The trust made this decision without properly consulting Staffside and negotiating an agreement. That’s the way we are used to major decisions that affect us being reached: through collective bargaining and mutual partnership working with all the unions, as a team of staff and management who care about workers. As a result we are in formal dispute. 

The proposal was met with strong objections and disapproval and a dispute could have been avoided with proper consultation. Instead, the trust announced that it was a done deal. This was shocking as it’s not how Staffside is used to working.

As an RCN rep and Staffside Chair, I’ve since met with and written to senior trust staff and I’m lobbying for an immediate pause in the current plans to allow for meaningful consultation to take place.

RCN members can show support for the campaign by downloading and displaying this poster, which spells out the joint unions’ collective demands. 

All trade unions at South Tees are calling for:

• a reversal of the decision to implement ParkingEye at both the James Cook University Hospital and the Friarage Hospital sites

• meaningful talks on fixing parking issues at the trust – including increasing parking spaces across both sites.

RCN members can also collectively demonstrate strength of feeling about the issue by filling in this short RCN survey. The results will help to strengthen the case against the new ParkingEye system.

Parking has always been an issue at South Tees. All staff who drive are no doubt familiar with the frustration of desperately trying to find an onsite parking space when you need to start your shift. The RCN’s position on travel to work is that where possible, parking should be free to show that staff are valued.  

ParkingEye is notorious for fining its customers. Staff at South Tees have no wish to become its latest targets. Serious concerns exist that with automatic numberplate recognition in place, driving into a wrong car park looking for a space, or staying late on a shift to hand over properly or provide vital care may be penalised with punitive fines. The trust may need money. But that money should not be drawn from income streams that prey on cash-strapped, overworked and underpaid staff. Staff shouldn’t be faced with unfair, unnecessary, and disproportionate fines or charges that many would be unable to pay. 

Nursing staff are struggling with cost-of-living pressures and low pay. They should not have to struggle with a new unfair parking system as well.