DOMESTICS, porters and catering staff, employed by outsourcing giant ISS, are moving deeper into a trade dispute in Princess Royal hospital in Kent and this week they are taking their first 48 hours of strike action. 

The story of these vital hospital staff serves as a reminder that there is no such thing as good privatisation. The one thing that breaks a pay deadlock is organising a workforce properly, within a union to take militant action against the worker exploitation and deterioration of services that is integral to outsourcing. 

Princess Royal is a private finance initiave (PFI) hospital, which means that three separate parties, the NHS trust, ISS and the PFI leads are given the ability to blame each other for pay stagnation and the workers being driven downwards into poverty.