allegations emerged.

At the meeting, a porter told ISS representatives that he had been unable to afford to eat for three days because of the company’s new “pay harmonisation scheme,” which has meant that workers’ wages are now paid fortnightly instead of weekly.

Like most ISS workers, he lives on a week-to-week basis. He also has to provide for a two-year-old son, and is the only source of income in the household.

Another grievance heard was from a cleaner, who has had to begin taking depression and anxiety medication as a result of receiving no pay.

A worker alleged that the ISS have stolen his wages and described the negative impact it has had on his mental health, joking that “if I stole that amount of money, I’d be in Belmarsh.”

The Star understands from an anonymous employee that staff feel that ISS are not taking the situation seriously.

The source said: “It’s like a joke to them and they don’t understand what we’re going through,” adding that many workers did not attend because they were “fearful of retribution” at the hands of company management.

The hardship faced by workers led the GMB union to launch a food bank for hospital workers last Friday, although reports emerged there of management threatening workers with the sack if they collected food parcels.

GMB regional organiser Helen O’Connor told the Star: “Hearing these harrowing stories of people starving, you would think that they would be straight out of a Charles Dickens novel.

“Unfortunately, this is the straightforward reality for agency workers manning our NHS in the year 2019.

“ISS don’t seem to want to treat these workers like humans, but believe me, the union will force them to do the right thing in the end.”

There are two more grievance hearings at the Princess Royal and Kingston Hospitals on Friday.

ISS have been contacted for comment.