by Cary Gee

IN THE week that the National Health Service celebrates its 60th birthday, news that some construction workers at a PFI-funded NHS hospital in Nottingham have been paid as little as £8.80 a week has shocked the construction workers’ union UCATT.

That is the amount that some gang workers from Lithuania, sub-contracted by civil engineering giant Skanska, took home in their weekly pay packet after deductions had been made for rent, food, tools and utility costs.

Skanska says that since this scandal was drawn to their attention the situation has been resolved and that workers affected should be refunded the money they are owed by the end of this week.

However, UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie says this is one of the worst documented cases of exploitation he has ever seen. He said: “These workers were virtually destitute. The fact this has occurred on a PFI site using taxpayers money is scandalous.”

Skanska is keen to be seen to be making amends for what it admits was a “very serious situation” and released a statement saying that “since this information was brought to our attention the company has worked with UCATT to resolve these issues and Skanska has attended meetings to address the points raised so that any losses due to the relevant workers would be resolved.”

Further, Skanska insists that it has always ensured that individuals working on its sites are paid in accordance with the National Working Rule Agreement which covers wages and conditions.

The hardest hit workers were employed by a company called Produm Ltd, directed by Lithuanians, which paid them around £6 per hour, marginally above the minimum wage, but which then made excessive – and illegal – deductions including a levy of £75.80 per week for the “construction industry scheme”.

This, in effect, registered the men as self-employed meaning their employers were not liable to pay National Insurance. However, as none of the workers affected are believed to have given their consent to the arrangement it was also illegal. Some workers say they were also charged an additional £228 per week for tools.

The scandal took place at the Kings Mill hospital site in Mansfield. According to industry guidelines the men employed there should earn a minimum wage of £7.31 per hour.

UCATT spokesman Steve Murphy described the situation the men found themselves in in Britain as “unbelievable”.

He said: “It’s like living in a third world country. The workers are signed up as bogus self-employed, meaning they are not entitled to sick pay or holiday pay. Basically they have no rights.”

A spokesman for the Sherwood Forest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which oversees Kings Mill Hospital insistsed that the situation was entirely a matter for Skanska and its sub-contractors.