STRIKING scientists at East Lancashire hospitals will be staging a 12-week industrial action over the winter period.

Blackburn and Burnley biomedical scientists have voted to stage a third strike which will be held from December 15 until March 8 in a dispute over unpaid wages.

The NHS staff at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust say that they are owed on average between £8,000 and £12,000 in backpay.

Unite say they have called on the trust to meet to discuss the strike and come to an agreement over the dispute.

The scientists have already been on strike in two periods this year, between May 31 and July 28 and between August 20 and November 11.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The trust now has a short window of opportunity to finally resolve this dispute.

"We hope management at the Trust can find enough seasonal good will to honour their agreement with the scientists.”

The dispute centres on what the union says is unpaid wages owed to the scientists by the trust for the period between 2010 and 2019 due to pay scale changes.

Unite is arguing that workers became eligible to be paid at band six pay at varying stages since 2010.

The union said they negotiated a deal for the workers to be paid what they were owed in 2019 but claim the trust reneged on the deal.

Martin Hodgson, interim chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said that resolving the dispute in the blood sciences team remained a high priority and reiterated that the trust continued to fully engage with the union.

Martin said: “It is simply not true to say that we are refusing to engage.

"We are actively trying to make progress and often we are ignored. Unite refuses to go to binding arbitration and new evidence provided has been reviewed. We are, of course, open to discussing how we can resolve and conclude this.

"I have spoken to and written to both the union and pathology colleagues a number of times, often without acknowledgement or response.

“It is also not true to say we have reneged on an agreement. Colleagues submitted their grievance in May 2019 and when they were rebanded they received back pay to that date. There was never any agreement to provide back pay before then and this is in line with national policy.

“In the meantime I am aware of the impact this is having on the team.

"We have contingency plans in place to ensure the safe provision of pathology services but the protracted dispute is having a detrimental effect on colleagues, patients and visitors at a time when the Trust is experiencing crippling pressures and demand for services.”

The trust added that the biomedical scientists who are not taking action are working hard to cover and ensure safe and effective services remain in place.